Darja Samarina

"As an intern at the State Hermitage Museum, my main tasks involve maintaining the work of volunteers and help organising events in the museum. In terms of the volunteers, I bring them to places where they can help visitors within the museum, and for the organisation of events, I mostly help making guest lists, prepare exhibitions and meet guests."

Responsibility for the work performance of others

"The most valuable lesson I learned is that you need to not only be responsible for your own work, but also for the work of other people. The main aim of the museum is to make the visit of people as pleasant as possible, so I don’t just feel responsible for the work I put out, but also for the work performance of others. Not only that, I am also able to apply knowledge gained from courses such as History of Arts and Cultures, as one is expected to know all the important parts of art history, as well as Cultural Management as it helped me with organising events."

Knowing important parts of art history

"I was looking for an internship at museums, and I checked all the websites from the museums I wanted to intern at. You should not be afraid to write an application to even the biggest and most famous organisations. The State Hermitage Museum was still looking for an intern in the Volunteer Service of the museum. I never thought I would have the opportunity to do an internship at such a large and famous museum such as the State Hermitage Museum, but now I work in a great cultural environment!"