Experiencing the American Dream

NMAH intern Vanessa Chicas talks about her experience at the Smithsonian and in America

This past summer, Vanessa Chicas interned with the National Museum of American History (NMAM) Program in Latino History and Culture.

On the “O Say Can You See?” blog, Vanessa recently posted an article about her experiences and how her time at the Smithsonian changed her outlook on life. She was apart of the bicentennial celebration of the Star Spangled Banner, and Vanessa believed that being apart of something that important made her feel like her own connections to American history were growing stronger.

Vanessa also had the opportunity to witness fifteen people be naturalized and become American citizens. Seeing that made her look back on the struggle that her own family had gone through and also how they can look forward to becoming American citizens themselves.

You can read more about Vanessa’s experience here.