For anyone who doesn't already know, I work in Visitor Services, which effectively means that I wear many different hats. I help out in the Development Office once a week, occasionally work in the operator's booth and man the museum's various coatrooms, in addition to selling tickets and answering general museum questions. Today I happened to be doing two of these jobs simultaneously. As I kept watch over a few coats, bags and umbrellas in the coatroom I stuffed envelops and applied mailing labels to two different mailings for the Development Office.
Mid-stuff a momentarily horrifying thought crossed my mind: this is not why I went to graduate school.
In a very real sense, I did not go to graduate school to stuff envelops, hang up coats or sell tickets. Inquiring visitors have asked me what my "real job" is after learning about my background. I have felt embarrassed, even ashamed, of my job at various points.
But when I really think about the job that I do, I start to feel a little better. The work I do is humbling - in a good way. And I can see the connections between what I do now and what I want to do. Yes, I would prefer to be working with the collections in a hands-on kind of way but showing people how to find them in a gallery is in many ways just as important. The mission of any museum is, after all, to educate as well as to preserve.
Even if I didn't specifically get a degree in envelop-stuffing or label-applying, I did go to school to work in a museum. Right now, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity and I will await a collections position with both patience and grace.
