Well, at least on park ranger is on vacation. Isaac Wickenheiser gets a break from his duties at Harpers Ferry this week but not before he sent us his latest blog post.
Alas, my time here at Harpers Ferry is soon drawing to a close. I am on vacation this week, and afterward, I might work another week here before heading up to State College for the commencement of the fall semester. That week may not be my last one here however. As I mentioned previously, David Fox, my supervisor was soon due to attend my tour program. He did attend it on July 18th. His feedback for my program was extremely positive, and he provided some very helpful critiques as to how I can make my program even more effective, mainly to stop pacing around in front of my tour groups. When I took speech class at PSU my sophomore year I was usually stiff and seemingly cemented to the ground. In an effort to loosen up as a Harpers Ferry guide, I ended up over-compensating, and now I move so much that it can be a bit distracting for my tour groups. My frenetic pacing makes me resemble a caged tiger. Improving that has been my goal the two times I have given my tour since David Fox's observation, and I believe I have made some strides in that area. I met a previous Harpers Ferry intern from Penn State over the weekend, Bob Spellman. It was a lot of fun to meet him and share stories about our experiences at the park. It was also nice to see how working at the park inspires loyalty among past rangers, like Bob. Former rangers frequently return to the park to catch up with old friends, meet new rangers and just to see what's new.
I had the privilege of hosting the superintendent of Harpers Ferry, Rebecca Harriett, on my program on July 25th. The superintendent is the top National Park Service official at our park, responsible for overseeing every aspect of the park's operation. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous. On the way over to being my program I had this knot that was growing in my stomach. Once I launched in to my delivery though, the knot began to disappear, and the nervousness faded. All of the training, the practicing, and the experience of conducting tours and programs seemed to take over, and I felt confident in my own knowledge of the topic and my experience in presenting it to numerous people. Overall I felt like it was a good program and that I represented Penn State well for the superintendent.
Tomorrow is our trip to the National Museum of the Marine Corps. It promises to be an amazing experience. Lin Ezell, the museum's director, described it in 2010 as being "up close, personal and gripping." I am sure that is an accurate assessment and cannot wait to experience it for myself. I will definitely have some experiences from the museum to write about next time.
The National Museum of the Marine Corps
Finally, I also cross-trained with Living History today. What I had hoped to be a day of shadowing Living History people and experiencing what they do in a normal day, including their tour programs, turned out to be menial jobs like scraping rust out of tinware and painting a table. It was kind of a drag, but oh well, not the worst day I've ever had. Well good day folks, until next time. I know my colleague, Nate Hess, already has blogged about living history as an effective teaching tool. Hopefully, I'll get to learn more about the techniques of conducting living history, if I cross-train with them again. All in all though, I've already learned a great deal about interpreting history for the public on this job.
Isaac Wickenheiser
"You are green, it is true but they are green, also; you are all green alike."
President Abraham Lincoln urging General Irvin McDowell of the Army of the Potomac to attack the Confederate army under P.G.T. Beauregard, leading to the battle of 1st Manassas/Bull Run, 07/20/1861
Alas, my time here at Harpers Ferry is soon drawing to a close. I am on vacation this week, and afterward, I might work another week here before heading up to State College for the commencement of the fall semester. That week may not be my last one here however. As I mentioned previously, David Fox, my supervisor was soon due to attend my tour program. He did attend it on July 18th. His feedback for my program was extremely positive, and he provided some very helpful critiques as to how I can make my program even more effective, mainly to stop pacing around in front of my tour groups. When I took speech class at PSU my sophomore year I was usually stiff and seemingly cemented to the ground. In an effort to loosen up as a Harpers Ferry guide, I ended up over-compensating, and now I move so much that it can be a bit distracting for my tour groups. My frenetic pacing makes me resemble a caged tiger. Improving that has been my goal the two times I have given my tour since David Fox's observation, and I believe I have made some strides in that area. I met a previous Harpers Ferry intern from Penn State over the weekend, Bob Spellman. It was a lot of fun to meet him and share stories about our experiences at the park. It was also nice to see how working at the park inspires loyalty among past rangers, like Bob. Former rangers frequently return to the park to catch up with old friends, meet new rangers and just to see what's new.
I had the privilege of hosting the superintendent of Harpers Ferry, Rebecca Harriett, on my program on July 25th. The superintendent is the top National Park Service official at our park, responsible for overseeing every aspect of the park's operation. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous. On the way over to being my program I had this knot that was growing in my stomach. Once I launched in to my delivery though, the knot began to disappear, and the nervousness faded. All of the training, the practicing, and the experience of conducting tours and programs seemed to take over, and I felt confident in my own knowledge of the topic and my experience in presenting it to numerous people. Overall I felt like it was a good program and that I represented Penn State well for the superintendent.
Tomorrow is our trip to the National Museum of the Marine Corps. It promises to be an amazing experience. Lin Ezell, the museum's director, described it in 2010 as being "up close, personal and gripping." I am sure that is an accurate assessment and cannot wait to experience it for myself. I will definitely have some experiences from the museum to write about next time.
The National Museum of the Marine Corps
Finally, I also cross-trained with Living History today. What I had hoped to be a day of shadowing Living History people and experiencing what they do in a normal day, including their tour programs, turned out to be menial jobs like scraping rust out of tinware and painting a table. It was kind of a drag, but oh well, not the worst day I've ever had. Well good day folks, until next time. I know my colleague, Nate Hess, already has blogged about living history as an effective teaching tool. Hopefully, I'll get to learn more about the techniques of conducting living history, if I cross-train with them again. All in all though, I've already learned a great deal about interpreting history for the public on this job.
Isaac Wickenheiser
"You are green, it is true but they are green, also; you are all green alike."
President Abraham Lincoln urging General Irvin McDowell of the Army of the Potomac to attack the Confederate army under P.G.T. Beauregard, leading to the battle of 1st Manassas/Bull Run, 07/20/1861
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