Liberal Arts Major(s): English
Minor: French
Hometown: State College, Pennsylvania
Experience Time: Fall 2020

Give us a brief summary of your experience?

I worked as an intern for The Hemingway Letters Project, which is producing a comprehensive, scholarly edition of all of Ernest Hemingway's letters, being published by Cambridge University Press. I searched primary (such as online sale listings of letters and auction catalogs) and secondary sources for letters by Hemingway that have never been published before, as well as letters that have been published but are not yet accounted for in our master archive. After finding these letters, I accessioned them, which is assigning each letter a code and uploading the letter to an electronic archive. In addition to accessioning, I updated a comprehensive bibliography, scanned multiple primary and secondary source documents for use by researchers, and authenticated Hemingway quotes.

How did this experience impact you academically?

I was able to earn academic credit for the internship, which helped me complete requirements for my major. In addition, I was able to learn more about a well-known author who is a large part of American history and literature, an author whose work I had read in my high school English classes.

Through this internship I was able to see a lot of the small but vital parts that go into publishing a book... This experience has further prepared me for the editing and publishing world in which I want to pursue a career.

How will this experience impact your career goals?

Through this internship I was able to see a lot of the small but vital parts that go into publishing a book, specifically an academic and scholarly one. This experience has further prepared me for the editing and publishing world in which I want to pursue a career.

How has the College of the Liberal Arts helped you to find and/or succeed in this experience (e.g., adviser, faculty, staff, enrichment funds, etc.)?

Dr. Verna Kale, Assistant Research professor of English at Penn State and the Associate Editor of the Project, helped me succeed through training me to work as an intern, explaining things to me when I didn't fully understand something, answering any questions I had, and checking up on me and how I was doing with the work. The Enrichment funds helped me through covering some of the expenses that came with working for the Project, such as the internet bill since I worked remotely, and the tuition cost since I was able to get academic credit for the internship.