My name is Jeremy Buenviaje and I have recently finished my final semester at SDSU as a History Major. I am currently working as the part – time temporary Digital Humanities Assistant at the Digital Humanities Center in Love Library. I was brought on as an Emergency Hire to fill staffing gaps in the Digital Humanities Center. As the DH Assistant, I strive to be an asset to the Center by providing assistance to the DH faculty, staff and students. Some of my roles include: maintaining both the weekly and master calendar for the DH, setting up the Digital Humanities Center for public and private events and ensuring the proper use of our equipment.
Interestingly enough, working in Digital Humanities never seemed like an option for a History major such as myself. Last semester I was intent on becoming an archivist after taking Dr. Sarah Elkind’s History 452 Internship at the Coronado Historical Association. But then I took Dr. Beth Pollard’s History 503 class “Ancient Rome”, which incorporated Digital Humanities and Digital Media, with the expertise of Dr. Pam Lach. I was amazed at what you could do applying digital tools to the study of history. Dr. Lach showed us how to create timelines and beautifully illustrated story maps with simple HTML coding which inspired me to say to myself “How do I work at the Digital Humanities Center?” With the acute attention to detail and constant organizing from Professor Elkind’s internship to the technological and group work aspect from Professor Pollard’s class, I made my way to the Digital Humanities Center. I would like to thank all of my History Professors and friends who have helped me along the way and especially the Library and Digital Humanities Faculty and Staff for this wonderful opportunity.
Such a great testimony of your journey! One of the first things that came to mind after reading this was, “Life is like a box of chocolates… You never know what you’re gonna get.” And seemingly, you got a great piece of chocolate; One that blends the past with the present… And the future! Keep it up, Jeremy!