Kyle Warbinton ’20 Thorntown Public Library and Heritage Museum – I have spent the summer working in Thorntown, Indiana, and, in doing so, I truly have broadened my experience in life, let alone work. Thorntown holds a quaint population of around 1,500 people. I’m from a large suburb of Chicago so this was definitely a culture shock to me. I was very apprehensive in coming to a new work environment where I thought the people would be completely different than myself.
My worries were wasted time. The staff at the Thorntown Public Library and Heritage Museum welcomed me as if I was a new family member. What made my work so enjoyable this summer came in large part from the environment that the company creates in the workplace. Everyone looks to help others in their projects, and this is a reciprocating act. If there was one lasting piece of my time in Thorntown that I value the most, even more than the tangible experience I gained in my actual work, is the community created by the staff. I believe that I will be able to exercise this teamwork and kindness in future jobs to build strong workplaces and in turn, better business.
As far as my responsibilities, I created multiple brochures for the museum, and different departments of the company. My original brochure that I made for the museum and its displays was good enough that the staff wanted me to make as many for other departments as I could before my internship ended. This was a gratifying experience as I got to see my work in tangible use by the library and museum. I also used PastPerfect software to catalog museum artifacts which was a very interesting and engaging part of my work.
The most challenging responsibility of my internship was being the project coordinator for the Museum’s inaugural potluck, picnic, and concert. In dealing with contacting and working with our performer for the concert and making sure that all things needed for the event were either done or procured, I ran into a few problems. Our performer, who we had signed a contract with us two months in advance, told us a week before the event that she could not perform due to a family emergency. We had to scramble to find a performer, and we did just 2 days before the event. In a full analysis, the event and the process was enlightening in terms of all that went wrong. It was great to get experience dealing with adversity and still coming through strong.
In a turn of events, the staff of the library and museum realized during my time there that the roof of the museum needed to be replaced due to its age. This gave me an opportunity to write grant applications for the new roof. This responsibility was stressful but rewarding due to its magnitude. The company will use my grant applications in hopes to obtain funding for the new roof over the coming year.
Through working at the Thorntown Public Library and Heritage Museum, I have gained invaluable experiences for my career. I also gained a family in small-town Indiana. I would like to thank the Lilly Endowment and Wabash College for making this opportunity available to me, without them, I would not have had such a great summer internship.
