Working at the Roberson Museum and Science Center opened my eyes to a community outside of frat houses and State Street bars. And that’s something I didn’t really know I was getting into before I did it.
When I received the email that I had been accepted as a special events intern at the Roberson Museum, I did what any other mature, independent 20-year-old college student would do: I called mom.
She cheered at the good news, and promptly interrogated me about the internship: Where is the museum? What type of museum is it? What would I be doing? I then realized that I — though a mature, independent 20-year-old college student with her first internship acceptance — had no answers to these questions. Sure, I had been given a brief description of “a day in the life of a Roberson intern” during the interview, and even had a quick poke around the museum gift shop. But these trifle things were all I knew of the museum’s existence.
Which is more than I can say of my fellow classmates. As it turns out, a lot more goes on in this old college town than Wednesday night trivia at Tom & Marty’s and half-price burritos at Zona. When I began working as an intern, I immediately began working on a Valentine’s Murder Mystery Dinner to be held in the ballroom of the Roberson Mansion, adjacent to the museum.
At that point, the tickets had already been sold out, the catering company had been scheduled and the musicians and actors had been contacted. All that was left to do was create an atmosphere for what promised to be a lovely night. Tables were draped with elegant black cloths, a single rose standing in a vase at the center. Servers, also dressed in black, stood at the ready behind the buffet line. The band warmed up for the arrival of our guests. The guests talked, ate and drank wine. They “oohed” and “aahed” at all the right moments of the skit. All in all, the night was a success. When I wasn’t ushering a couple to their seats or running for more wine, I was standing by, watching people enjoy a night of laughter, amusement and love — a night that I and the rest of the Roberson staff had created.
The next week we began preparing for the Regional Art Exhibition. The other interns and I divided up all the counties within a 150-mile radius of Binghamton, and began searching for and contacting any regional artists who might want to submit their work. We also began contacting wineries in the area, asking them to partake in our annual Wine & Food Fest. Eventually, we got 30 wineries, four breweries, one distillery and 50 restaurants to attend this year’s festival (on Thursday). Aside from preparing for these major events, I also spend a lot of time contributing and editing new posts for the museum’s website, posting our planetarium’s showtimes and, yes, stuffing envelopes from time to time (I still have some classic intern duties).
So much history and culture exists in this small city that gets lost in the hustle and bustle of student life. Get off campus. Escape the confines of your apartment. Take a walk in Chenango Valley State Park. Round up your friends for a Binghamton Mets game. Or visit me at the museum. Embrace the community so many of us take for granted. You might be surprised at how much you end up loving it.