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My Internship My internship was held at the di Rosa Art & Nature Preserve. The di Rosa Preserve is located in the Carneros area of Napa Valley. The preserve spans 217 acres of vineyard, trees, and a lake complete with island. The di Rosa Preserve first opened to the public in the 1990s. Rene di Rosa, founder, had been collecting art from the Bay Area for years, and decided he wanted to open his collection up to the masses. When people visit the di Rosa Preserve, they first arrive at the Gatehouse Gallery. This building is at the face of the property, and acts as a gathering place as well as a small glimpse of the collection, as the Gatehouse contains the more recent acquisitions. From the Gatehouse, the tourists are taken to two more buildings, one of which is Rene’s actual home that he only recently moved out of. My fellow intern Katy and I were given a free tour the first day to help us get familiar with the premises, the history, and the art. The Gatehouse is where I performed my duties for my internship. Some of my work objectives, under the supervision of Kristen Baird, were to come up with innovative ideas to help promote the di Rosa Preserve, such as improving the website, new merchandise, and ways to get local youth involved. The most practical of my tasks were in retail and guest check in. When guests arrived for their tour, I would check them off on our list, charge their credit card or take their money, give them their tour stickers, and finally give them instructions on what to do before the tour commenced, and of course tell hem where the restrooms are located. When the guests are finished with their tour, most of them will come back through the Gatehouse, and want to purchase something from the gift shop (which is in the same general space as the reception desk) or purchase a membership. Then I would sell them their items, and document all the sales. In addition to conventional products such as books, consignment goods were also sold such as handmade scarves, jewelry, and bags. If I were to sell one of these items, I would have to document who the maker was, and save the tag and write down the item number. Some of my more abstract tasks involved with coming up with new ideas to improve the di Rosa Preserve, particularly how to get the young people involved. Katy and I were given sketchbooks as a means of documenting our ideas. We came up with the idea of holding local art from High Schools on display, and possibly auction the works off. I also came up with some new t shirt designs that could be sold in the gift shop. I also went on several photography assignments taking pictures of the art and grounds for possible inclusion in the website. The Internship program makes sense as part of New Technology High, because I believe I exhibited all eight learning outcomes during the course of my internship. I collaborated with my partner Katy on many occasions. I think that might be a piece missing form other people’s internships, but definitely reminded me of working on a project at NTHS. Katy and I were both partners in the same project, and used our personalities and minds to come up with new ideas for the di Rosa Preserve. Also when it came to guests, we used each other’s strengths and weaknesses to each other’s advantage. Since Katy is more of an outgoing people person, she would be more inclined to answer people’s questions while I handled credit cards and the like. When I did have to talk to guests is when I used my oral communication. I spoke clearly and tried to be friendly and informative. My written communication came down to putting my ideas down in my sketchbook, which also ties in to critical thinking for when I needed to be innovative. Curricular Literacy can be thought of as learning the history of the Preserve, the general location and operation of things, as well as the rules. My internship can also be seen as career preparation. It is my belief that my new retail experience at the di Rosa Preserve is what helped me secure my current job at The Wherehouse. Also, if I wanted to be a curator of sorts, attending tours and being in that sort of museum environment will be beneficial. I will talk about technology literacy in the technology portion of my summary. I had never operated a cash register before working at the di Rosa Preserve, and I think it’s something that will definitely come in handy later in life. I also learned how to charge a credit card through the credit card machine, when it chose to work that is. By mastering these two devices, Katy and I were able to handle the rush of large tour groups with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine. Overall, I think the internship experience was valuable. I actually looked forward to going to my internship, and enjoyed spending time there. I learned valuable skills that I believe will help me with jobs in the future. I got to be surrounded by all forms of art, which is my key interest in life. I liked how I had an internship that catered to my particular interest. I think if I was assigned to some office that I knew nothing about, I would not have been too happy or done a very good job. I would recommend this internship to the artist, or anyone who enjoys art or galleries. Being surrounded by all the art just made me want to be more creative and create my own works that maybe someday will be hanging in an art gallery.