One of northwest Ohio’s jewels, The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio, is just a 20-minute drive from the Heidelberg campus, where senior history major Evan Engelhart is interning this semester.
A typical day at the Hayes Center for Evan includes shadowing tour guides, collecting five to seven artifacts to highlight on the tours and gathering information for his research at the Hayes Center.
“A lot of the tales have been passed from tour guide to tour guide,” Evan said. “My research project aims to make sure the stories are accurate so the guides can give the best tours possible.”
Evan noted how much he has learned along the way with his hands-on experiences at the Hayes Center and its tribute to the 19th president of the U.S.
“Once I got here, I realized how little I learned in the past about President Hayes,” Evan said. “Coming here and doing all the research has been something I really enjoy. I’m the type of person who likes to learn something new every day.”
Evan originally explored being a teacher during his time at Heidelberg but realized it wasn’t the right fit for him.
“I used to want to teach but the more I got in the classroom, I found out it wasn’t my thing,” Evan learned. “I still want to educate, just in a different way.”
Dustin McLochlin is the education coordinator at the Hayes Center. Evan noted that he would eventually like to hold a similar position in his career. Since Evan was interested in education, he works under Dustin during his internship.
“What sticks out to me most about Evan is that I don’t have to manage him,” Dustin said. “He shows up and does his work and he does a great job. He gets direction and just goes for it.”
The Hayes Center relies on volunteers and interns for much of their daily work. Currently, 130 people volunteer along with five student interns.
As for Evan, his aspirations after graduation remain high. He has recently applied for jobs in Washington, D.C., including several positions at the Smithsonian Institution.