NPS Photo, Holden Mills. Harpers Ferry, West Virginia's Hidden Jewel An Internship Testimonial by Social Media & Web Intern Ainsley Parrish I will be quite honest, before I arrived in our lovely and quaint town, I knew very little about Harpers Ferry, except for those words written in the numerous history books that I had previously read. Believe me, no book adequately or accurately described the wonderful adventure that laid in wait for me. My amazement began as soon as I arrived, as the architecture of the town itself, and the beauty of its surrounding mountains and rivers is truly breathtaking. No longer was I just studying history, I was living it each day. My direct involvement was as a Social Communications intern, which entailed hours and hours of programing, interviews and video shoots, added to nearly just as many hours editing, and finally through trial and error, mastering the electronic workings of our social communication world. Yet that was just a part of my own individual learning process, as each day I lived and worked with Volunteer Coordinators, History Interpreters, and real life History Re-Enactors. And those were just my fellow interns. I also had the opportunity to interface daily with the professional staff of the National Park Service. No question that I had was ever too small or too insignificant and no request for help was ever refused. Actually living in a National Park was an adventure in itself. The common interest of your fellow interns made making lifelong friends an easy process. And, because of the remoteness of Harpers Ferry, you will quickly spend many hours with your roommates, sharing work stories, or hiking the nearby trails, or rafting on our two scenic rivers. And, although I never had a face to face meeting with the departed soul that haunted our living quarters, deep inside me I knew that she was just being curious and was in fact watching over all of us, even when she was eating our leftovers. If you are ever presented with the opportunity to be an intern at Harpers Ferry National Park, do not give it a second thought. You will love what you are given to do, you will make new friends that will last a lifetime, and you will become an actual contributing member of a living historic adventure. How can you not learn and grow from all of that? I know that I loved it so much that I am hoping to return next year. I know that you will too. |
Last updated: April 10, 2015