Regina Reyes-Zaragoza

Summer 2013 Intern, Office of Fellowships and Internships

Regina is a Summer 2013 Intern, whose tenure dates are June 3rd to August 2nd.

Regina is an International Affairs and Art History double major and part of the 2015 graduating class at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Regina is taking part in a program through her university called CU in D.C., which sponsors students through an internship in D.C. It provides students with benefits such as housing and transportation, as well as giving students college credit for the time invested in their internship. An internship with the Smithsonian is an ideal first real-world experience that allows its students to expand their education through the mentors at their multitude of museums and offices; there is something in the Smithsonian for everyone. For Regina, it was her interest in art history and international affairds that led her to seek a Smithsonian internship; it is a perfect introduction for a future career in Museum Management and Foreign Service.

Regina is tri-lingual and multi-cultural. She was born in the United States, but raised in Mexico; Spanish is her first language. She has been learning French for six years and intends to study abroad in Paris for a full year to finally master French to the point of fluency. She has always been highly immersed in various forms of art, receiving awards all throughout high school and planned to go to art school; however, she decided to puruse other interests. In her spare time, she climbs, skis in the winter, paints, writes, expands her photography skills, and makes encaustics.

Prior to the Smithsonian, Regina volunteered at a local museum in Boulder called the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. She later became an intern there where she organized events and bartended at those events. She helped with the outreach aspect at the Farmers’ Markets to increase awareness of the museum’s exhibits and other information. She was also a Residential Assistant at her boarding school.

Since Regina has been at OFI, she has learned that the best sort of learning experience is one where not only you expand on the projects that others are working on, but you also provide the office with something new and unique to you. You make your own projects and think of ways that systems could be improved. She is truly thankful to work with a team that encourages one’s own projects without straying from the purpose of the office and the workplace.