Junior's summer internship opens doors

RELEASED: Nov. 2, 2006

DANVILLE, KY—With the help of Centre professors and Career Services counselors, junior Leslie Hast, an English and anthropology double major from Owensboro, Ky., had the opportunity this summer to work as a translator at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro.

"Dr. Slade and Dr. Ciholas were extremely helpful in checking and correcting my translations," Hast says. "I also had a ton of help from Deb Jones and Mindy Wilson in Career Services to update my resume, find an internship and complete the application for Centre Internship Plus."

Founded in 1992, IBMM is the only museum in the world dedicated to bluegrass music and its 80 million fans. After receiving a $3 million grant from the Kentucky state government in 1999, the museum closed for major renovations and re-opened in 2001 as a state-of-the-art facility.

"The museum had numerous international visitors while I was working there," Hast says. "I hope the translations have made the museum more accessible and inviting to foreign guests. Bluegrass truly is a worldwide musical genre, and non-English speakers deserve the chance to enjoy the museum as much as English speakers."

Each June, the museum hosts a bluegrass festival called ROMP (River of Music Party), which also serves as a major museum fund raiser. During her internship, Hast worked to accommodate the museum's international audience for this special event.

"The translations were actually just a small part of a summer internship I was doing at the museum," Hast says. "In the weeks leading up to ROMP, the museum’s director, Gabrielle Gray, wanted to make the museum 'truly international,' so she asked me to translate signs in the museum."

Hast says she started with just a sign on the front door that said, "Welcome to the International Bluegrass Museum" in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Czech and Japanese. Then she expanded the number of signs to help international guests navigate their way around the museum, like "Stairs" and "Exhibit continues on the second floor."

"Before ROMP, I also helped write band bios for the program guide," Hast says. "During the festival, I was in charge of the hospitality tent for the artists. The festival took a lot of planning but turned out perfectly—the weather was gorgeous and there were great acts like the Dillards, Doc Watson and Cherryholmes."

For the remainder of her internship, Hast worked alongside curator Liz Bragg on the installation of two new museum exhibits. She also wrote a grant with the National Endowment for the Arts for the BITS program (Bluegrass in the Schools) that brings musicians with fiddles, mandolins and banjos into elementary school classrooms and teaches the students about Kentucky music and heritage.

"I was really unsure about my career goals, but the internship provided me with a wide range of experiences, like grant writing, editing, communications, public relations, marketing and working in a non-profit organization," Hast says. "I’m still not entirely sure what career path I’m headed down, but I know my strengths lie in writing and editing. I also know that I don't want to go into event planning—it's way too stressful for me!"

With an internship, Centre students gain an extra edge that will help them secure more meaningful jobs after graduation. More importantly, they gain real-world experience that will be of benefit throughout their lives. Centre is dedicated to helping students find quality internship experiences in the career area of their choice.

- end -

Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.