Warning: Very long detailed update :-)

Hello family!

I think it'd time for a real post from me. :-) Tomorrow the fall schedule begins in this household, so today's a good day for a good long post. Well, hopefully it won't be too long. ;-)

In 2007, I graduated from California State University, Northridge (CSUN) with a BA in history and a minor in geography. Since I had no other major obligations and really no reason NOT to, I decided to continue on with graduate school. I am now starting my second year in the Master's program. I'm taking the more-than-two-years route, so probably not until 2010 will I graduate with a MA in history with an emphases in archival administration and United State history. I'm going to go ahead and do a thesis rather comprehensive exams (comps). I mostly chose to do a thesis because I'm not planning on teaching (more later) nor am I (as of right now) planning on going on to get my PhD. I haven't figured out exactly what I'm going to do my thesis on, but I think it's going to be on the Historic Preservation Movement in California....but I have yet to decide what I'm going to "zoom in" on.

Now if you're like everyone else, you'll want to know what I plan to do with my history degree. "Are you planning to teach?" is the question that I get asked all the time--almost as much as the big "What are you going to do after you graduate from college?" question that all seniors are asked. ;-) So no, I'm not planning on teaching. I guess I'm not totally opposed to the idea, but I certainly don't love it. Grading papers, controlling a classroom, and especially speaking in front of a class day in and day out does not appeal to me in the least. I'm hoping to do something either in the field of archives, public history, curatorial work, or museum work. Or continue on with the park service.

During my senior year, I didn't know if I wanted to go into archives or public history, so I decided I'd try to get an internship in each before I graduated so that I could "try it" and get a better "feel" of how things work. Thankfully we have a great internship program and coordinator at CSUN, so I spoke with her and during the fall of 2006 I worked as an intern in the archives/library of the Reagan Library. That was a great experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Then in the spring of 2007 the internship coordinator told me about a small, 5-acre state park called Los Encinos State Historic Park which was about 15 minutes away from my house. I had no idea the park even existed! So the coordinator contacted the ranger at the time (who isn't there now) and I began interning/volunteering there for that semester. During that internship I did a little of everything: answering phones, maintenance, cleaning, assisting the curators, etc., but I loved it. One of the most cool things about the internship is that the 1849 adobe which is the main attraction (besides the duck pond ;-)) in the park was just getting ready for to be reopened from damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake (yes, the state moves slowly: 13 years!), so I was able to assist with the final arrangement and set up of the building which is now a museum.

By the time my internship was over, the adobe was just getting ready for its grand re-opening, so they asked me if I'd like to be hired. And you can bet that I said yes! :-) So I've been a part-time park employee since June of 2007. I am a seasonal employee (which basically means I don't get benefits) and work about 25 hours a week, but I work year-round (which is good as most seasonal employees work full-time 9 months on and 3 months off, and vacation time doesn't "roll over"). My official title is Park Interpretive Specialist which basically means I'm the park historian and the one who gives tours of the adobe house. I also answer the phone, book picnics, help plan special events, develop the school program, present the school programs, work with the volunteers, and am the main caretaker for the historic buildings. I do lots of other things too. ;-) So yeah, I absolutely love my job (it'd be nice to get a pay raise though ;-)), and my supervisors have been extremely flexible when it comes to my work schedule, vacation time, etc.

So this semester (which began last week) I'm going to be working 25.5 hours a week and will be taking 2 classes at CSUN. One class is on California history and the second is an internship at the university in its archives.

Whewww! Did you make it through all of that? Sorry, I tend to be very verbose. Please feel free to skim my entries! Haha.

Besides work and school (which takes up most of my time!), I'm involved with the college group (Crossroads) at my church on Sundays, Crossroads' Biblestudy which meets at the CSUN campus on Thursdays, crocheting, spending time/staying in contact with friends, traveling, blogging on my other blog, and reading. Unfortunately, during the school year I don't read too much beside school books, but I love reading histories, biographies, the classics, and some non-fiction (lately financial-related books have been the favorite). I watch TV and movies rarely, but when I do my favorite TV show is Cops and more recently The Academy (you'd think I"d want to be a cop, wouldn't you? ;-)), and of course the Food Network. As for movies I generally like watching British period dramas. Oh yeah, and I used to take violin lessons and teach violin, but I haven't been doing that much since I started grad school.

So yeah, that's a little bit (actually, it's a lot) about what I've been up to lately! Be warned: I'll probably be posting here often. :-)

Cheers if you made it all the way through this thing! :-D
Jenny in CA