{"id":12834,"date":"2019-11-25T14:28:14","date_gmt":"2019-11-25T18:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=12834"},"modified":"2022-03-21T16:32:19","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T20:32:19","slug":"washington-internship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/washington-internship\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Internship Boosts Student’s Love of Museums"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fortunate pairing of four people with Kalamazoo College ties provided one student with a valuable internship experience last summer in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

\"Marie
Marie Kohrman ’22 had her picture taken with a re-enactor playing John Hancock last summer at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C., where she had an internship.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marie Kohrman \u201922 was an intern at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)<\/a>, a home for more than 20 billion documents related to the federal government throughout U.S. history. There, she worked for K alumna Christiana Hanson \u201906, a volunteer coordinator, and stayed with Genna (Beaudoin) Gent \u201994 and Chad Gent \u201992 from June through August.<\/p>\n

Kohrman, who majors in English<\/a> with a concentration in American studies<\/a>, was one of 15 interns selected from 95 applicants to work at NARA after her love of museums and history and a desire to find constructive opportunities over the summer converged.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents had been talking to me for a while about finding an internship, and I\u2019m a person who needs to stay busy,\u201d Kohrman said of her decision to apply. Students apply for internships through Handshake, a platform available through the Center for Career and Professional Development. \u201cI had no idea my boss would be a K alum.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Marie
Marie Kohrman ’22 (third from left in front) poses for a picture with her fellow interns at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hanson said NARA tries not to select interns based on where they attend college, although she was happy to meet a student from her alma mater and was delighted with Kohrman\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things about K, is that it offers a very strong liberal arts education,\u201d Hanson said. \u201cAt the National Archives, we have records that show science, history, civics \u2014 no one thing happens in isolation. Because (Kohrman) is a student of the liberal arts, we knew that this would be something she would understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

NARA typically hires interns to serve its Washington, D.C., departments ranging from presidential libraries to special events. Kohrman worked with other education and exhibits interns, who are interested in fields related to public education, museum studies, public policy, history, political science and communication.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like the fact that working at a museum, you have a responsibility for how people interpret art and history,\u201d Kohrman said. \u201cMuseums are focused on facts. It\u2019s important to portray them in an unbiased way.\u201d<\/p>\n

In creating a hands-on environment for its interns, NARA tasked Kohrman with creating a game that would help visitors understand the Legislative Branch of the federal government. She created a flow chart that broke down the Legislative Branch, describing the requirements House of Representatives and Senate candidates need to follow to run for office and be elected. She paired that with Constitutional excerpts and documents from U.S. history to provide specific examples of how Congress functions. For example, Kohrman used:<\/p>\n