The strangest way to start this post is by saying most of my experience in museums comes from walking around museums while traveling, attending in-person and virtual workshops, and visiting museum websites. The love of museums is constant and why I’m traveling on this path to obtain my master’s in Museum Studies.
My first behind-the-scenes experience occurred during the summer of 2022 as a volunteer at the Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen’s Museum in Tuckerton, New Jersey. Most days volunteering were spent in the Tuckers Island Lighthouse which is where the welcome center, museum, gift shop, and check-in for boat tours or school groups happens; it is best to consider it the heart of Tuckerton Seaport. As a volunteer, my job was welcoming and directing visitors, collecting museum admission payments, checking in visitors for ferry and creek rides, ringing up purchases at the gift shop and preparing educational supplies for the Educational center and Education director. The Seaport is geared toward families with younger children, school groups, and locals wishing to learn about the history of the seaport industry. The Seaport is open all year long with many holiday events that keep the locals and families coming back. Many people visit the area for a few hours and travel there by car, ferry, and even on bicycles. The summer season is the busiest of the year, as a ferry ride runs hourly between the Seaport and Long Beach Island, which allows visitors to come for the day or just go for the sights and tour on the ferry.
Most of my work during the summer was about preparing educational materials for visitors and school groups where I would prepare hands-on learning tools from crafting a local fish, building a sheep, or creating a reproduction bird decoy. These projects were designed for the Folklife Center, where children and families could create the project on-site or take home as a souvenir on their first or fifteenth visit to the Seaport. Some of the projects changed every few weeks based on demand, for special events, or holidays. Overall the summer experience was very rewarding because I was able to meet some great people, learn some history I did not know, and get an experience that provided insight into the benefits of a museum and cultural history center.
As for me as a museum visitor, my motivation comes from learning about history and the people of that time or specific place and trying to immerse myself in it through visiting as many museums, restaurants, and tourist or local spots as possible. A great example of this was last summer on a trip to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The initial influence for the trip was to visit the Fallingwater House in Mill Run, PA; and meet Rebecca Hagen, a JHU Alumni.; whom I interviewed for the Exploring Museum Professionals class. I also desired to explore Phipps Conservancy and Botanical Garden, in Pittsburg, PA, where I learned about their conservation and green initiatives while doing research for the Museums of the Americas class. Not only were the aforementioned museums on the list, but ended up visiting eight other museums in a short five-day trip. It was a full nose-dive into everything that represented Pittsburg, its history, innovations, and people. When visiting the very different museums the goal was always to connect with something in each museum based on personal experiences or something I knew nothing about which could lead to new life interests in the future.
Swancey's Travels 
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