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A few weeks before my internship, I was hastily trying to find a mentor and an establishment that would take me in. I was hurrying because I was bogged down with school work and other distractions so I started calling businesses related to my interests. I called music stores, locksmiths, industrial art shops, gunsmiths, etc. One of my teachers almost set up a ride along with a law enforcement officer who was ex-S.W.A.T. But because I am 17 years of age and the requirement is 18, the ride alongs wouldn't work out. Then my LINK coordinator, Zoe Nelson set up an internship with the Durango Discovery Museum which at first I was somewhat skeptical about since, in my experience and from what I've seen would be helping visitors with any problems and teaching audiences about exhibits which is not my niche. I especially didn't want to scold the children if they were misbehaving or misusing the exhibits.
At a meeting at the museum with Zoe and Hannah, one of the volunteer and intern coordinators, I explained that I wanted to get into the hands-on side of working at the museum. The next day I was introduced to Joe, who invented and repaired exhibits as well as planning and contacting laymen for exchanges with the museum. He allowed me to work in his shop, which looked like a technicians playground. It was part wood shop, part industrial arts shop, and part electrician shop. The first day in there, I noticed a Tesla coil, at least a dozen tool boxes, wires hanging around the shop, and a metal table in the corner which is where I would work on projects.
Now that I had a work station, a schedule, and a job that I could enjoy wholeheartedly, I could begin working on projects.
The first project I started on was the wind mill exhibit. This exhibit was a fan with cardboard blades on a post that was placed in front of a wind machine that blew air out of a tube and powered the wind mill. The first objective was to secure the dowels in place of the fan since constant exposure to visitors made the blades of the fan very loose fitting and prone to falling out of their sockets. I made this fix by spraying plastic primer on the ends of the dowels to create a tight fit so the blades wouldn't fall out of place and so the visitors could explore the angles of the blades in order to make the fan spin.
At a meeting at the museum with Zoe and Hannah, one of the volunteer and intern coordinators, I explained that I wanted to get into the hands-on side of working at the museum. The next day I was introduced to Joe, who invented and repaired exhibits as well as planning and contacting laymen for exchanges with the museum. He allowed me to work in his shop, which looked like a technicians playground. It was part wood shop, part industrial arts shop, and part electrician shop. The first day in there, I noticed a Tesla coil, at least a dozen tool boxes, wires hanging around the shop, and a metal table in the corner which is where I would work on projects.
Now that I had a work station, a schedule, and a job that I could enjoy wholeheartedly, I could begin working on projects.
The first project I started on was the wind mill exhibit. This exhibit was a fan with cardboard blades on a post that was placed in front of a wind machine that blew air out of a tube and powered the wind mill. The first objective was to secure the dowels in place of the fan since constant exposure to visitors made the blades of the fan very loose fitting and prone to falling out of their sockets. I made this fix by spraying plastic primer on the ends of the dowels to create a tight fit so the blades wouldn't fall out of place and so the visitors could explore the angles of the blades in order to make the fan spin.
The next project I worked on was creating a new fan for the wind mill. The original fan blade was had a rectangular shape in which the width increased toward the ends of the fan and decreased towards the middle. My new fan blade design was shaped like airplane wings. I hot glued and zip tied plastic panels to wooden dowels and shaved the ends down with a scalpel to fit the sockets. next, I took a Lego wheel with holes on every side of the piece. This is where the fan blades would fit into and rotate around. Then, I drilled a hole in the center piece where a screw and nut would fit that held on a washer. This washer would clip into a magnetic socket as an axle for the fan.
My following project involved repairing and creating circuit modules for the electricity circuit exhibit. Unlike the explained process for the wind mill, these circuit modules require quite a bit more steps and process due to the complexity, therefore, I will only provide pictures with simple captions.
My following project involved repairing and creating circuit modules for the electricity circuit exhibit. Unlike the explained process for the wind mill, these circuit modules require quite a bit more steps and process due to the complexity, therefore, I will only provide pictures with simple captions.
Battery car made with Lego wheels and axles, knife switch, battery, battery pack, motors and wires
Collection of all circuit-related projects during internship
Both fan blades included in creating and repairing wind mill exhibit
Ford model T
This historic model was hauled back to the owner because "The museum didn't use it as he intended."
Gifts belong to the giftee and aren't supposed to be taken back. (It was a donation)
This historic model was hauled back to the owner because "The museum didn't use it as he intended."
Gifts belong to the giftee and aren't supposed to be taken back. (It was a donation)
At the end of my internship, I felt that I had taken a lot away from the experience as well as contributing to the museum. There was never a time at my internship that I was bored or felt like passing time because there was always something for me to do or work on. Most of the knowledge that I learned was about the exhibits and practical shop skills. A majority of skills that I learned came from suggestions from Joe, and trial and error. After the experience, I have more of an angle for problem solving, improvising, and being creative with concepts that I haven't had much experience with.
This this kind of discipline beats pencil pushing, banking, or any other cubicle-occupation hands down. It comes with physical labor, mind exc
This this kind of discipline beats pencil pushing, banking, or any other cubicle-occupation hands down. It comes with physical labor, mind exc