This is a guest blog post written by engineering student Leyla Moreno.
Special Collections is a very important department at the University of Arkansas that not many students get to know during their years of college. Prior to getting the job to help in the design of “Long Hair, Soft Hands: The Back to the Land Movement in Northwest Arkansas,” I had never been in Special Collections. As a sophomore engineering student, the only books I had been reading during the past two years were scientific reports and outlined mathematical models. How could I work in a department where almost all the materials were about history? Exploring completely different fields during college is something that students in college should challenge themselves to do. Although I plan on being an engineer, I was curious to see what I could learn from the Special Collections department. College is also about getting to know more people, learning how to work in teams, and sharing what you already know with others. When I was offered the position of Exhibitions Assistant in Special Collections, I thought to myself, “In new things, there are good things.” Although I was a little afraid to work in a new area outside of engineering, I decided to accept the challenge.
Being part of this exhibition has helped me grow in different areas. First, I learned about the back to the land movement in the 1960s and 1970s in America, something I’d never heard about before. One more topic to talk about with my friends and family members! Also, I got to learn how to use two completely different types of software for graphic design from what I was used to working in engineering. Life can take us to different paths, so it is important to learn as many skills as you can. Finally, I had to engineer display mounts to set fragile materials like newspapers, photographs and rare books without damaging them, so my brain was working hard out of a classroom. That much time to install an exhibition? I used to say. Indeed, there are so many things we have to be careful with when designing an exhibition, but it is worth it to see other people learning from the displays.