Introduction

     Hello to everyone and thank you for taking the time to read this blog! My name is Lauren Geller and I am currently in the final semester of my junior year at UCF. I have recently been given the amazing opportunity to partake in a 10 week long internship program at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC starting February 28th. Myself, along with six other interns from across the country, will be representing the Museum Services Operation Department responsible for managing visitor services, group schedulings, volunteer services and providing further support to the museum where needed. Though unpaid, the experience and knowledge gained will be reward enough.

     My future plans upon graduation are still being determined, but I hope this internship will open me up to new opportunities and choices of future career paths, and the connections I make will hopefully lead to job offers or other internship opportunities. Though majoring in History as a general subject, my interest lies in Holocaust and Genocide Studies specifically. I have recently taken up a minor in Judaic Studies to learn about the persecution of the Jewish people and their heritage before and after World War II and the rise of Hitler. UCF has been super helpful in offering classes that parallel my intended interest, including classes on Nazism and Fascism, the rise of Hitler, and Literature in the Holocaust. I believe this education to truly be one of the reasons I was chosen among hundreds of applicants for the internship.

     However, no matter how many times I study or read or watch about this terrible era of human history, the pain never seems to disappear; it just becomes numb. One question the Museum asked in my phone interview was, "Will you be able to handle emotionally your surroundings?" I don't think any decent human being can say that they aren't emotional when it comes to this subject area, even those who have studied and researched it their whole lives. It's a personal and real horror that many can't understand or grasp no matter how much time or research one spends in the topic. This is why the Museum, and all Holocaust museums, are so important to society and to people. Educating people about what the horrors of discrimination and prejudice can bring about and telling the stories of those lives taken by such, is the closest thing the general public can learn about human nature. This is what the internship means to me and why it is so important; reminding people what hate can cause by providing proof and resources for those interested and willing to look, ask questions and understand.