Shannan - University internship at the museums

Find out about Shannan’s internship at The Beaney:

I started an internship at the Beaney through the University of Kent as part of one of my classes. I was nervous on the first day, as museum work has always been my dream job, and I worried that I’d find out I didn’t enjoy it. The nerves quickly went away however, and the 3 weeks I interned at the Beaney and Roman museum hardly felt like work at all because it was such a pleasant experience.

I have always loved museums because preserved history is one of the most fascinating things there is to see. This love was only strengthened after my time at the Beaney and the Roman. Not only did I get to see all of their collections and artefacts, but I was also able to interact with them, hold them, and learn about them which improved my experience there by a mile.

Doing this internship along with my Ancient History degree has greatly improved my knowledge and my studies more than I originally thought it would. It has been incredibly beneficial for my university course as it has been a way to expand my studies and gain a better understanding of what it is I study and also what I aim to be doing in the future.

I was given a variety of tasks so I could experience the full scope of museum work and was always being shown interesting objects and being told new information, which greatly helped with both my degree and verifying my future career goals. With each day I was there it seemed to get better.

The fundamental reason it was such a positive experience, and the most important to me, was the fact that everyone at The Beaney was so accommodating. Each member of staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, which made a huge difference and made my time at both The Beaney and the Roman Museum much better than I had imagined. They always took the time to help me with anything I needed, and it was always such a welcoming and positive environment to work in which made the actual work itself enjoyable.

I spent time working in the office, listening to talks by the staff, observing workshops and such, and helped with working on a Learning resource for a painting which I loved doing. We even found some Roman coins and a stirrer hidden in the back of a case in the Roman museum. After finding these I worked on helping to get them ready for display which was very rewarding and exciting.

I feel like I’ve learnt so much in just a few weeks, and the entire experience was both very helpful and pleasant. I had mentioned once at the beginning of the internship the areas I was most interested in but would also like to branch out from, and the staff were very accommodating to those preferences. I was shown artefacts I expressed an interest in and was helped with my expansion of knowledge concerning other areas I knew less about.

The vast range of artefacts and exhibitions The Beaney have, from Bagpuss and Clangers to Anglo-Saxon and Ancient Egypt, never failed to amaze me. Their collections include something for everyone which is an achievement in itself.

I loved how the visitors always seemed to enjoy their time at the museum, too. It was so lovely to see that these collections that I’d grown to love and learn a lot about were as appealing to visitors as they were to me. Every interaction I had there, from the staff to the visitors, was one that made my day a little better each time, and I never thought that I’d learn so much.

Shannan (Museum Intern from the University of Kent)