Behind-the-STEM is a new blog series written from the point-of-view of an LSC team member. Each post dives into a unique experience about life at the Science Center and what it's like bringing the power, promise, and pure fun of science and technology to people of all ages.

Writer: Mildrenny Rivera
Position: Communications Intern and Part-Time Volunteer Development Assistant

As a sophomore going into my junior year of high school, I began looking for places to fulfill my community service duties in order to graduate. I came across Liberty Science Center's volunteer program, which excited me because I've loved LSC since I was a kid.

Little did I realize, though, was how involved I would become. From volunteer to intern to volunteer development assistant, LSC has become my second home and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I started volunteering in 2012 and came in twice a week during the summer. My time as a volunteer was the best; I loved engaging with guests and working on activities with them, learning science concepts myself, and sharing all the amazing new facts I had learned.

As a volunteer at LSC, our main priority was to engage with the guests and help make their visit here as fun and educational as possible. I loved working in the traveling exhibition, In The Dark, where we showed guests how to make their own lava lamps using water, vegetable oil and Alka-Seltzer. Within that same exhibition was another fun activity using special ink and a blacklight to create glow in the dark fingerprints that the guests could take home.

My favorite exhibitions were Eat and Be Eaten and Our Hudson Home – where the animals live! My personal favorite animal was the alligator snapping turtle, and I loved sharing facts with guests such as how it catches prey using its worm-like tongue.

I loved volunteering at LSC so much that I continued to volunteer there for the next two summers through high school. It made such a huge impact on my life and love for STEM that it was actually one of the main reasons I chose to study electrical engineering in college.

Of course, life doesn’t always go the way you planned, and I ended up becoming more interested in communications which I switched my major to. Within this field, there are so many subjects to explore, including graphic design, web design, and even television, film, and video.

This past summer, I was thrilled to return to LSC, this time as an intern for their communications team! I've gotten to do so many exciting things, such as building LSC's new, mobile-friendly website, writing articles for the LSC blog, creating captions for social media posts, working behind-the-scenes at media events, and even helping with LSC After Dark events.

I am always working on something new, and I am grateful to learn things that relate to my major while also being in a place that keeps me close to my STEM roots.

But in addition to interning, I was also given the opportunity to work as a part-time volunteer development assistant on the weekends. In this role, I now get to help run the volunteer department! From creating daily schedules to helping interview prospective volunteers and interns, there is a lot that goes into this role.

There are so many opportunities for growth when working at LSC. Many people, like myself, started off as volunteers before joining in a part-time or full-time capacity – some people are now even in charge of entire departments! LSC is such a fun place to work that once you fall in love with the environment you never want to leave.

Click here to learn more about volunteer and internship opportunities at Liberty Science Center.