Intern Update: Amanda Andrei
Amanda hiking Mt. Pulag in Benguet, Philippines (Spring 2009).
Amanda Andrei interned with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American (APA) Program in summer 2008 as a Smithsonian Minority Achievement Award recipient. Following her internship, Amanda studied abroad at the Ateneo de Manila in Quezon City, Philippines. At the College of William and Mary, she served as president of the Filipino American Student Association (FASA) and completed her Anthropology Honors Thesis on Filipino food. In Spring 2010, Amanda received her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with a minor in Math. Even after her internship, Amanda continued to serve as an editor for the Smithsonian APA Program’s e-Newsletter and as a Smithsonian Folklife Festival volunteer.
Amanda’s advice to future interns is to explore everything! According to Amanda,
“Do what you love, but try things you know nothing about. Talk to everyone and learn their stories—you never know who you might end up helping in the future or who might help you.”
Amanda emphasizes that no matter what you do, the greatest skill in the workplace is communication.
Since graduation, Amanda has pursued many exciting interests. She was one of the few Asian Americans to work as a costumed interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg. She went on to criss-cross Europe and the eastern seaboard before returning to northern Virginia. But the adventures did not end there—Amanda currently works as an artificial intelligence engineer and is completing graduate coursework in Computational Social Science at George Mason University. She enjoys cooking, hiking, and writing plays in her spare time.
Artwork for Amanda's Play "Every Night I Die"
Amanda wrote the play Every Night I Die that is currently being produced for the Capital Fringe Festival this summer. This tragic one-act love story tells of a family in the Philippines and the consequences of love, infidelity, and forbidden magic. For more information, please visit: www.everynightidie.com.
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