Week 11: Deadlines

Have you ever said to yourself, "Wow, there are just not enough hours in the day"? You are not alone, as I have uttered those words a million times this year alone. Nearing the end of the semester can be daunting for most students and teachers, but it's essential to push through and finish strongly. You must find the source motivation that started it all, throw in some more chunks of wood before it's too late; otherwise, without maintenance, the fire is gone.

That being said, I'm amazed at how close everything is to being wrapped up for the internship and all that we have accomplished up to this point. While I write about what I have done each week to contribute, it has been a great group effort, with support from one another. It is a major takeaway that I will carry forward with more confidence in collaboration with others. Since the first week, I was cautious about where to position myself within the team, but I think we all found that we worked well together.

July Perry headstone at Greenwood Cemetery

Since completing my assigned tasks this week, I have taken some time to continue working on the Greenwood Cemetery collections, specifically Francina Boykin's artifacts. The metadata forms were filled out earlier this semester by another intern, so I appreciate having some of the names of people already available, as her photographs featured many different individuals. I'm aware from our team meetings that one or two other interns are currently in contact with Francina, so I hope to give her a break and try to gather any additional information I can from my own research. This week has flown by as I finish up part A of her collection before the project needs to be submitted to Teams. With the end creeping closer and the time necessary for preparing the presentations, I doubt I can complete another part of her collection on time before Monday.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Parade

As already mentioned, the major task at hand is preparing for the Showcase that is now only a week away. Fortunately, I will present it to an audience that will be more supportive and interested in hearing about my experience than not. In the process of putting my script together, it has had its ups and downs, especially since I have only been left with about four minutes in order for everyone in the group to say what they need to say. I realized I might have to be much more plain in my presentation than I would have liked originally, so that all of the criteria would fit. Going into this project, I knew I would not be able to include every detail of the past few months, but since being put in a group, this is certainly the case. At this point, it is still a work in progress, but next week my team has plans to meet at least two more times to rehearse our slides. That way, we can hold ourselves accountable for staying on track and also have some time to receive feedback from one another.

Though I cannot comprehend how Friday has already arrived, every week I'm met with new challenges and, in turn, new lessons to take with me. Next week, everything will wrap up, and we can celebrate another day, week, and month that allows us to continue this work of preserving local artifacts that tell the stories of experiences that have come and gone.