Internship Introduction

My name is Kailey. I am in my junior year at the University of Central Florida. I am majoring in history and getting a minor in theatre. When asked about my favorite research topic, I have a difficult time answering.  Simply because I don’t have one specific topic I enjoy researching. If I had to explain what I am interested in, it tends to be anything that is considered “niche”. When given the flexibility to choose my reseach topic, I tend to pick subjects that are underresearched. This started in high school when I stumbled across the Minoan people and soon became frustrated by the lack of information on their ancient society. For one, I just find it very rewarding to uncover pieces of information that were difficult to obtain and two I enjoy telling untold stories. In the past some of my favorite research topics have been on the Peaceful Invasion of Iceland as well as the effects that Mesopotamian religions had on the treatment of women in old Babylonian society. One of the things that attracted me to the P.R.I.N.T. project was that it focused on the history of normal, everyday people. Typical people are usually the most underresearched group out there.  

This semester I am working with the P.R.I.N.T. Project which I have already dabbled in. When I took a Colonial American history class, I got the chance to learn some transcription work, which I soon realized I enjoyed doing. I chose this internship because of how many new skills it can teach me, especially online. I know I want to major in public history at the graduate level and go into a public history field and this just seemed like a good introduction. This project focuses a lot on online work and databases which I tend to not be the best at. However, I recognize that that is where the future is going, so I would like to learn the needed skills to be successful on this route. One component the P.R.I.N.T. project is currently focusing on is standardizing document names. This week I was introduced to the process. So I hope to start that and transcribe a letter. In just one learning session, I’ve learned several shortcuts and worked on several different computer platforms, so I am looking forward to continuing that work and start the renaming process at a faster rate. I am also looking forward to working with a team that largely shares a common interest of history. I’m hoping that this prepares me for my future in the workforce.