My name is Adelina and I am a third year English Literature with Writing student at the University of the West of England. For this year`s writing module, students like me are undertaking a 36-hour long placement. The idea is that we feel prepared to find a suitable job after graduating. This is why we didn`t just simply rock up to our workplace but instead we went through a formal interview process, with our lecturers and potential employers. As nerve wrecking this as this interview was (I forgot about half of the answers I had prepared) Bristol Museum and Art Gallery agreed to take me on as a placement student.

On my first Day, Mark gave me a tour around the museum. I had visited before but didn`t realize how massive the building really was. Mark warned me that I will probably get lost in the beginning. I laughed at first, and although I hate to admit it, I did in fact get lost about three times on my first day. I even had a chance to go down to the archives, where I saw more curious things than I could have ever dreamed of. Down there was an incredible collection. From oil paintings and porcelain figurines to preserved bugs and ancient books, they had everything!

On my second day, I met Sophie who had a super fun task for me. I had the opportunity to familiarize myself with the museum`s online shop and even write a few product descriptions.

Here`s a link to the online shop and the items I worked on. Why don`t you have a look around? 😊https://shop.bristolmuseums.org.uk/collections/making-waves-mary-anning-and-her-astonishing-ichthyosaur

 I also had the opportunity to work on the museum`s February newsletter. I was impressed on how much planning the staff must do, so that they can keep their visitors updated. Although I have created blog posts as part of my studies before, I felt proud of having contributed to this project. It was a great feeling knowing that subscribers to the Museum`s newsletter will read something that I put a lot of effort in.

Here are a few pictures of the February Newsletter:

If you would like to subscribe to Bristol Museum`s newsletter, you can do so here:

https://subscribe.emailblaster.cloud/MTk2MDc/639.html

Over the course of my placement, I familiarized myself with how the museum maintains their websites. I logged into the museum`s WordPress and Shopify. I searched for related items to the websites post and added them at the bottom of the page. It was so interesting to see how important this type of marketing is within the museum`s structure.

Here`s an example:

Browse the online shop here: http://Bristol gifts, homeware, books, souvenirs, art from local artists – Bristol Museums

Perhaps the most challenging, yet most rewarding tasks was to create a social media plan. From 13 January until 30 April Bristol Museum and Art Gallery is displaying their “Making Waves” exhibition all about “Mary Anning and her astonishing ichthyosaur”. It was my job to promote this exhibition by creating a social media schedule for the exhibition and related events. This was particularly challenging for me as I personally don`t use social media and am not used to drafting posts. Luckly, I was giving a writing style guide which ended up being a massive help. So, if you follow Bristol Museum and Art Gallery on X (Twitter) and Instagram you may just stumble across a post that I wrote. 😊

Follow the Museum on social media!

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery (@bristolmuseum) / X (twitter.com)

https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/182537/bristol-museum-art-gallery/

Another fun exercise the team had planned for me was to create YouTube thumbnails, for videos about the Mary Anning exhibition that I mentioned earlier. The museum uses Canva for this. Although I had never used Canva before I felt as though I figured it out relatively quickly and enjoyed playing around with different motives and effects, to create visually appealing thumbnails. It was great to get to work on a project that was so out of my comfort zone and enjoying it.

Here is an example of a thumbnail I made.

You can watch the “Making Waves” videos on Bristol Museum`s official You Tube channel. Klick here to explore their channel and to subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/BristolmuseumsOrgUk

Overall, I had a wonderful time working for the Museum. It was amazing to be able to look behind the curtain of a museum so many adults and children alike visit daily. The placement gave me more confidence in my writing skills. Even though I have been living in England for a few years now, I still sometimes feel doubtful about my writing skills, since English is my second language. So, the team’s encouragement and support meant a lot to me and helped me become a more confident writer. I am grateful for this experience, and I believe that it will benefit me a lot, when taking my next step, which will be to apply for a master’s degree (fingers crossed).

Thank you so much to UWE and to Bristol Museum and Art Gallery for this opportunity. I am excited to come back again soon, only this time as a visitor. 😊

See you soon, Bristol Museum!