Internship Week 1
My name is Glenda Vaillant Cruz and I am currently at Valencia College. As of I am now done with my first year of college and I am set to graduate next May. I am planning to transfer to the University of Central Florida to finish up my undergraduate studies. My academic goal is to obtain my PhD. After I receive my bachelor degree I would love to travel and teach English through various parts of the world.
I am interested in teaching anthropology at a college level. Through my internship, I would like to learn about different fields that anthropologist work in. I became interested in anthropology during middle school when I began researching prospective career paths. I have always been fascinated with history, world cultures, and biology. As I discovered the issues going on in North Korea, I began to want to want to create social awareness and change in this area of the world. My desire to create social impact brought me closer to anthropology. Anthropologists have the power to decipher the world in a way that brings the human race closer together. Through their research they are able to bring upon positive social improvement on both a local and global scale.
For my internship, I will be learning about how research archaeology is able to bring social awareness within a community. Throughout this internship, I will be expected to perform tasks related to the recording of historic cemetery data. I will be keeping track of data for one historic cemetery in the Orange County area. I will be using individual marker forms to keep detailed accounts and descriptions of each grave within the cemetery. With these marker forms I will be doing data analysis. I will be using the data collected to bring insight into Florida's past. I will document what I have learned through this blog directed towards the public. Lastly, I will be presenting the knowledge I have gained through the internship to members of the academic community. I will be working on this project for a period of approximately three months. The beginning period of the project I will spend conducting research about historic cemeteries through examining published works. Then, I will begin to apply what I have learned through the data collection and analysis of the cemetery. Finally, I will be showcasing my personal research.
There are several reasons why historic cemeteries must be recorded. Foremost, a lot of historic cemeteries are being surrounded by new buildings and developments. If they are not documented new structures could be built on top of the resting grounds of many individuals. Secondly, historic cemeteries shed light into the lives of individuals living in Florida throughout various points in the state's history. Through the study of historic cemeteries a plethora of information can be inferred about the culture of people in Florida within a particular time period. Social issues also can be addressed through this research. For example, comparisons can be made between predominantly black, and predominantly white cemeteries that allows us to better understand the relations between these two ethnic groups in the past. Understanding their relations in the past can create better relations between them in the present. Ultimately, the understanding of historical cemeteries in Florida provides many useful knowledge that can be applied to provide outreach within communities in the state.
