Welcome to my blog! During the summer I'll be posting about my experiences and adventures in Washington D.C. as I work as a Junior Fellow for the Library of Congress.

A little bit about how this all got started:
My passion is for archives, history and preservation; I hope to one day work at the Library of Congress or in a National Historic Park. This is what made me want to apply for the Library of Congress Junior Fellows Internship Program back in January. Within the application, I had to choose my first, second and third choice of departments to which I would be assigned if I were selected. My first choice was a no-brainier: manuscripts. I was lucky to be interviewed for my first choice position and so honored to have been selected to work as an intern in the manuscripts reading room.

My primary duties will be working the reference desk, assisting patrons, retrieving materials, and filling copy orders. I'll be working in the same area that holds 23 collections of presidential papers, the diaries of Clara Barton and a rough draft of the Declaration of Independence. I would like to think working on campus at the South Caroliniana Library has helped prepare me for this internship - working with historic newspapers and microfilm will be skills that definitely will come in handy this summer.

So that's how I've gotten this far. I have my job description, reporting date (May 31st... at 7:30 AM!), a place to live (thanks to family connections, hooray!), and a whole lot of excitement! I have a ton of paperwork to finish before I even walk through the doors, but I am most definitely on my way!