At first glance, I do not seem fit for the internship at the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), a foundation that focuses on transforming health care. My resume includes everything but medicine and history. Yet, I beg to differ. I go to William Jewell College, which is a small liberal arts school in Liberty, Missouri. Jewell teaches its students how to learn. It makes us adaptable, a crucial trait in this constantly changing world. This internship taught me how to work and how to appreciate change.
It all started in the back of a 52 degree room, my home for 10 weeks. It was only until the eighth week that I realized a jacket might be helpful for my survival in the room that I often called a freezer. This adaptation prevented me from becoming an artifact myself. That aside, I did a range of different activities. The first couple of days, I stood by the copy machine scanning donor information. When artifacts came in, I learned how to enter them into the Center’s Catalog for record keeping. I also got to encapsulate materials. If you were lucky, you might have seen me when I was stretched across the table trying to cover up a poster two times my size with Mylar while trying to avoid encapsulating myself. My work did not end there. I typed up labels, updated the donor and acquisitions lists, laminated quotes for gift bags, sat in on a business meeting, wrote a chronology of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, created a PowerPoint about digital preservation and fit in a bite to eat once in awhile.
All jokes aside, I completed a large assembly of tasks within just 10 weeks. I was constantly challenged, yet after each task, I was always ready for more. This internship may not have taught me more specifically about the history of medicine and family practice, but it did teach me other valuable lessons. I learned the importance of basic office skills and time management, the significance of history in today’s society and that change is the only constant in our lives. To conclude, I now understand this: in a world of constant change, the ones who can work will survive, but it is those who know how to work that will succeed. Knowing how to work goes beyond automated actions. It means acknowledging change, preparing yourself for change and using change as a platform to better yourself and the society you live in. History can be made with only one beginning, but it keeps thriving with constant change. Change is scary, because it is unknown, yet, by understanding our past, we are more able to embrace it as a way to better the future. History relies on change.
Therefore, while the internship was far from ideal, it taught me the value of experience. There is only so much that we can learn from a textbook or a classroom and we must understand that life is much more than an algorithm. Life is complex and confusing at best. It is experience that teaches us how to survive life's unpredictable moments. So go out there, experience life and know that there is always something new to learn.
