Summer Internship Blog

As the title suggests, this week's blog post will be focused on my training day that took place last Saturday on May 24th. This training not only served as my first day as an intern, but also my first day at the Orange County Regional History Center.  My training day began at 10 am when we began with a PowerPoint presentation walked us through the basic requirements of our jobs as teachers and guides for the children we will be educating. The main focus of the presentation involved explaining the behavior of young children. Our presenters explained that young children mimic the adults and teenagers around them, so it is very important to remain engaged and excited for the activities we will be doing. What surprised me a little bit was how much a class of children go to the bathroom. We spent a few minutes on this topic as it is one of the primary tasks the volunteers will be carrying out. My training consisted of more than just a seminar, but actual hands-on activity. After the pre...

 Hello, I am John Hill and I am a graduate student at the University of Central Florida. I currently work at the Universal Orlando Resort. I moved to Florida very recently in 2022. Before then I lived in Georgia since 2008 and I was born back in 2000 in NC. My hobbies include gaming, history, and nature. My current research interests involve a focus on cultural history in the 20th century in the United States. I have a major interest in the creation of amusement parks, wildlife reserves, and advancements in home entertainment. Currently, I am aiming to make my thesis involve the rise of the video game industry in the late 20th century or building upon a recent digital project I made as part of a spatial history class. This second project covers the "fall" of the video game arcade. Instead of failing, arcades changed how they appear and manage their businesses, such as entertainment centers, kid zones, or restaurant hybrids.  As for what I want to get out of this internship, I...

While my internship begins on June 2nd, I do have something to discuss for this week's post. For this post, I will cover the process it has taken to reach this point in my internship. This journey began back in February when I applied for two internship positions. One position was for the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and the other was for the Orange County Regional History Center (OCRHC). After waiting for a couple weeks, I figured that I did not get the position at either place. Soon after I thought that two emails appeared in my inbox. The Smithsonian told me that I did not get the position. Meanwhile, the OCRHC asked me to meet over Zoom for an interview. I met for a brief interview over Zoom a week later, and after that I received an offer to join their team as a Summer Educator. It turned out that my job experience at the Universal Orlando Resort translated well to the potential challenges of being a Summer Educator. An obvious requirement involves being able...