My Second Co-Op

Channing Stephens

Summer2/Fall 2013

I was an Anthropology Intern for the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii; The Bishop Museum is a non-profit Hawaiian cultural museum.

I worked under Dr. Mara Mulrooney, PhD.

It was an unpaid co-op, and therefore a 20/20 co-op. I temporarily took a part time job at a restaurant to help supplement my funds.

My position was established before I arrived in Hawaii. I did anything and everything that needed to be done. A lot of it was mundane and a lot of it was grunt work, but knowing that what I was doing will ultimately help future scholar made it all worth it. Dr. Mulrooney was also very attentive and made sure I knew I was doing a good job.

Because the office environment was so small, I was trusted with bigger projects (e.g. the opening of Pacific Hall, Society for Hawaiian Archaeology Conference)

Dr. Mulrooney fixed it so I handled and installed artifacts that are more than 3000 years old! I was surprised because not many 21 year olds can say their boss trusted them to handle something so precious. Now I’m just jaded.

I developed a close relationship with my boss and co-workers. I never felt inferior or irksome. I honestly felt like part of the Bishop museum ohana.

I got to go around the museum for free and visit awesome exhibits.

I was featured in a few publications (e.g. a local

Hawaiian magazine, see last picture; the

museum’s press release for the Legos exhibit)

I got the office experience I needed for my

resume without getting the typical office just-a-

workhorse experience my friends have received

in the past

Although my co-op was not paid, I regularly

received free food and drinks due to all of the

events the Anthropology department organized

I had ample time to explore other islands like the big island and Maui

I lived in Hawaii where everyday was 80 F and sunny

I figured out that I don’t want to pursue archaeology or museum studies in the best and most fun way possible

Easily the best co-op experience I’ve had thusly

I wouldn’t say I had a job; I would say I had many jobs. Most of the time I digitalized the photo library, but if my boss had other ideas for the day then my job could be anywhere from shadowing her, observing her duties, and being moral support, to being lent out to some of the PhD candidates using the Anthropology lab for their theses to being lent out to other departments who didn’t have interns of their own (this usually meant free food, so I was happy to comply).

Even the mundane things I was asked to do (and there were many) I was happy to do, because I knew that I was making somebody’s life easier. I also enjoyed the genuine appreciation my boss had for my accomplishments. The interesting thing about my duties is that because all of the big events occurred during the first half of my co-op, my responsibilities dwindled. I’d never complain though, because I knew given the opportunity, I’d have been given greater responsibilities (but really, can you top being trusted not to break something thousands of years old?)

Well, of course with any co-op, there had to be

some pitfalls, and mine was no exception. There

were only two issues that came up:

The bus system proved to be very untrustworthy

Being a permanent department of four people,

small conflicts tend to turn into big conflicts.

Sometimes I would feel caught in the middle.

I learned from this experience is to try really hard not

to listen when your bosses are fighting, and if one of

your bosses tries to talk to you about the issue off the

clock, be polite, but try not to engage

Hawaii is a very relaxed state, and it was not abnormal in the slightest for people to go out drinking after work. I never felt awkward (except for the situation between the two bosses) nor out of place at any of these functions

Forms of hanging out included: Pau Haunas (House Parties)

Going for a drink after work

Going surfing on the weekends

Watching a sports game

Having a movie night

Supporting other’s endeavors

I think I had a unique experience with Hawaiian culture, because I came directly from studying abroad in Australia and studying modern Aborigine culture. The two ways in which the indigenous people see themselves could not be more different. Hawaiian is a culture that is very much revered within the native Hawaiians. It is a very protected culture, and not merely anyone can say they are Hawaiian. In Australia, however, Aborigines still have to struggle to be viewed as human. One is not even supposed to ask someone if they are Aboriginal because it is considered offensive!

That being said, I did hear accounts about how difficult native Hawaiians have it compared to their White counterparts. For example, Honolulu has a terrible public education system, many Hawaiian teens drop out and/or become pregnant. Teen homelessness amongst Hawaiians is also a problem. I had at a burger restaurant and I worked with a very pretty 18 year old girl. She had dropped out of school at 16 and had been living on her own since. She considered her best friend to be spoiled because she had lived with her parents until she was 18 and got her first job then, too.

Other Hawaiians I spoke to said that that occurrence was not uncommon.

I do NOT want to go into academia

I do NOT want to work in a museum or

archaeology

Office environments matter almost as much

as the work itself

There is nothing like a Waikiki Sunset

In my last co-op I felt more like a token presence. I

did not feel like I was utilized correctly nor

appreciated for what I could bring to table. This co-

op was a complete 180 to that experience. Dr.

Mulrooney and the other women in the office made

me feel utilized and needed. I was assigned multiple

types of tasks, and there was almost never a dull

day. If I were interested in archaeology, I would go

back for a third co-op, but alas I am not. This was a

great experience, overall.