The most marketable skill that I have developed during this internship program is the ability to bite into the work. Digging is not easy. Not remotely. It is physically and mentally draining. The sun is hot, the air is thick, your progress is slow and oftentimes unremarkable. All the while you are caked in sweat, dirt, and grime. Persisting through the work despite the intensity of the environment, not missing a day on site (thus far…) is one of my proudest feats.
I am not sure how I would go about explaining this to an employer though. That I thought the work was hard and didn’t always want to do it. It would take some careful wording to convey the sense that I don’t have to feel inspired by or enamored with my labor to still feel compelled to complete it. The feeling that has been growing within me as our unit comes closer and closer to scratching the floor of our structure has been enough of a motivator to make me look forward to the next day’s work.
I find it unlikely that in the future I will be applying for many positions where archeology is directly related to the work. I’d want them then to understand that I am able to adapt to an environment. I feel at home in my dormitory, I’ve found a good role for me in my work, I have made friends throughout different levels of the program. I’d also want to stress that the program was in some ways a RESEARCH INTERNSHIP and I was simultaneously in other ways a VOLUNTEER. Maybe then I can come off as interesting and interested, with backgrounds in many different practices.
If my interviewer had been to Turkey before maybe it could just be an angle for small talk. Even that would be a valuable thing to have.
I just like the feeling that I committed to something difficult. I hope an employer could respect that.
