Jack Adzema

ENC4942

Reflective Essay

Through my time at the John G. Riley Museum & Center, I have learned much more than I

expected. Over the semester I was panicking to find an internship that met the requirements of

the credit as well as something I could find interesting or beneficial to my career. My goal for a

career is to find a place in the entertainment community as a comedy writer. Looking back at my

heroes of this profession like Larry David or Conan O’Brien, I, too, have been interested in

history my entire life so when I saw an opening for a museum job, it felt like a perfect chance to

follow in my heroes footsteps whilst also excelling as a writer. This internship promised the

experience of developing my skills as an orator, writer, and educating me on local history.

The experience started on an unrealistically high note. There are only four of us in the center

and each of them was extremely friendly and helpful. I had to learn how to present their museum

to the public and run parallel with their mission statement. I met with my supervisor at the start

and I was struck with awe. This man has done multiple documentaries and personal creative

projects and was just brought on to the board to pump the museum with new blood. His plan

proved himself as a visionary, the museum was stagnant in time with its dreadful decorations and

exhibits about the life of Mr. Riley, so he decided to create a plan that would focus on

African-Americans in tallahassee with Mr. Riley as the focal point. The exhibits would go all the

way through 2025 spanning from the information of African-Americans in Tallahassee from

Pre-Civil War all the way to the end of World War 2. In this meeting he also told me his plan for
creating this exhibit, we would research this information about Tallahassee and sell it through the

exhibits, books, documentaries, and podcasts. He had a five-pronged plan for every morsel of

new information that we would find and I found it brilliant.

In the meeting with my boss I clarified my goals and what I wanted to do in this internship,

he told me how we were just at the start of the museum’s revitalization so there will be no end to

my assignments. This excited me because it felt like a job with purpose. I was going to research

real information that no one knew, write about it, and present it orally as a tour guide. This felt

perfect. What I seemed to ignore is my supervisor’s emphasis on the museum’s revitalization

being very “ground-up.” My superiors were much busier with more important tasks and

sometimes forgot me in the rough and tumble of emails and events with board members.

Nonetheless, I took away more information than I could ever forget, and my skills improved

greatly as I continued my journey of beginning a career.

As far as writing goes, my style has gotten only sharper. As an Editing, Writing, & Media

major I have not been given the true ability to find my tone. This major only allows an academic

voice for presenting information with no cross-over to intense creativity. In the internship, I

found more of my voice in the main academic assignments I was given. The writing assignments

given to me were mostly emails to manufacturers, something I was not too enthusiastic about,

but nonetheless, it helped me craft a better tone of voice in a professional setting. I was also

given writing assignments that pertained to me creating the script that would appear on the walls

in the museum. This was by far the most interesting assignment because the short, but powerful,

statements you put on the wall have to give the reader a reason for being there. It must show the

legendary lengths these figures went through to create the version of the world we live in today

whilst also being easy to follow. They should never drone on and lose the reader, it's too short for
that. It should give the reader five brief minutes of the most important knowledge they would

hear that day. I loved writing in this specific style because it felt like I was documenting a

generation that is immortalized in time through the brief, but powerful words I write.

Another skill that I found to be useful is my constant practice as an orator. My only true fear,

one that fills me with dread, is public speaking. I can't present something I made in front of

people even if it would solve world hunger. But this internship loosened me up, so I had to write

my speech for the tour I would be giving of the museum. Interns were forced to give tours and I

was more than happy to be forced into an environment that would make me face my fears

head-on. The constant practice I had elevated my confidence and my memorization, I even began

a career in stand-up comedy. This internship gave me the tools I needed to become the best

version of myself in order to start my career.

In conclusion, this internship taught me a lot about the history that surrounds me and myself.

It taught me I was capable of growing outside of my shell as a writer and orator. I was the only

white employee at an African-American history museum, the perspective I learned was more

than enlightening. Because of the current state of affairs in the government and the blowback, it

has on ignorant citizens, we live in a volatile and compassionless age. The importance of our

work in this society gave me hope for a better world, it showed me that no matter the odds as

long as we work together anything can be accomplished. I have gained skills in franchising

media from my supervisor’s exhibit plans, I have gained lots of practice in writing and public

speaking, and have also gained the perspective of the rich history in Tallahasse which in turn

made me a better citizen. With my lovely coworkers, I was able to accomplish tasks that made

me a better person just like the very subject we have been researching, I would recommend this

internship to anyone looking to branch out as a person and student of life’s many lessons.