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Several years ago, two years after college graduation, I contacted a museum out of interest in an unpaid internship. The HR administrator asked "Why aren't you doing this until now?"-- by that she meant, why hadn't I applied during college? At the time, in my mid-20s and wanting that internship, I responded diplomatically. I perhaps should have responded honestly however: I would have said I couldn't afford living in New York City and working at an unpaid internship until then. While some of my college classmates parents paid to support them while on such unpaid internships, mine didn't. Nor did I have relatives or family friends with whom I could stay. So it took me several years, as well as a time when I was unemployed, to find the right period and savings. I ultamitely was offered the opportunity. I am now thankful for the valuable exposure to an art museum department(although generally I was on my own and unsupervised), but also gained an view of that museum as one that was neither sympathetic nor aware of barriers to its internship program.

posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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