For Columbia College senior Jennifer McGriff, spending winter break in her hometown of Winnsboro didn’t only give her a chance to spend time with family and friends, but it also provided an opportunity for her to learn more about the history of Fairfield County by interning at the Fairfield County Museum for four weeks.

The history major said her internship reaffirmed her desire to someday work at a museum.

“I learned so much there,” she said. “Ms. Lyles allowed me to do hands-on things like cleaning artifacts, helping with exhibits and learning the database. If it wasn’t for Ms. Lyles letting me come intern there, I wouldn’t have gotten to do any of that.”

Interning at larger museums don’t always offer as much hands-on experience as volunteering at smaller ones, McGriff explained. Plus, working at the local museum was a special treat for McGriff because she knows museum director Pelham Lyles and most of the people who visited the museum while she was there.

“I’m so glad I’m from a small town where everyone knows everyone,” McGriff said.

“I’ve known Jennifer since she was a small child,” Lyles said one afternoon while she and McGriff were working in her office. “She thinks on her feet, and she doesn’t need me to show her how to do things. Having her here is like having a museum assistant here.”

Continuing to rave about how talented and helpful the young intern was, Lyles said it would be a pleasure to have McGriff come back to work at the museum in the future.

Volunteering at the Fairfield County Museum wasn’t McGriff’s first introduction to the world of museums. Last summer she served as a tour guide at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia. And last year she and fellow classmates visited a number of historical sites and museums in Italy.

“Going into museum work is really on my heart right now,” she said.

McGriff also keeps herself busy serving as secretary for her chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and being a page for Sen. Creighton Coleman at the State House.

“It’s really interesting to see how the legislative process works,” she said.

McGriff is the daughter of Eddie and Janice McGriff, and the granddaughter of Preston and Virginia Mack and Dorothy McGriff and the late Herbert McGriff.

She was valedictorian of the 2006 graduating class of Fairfield Central High School.

McGriff will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in History and minors in Communications and Religion.

“I’m really excited about graduating,” she said.

McGriff is senior class president and is on the President’s List for having a 4.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

She is considering either attending graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in the fall.