Being asked about a Turkish archaeology internship I completed in the past in a job interview setting would certainly not be the oddest thing to ever happen, yet still oddly specific. If a potential employer were to ask, I would likely spend a lot of time discussing how much I learned in such a short time around so many various topics, from walls to coins, from wildlife to bones. If the employer were to take one thing from my rambling about this experience, it would primarily lie in my ability to work well in uncomfortable situations. The heat and humidity could often be seen as unbearable and oftentimes tensions rise to an unpleasant boil within the group.

I would explain it as it was: an internship with the primary objective of both probing my interest of history and to teach me various skills, including precise excavation, critical thinking, succinct reporting of facts, and a level of leadership and self-reflection. The most marketable thing have acquired is likely critical thinking, and possibly the ability to learn on the fly.

This has been a lovely time where I learned more than I ever wanted to know about how to uproot weeds, so that will be a help at home and potentially in my life in general. I learned monetary conservation here as well, as I have begun to budget myself significantly to avoid overspending. I have learned how to intelligently communicate with someone who does not necessarily understand my language, though I will need to improve my hearing at some point. I have learned how to have a proper, professional relationship with a coworker with as little enmity as possible. I have learned how to precisely draw things using straightedges, wires, and LOADS of paper. In brief, I have learned much in a very short period, and I am actually rather proud of that.