Naomi Aviles

Finding Direction Through Discovery

Sociology major Naomi Aviles discovered a passion for history while interning with the Piedmont Historical Preservation Society this semester.

Her interest in people and culture has informed her approach to the items she handles as part of her archiving work. The society collects a variety of items – documents, scrapbooks, photos, clothes, toys – that help tell the region’s story. Aviles and other interns help organize the donations, catalog them and then put them into storage.

The work has strengthened Aviles’ organizational and social skills.

“I’m very service-oriented,” she said. “Being confident in your ability to do your job and make sure that you’re not wasting any time, but still being around people and community-based, you definitely need the social skills. That’s sociologist in me, that’s what I like to do.”

She’s especially grateful to have had a paid internship as a humanities student.

“I was able to interact with people that I don’t normally interact with,” Aviles says. “It also opened my eyes to different potential job opportunities, and it gave me real-life work experience.”

She notes people often don’t understand what you can do with a sociology degree. “But I’m specifically trained on social skills … and I think that those skills need to be used in every type of work,” she says. “So, I was able to market myself a certain way for this internship.”

The structured format of the work gave her focus and confidence about exploring different career paths.

While she isn’t sure yet what she wants to do after graduation, “I do like the museum thing, and if I had an opportunity to do that, I would take that as my first option.”