Rebekah Erwin has a blast during her summer internship at Fort McClary
It鈥檚 fair to say that Rebekah Erwin 鈥16 got a real bang out of her recently completed summer internship at Fort McClary in Kittery, Maine.
Erwin, of Sanford, first connected with Fort McClary, a Maine State Park, in hopes that it could offer her an internship dealing with animals, an experience that could be valuable to her major in Animal Behavior. The park manager, Glenn 鈥淒oc鈥 Dochtermann, however, told her that he did not have any animal-related internships to offer.
A year later, though, Erwin, who had by that point added a history minor to her studies, dug out Dochtermann鈥檚 contact information, thinking that a Fort McClary internship might be a fun way to earn history credits, and over this past summer Erwin got the experience she was seeking.
Fort McClary, Maine鈥檚 southernmost historic site, has served as a garrison since the 1600s. In addition to completing physical tasks associated with the smooth operation of the fort, such as performing tree removal, filling in gravel in the parking lot and sharpening chainsaws, Erwin spent her time at the fort assisting in administrative work and helping to coordinate staff, schedules and interdepartmental activity.
One group with whom she worked was the Friends of Fort McClary, a non-profit interested in preserving the fort and its history. As part of her internship experience, Erwin participated in two historical reenactments that were staged by the Friends鈥one of the French and Indian War and the other of the Revolutionary War. Adding extra significance to the events was the fact that during Erwin鈥檚 internship, the fort鈥攁fter several years of unsuccessful attempts鈥finally managed to acquire two historic cannons that had been sitting at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
Erwin dressed as a colonial woman for the Revolutionary War reenactment and even learned how to fire a musket鈥攁 skill that may come in handy in her future job as a State Trooper, a stepping stone to her ultimate goal of putting her animal behavior degree to use as a trainer of police dogs. Clearly a proponent of internships, Erwin, in addition to interning at Fort McClary, previously completed an internship with the State Police.
鈥淗ands on experiences, especially in the field you have chosen, are really important and can help you decide if that career is really the field for you,鈥 she shared. 鈥淢y advice for other students is do not wait to find your internship, and don鈥檛 settle for an internship that isn鈥檛 what you want.鈥