Lost and found: Meet the 2024-2025 JOIP interns

In 2024, the MLP partnered with University of Montevallo undergraduates Damian McCrickard and Bridget McCurrach through the Jean O’Connor-Snyder Internship Program. Supported by the University of Montevallo and the David Mathews Center, this collaboration seeks to connect the MLP with the broader Montevallo community through digital storytelling.

For their first project, the interns were challenged to interview and write about one another, using a multimedia format that incorporated photos, audio, and transcripts. This creative exercise allowed them to bring their work to life through exploring the art of digital storytelling.

We believe this internship program strengthens our connection to community stories and helps prepare future leaders with essential skills. We hope you enjoy this innovative and engaging introduction to our new interns.

Damian McCrickard, Written by Bridget McCurrach

Damian McCrickard is a 23 year old freshman History major at the University of Montevallo. McCrickard grew up as home-schooled and enjoys a multitude of hobbies, including history, exploring/adventuring, and music. Their love for history follows wherever they live; they have enjoyed getting to know the historical nuances of each location, giving them a sense of belonging when moving from place to place.

Another hobby is exploring the caves and underground mines of the Birmingham area which combines their love for history with their sense of adventure.

Damian exploring the underground mines of Birmingham.

Damian’s bowed psaltery, or their “big slize of pizza with 26 strings.”

McCrickard humorously describes themselves as “one of the famous mooners” at the new Main Street cafe, Meri Moon, and used to be a barista at Dunkin’ in 2019 and Starbucks 2019-21. However, McCrickard is not afraid to get into some hard labor, such as assembling vehicles at the Tuscaloosa Mercedes plant for 2 years from 2021-23. They describe this job as miserable and injury inducing, but loved the machinery and elegance of all the parts coming together.

In addition, music is a big part of their life and they spend time collecting and playing instruments. Some examples include a 500 lb upright standing piano–that took four people to move–and a bowed psaltery, which they describe as “a big slice of pizza with 26 strings,” that is similar to a harp.

They are truly a jack-of-all-trades, having also worked as a teacher for a year. Teaching opened McCrickard’s eyes to the future of a promising career and promptly decided to enroll at Montevallo in order to get the degree required for the job. The multiplicity of occupations McCrickard toiled before even enrolling at the University is extremely impressive! Their dream occupation is to earn a position at the Alabama State Archives, traveling to a plentiful of historical sites and areas to teach preservation and maintenance of each place. They are particularly drawn to this position in Alabama because of their fascination with industrial-era architecture.

McCrickard grew up in various areas, including parts of Huntsville 2001-04/2010-15, Tuscaloosa 2001-10, Birmingham 2005-08 and Calera 2009-2020. Having traveled immensely growing up, they felt they had “lived everywhere, but home was nowhere.” This feeling of isolation allowed their love for history to blossom for the areas they lived in, finding comfort in environments rather than people. Being able to gain information about time periods that came before gave them a feeling of power in a situation where they felt vulnerable.

A nighttime view of Birmingham at the Vulcan Park.

McCrickard hopes to accomplish the important task of giving back to the historically rich city of Montevallo. They feel as though they have received an immeasurable amount of love in the short amount of time of being here, and they want to reciprocate that intense passion. They value the feel of a small town and getting to know its people.

Having moved from Birmingham to Montevallo in the summer, this move was a big culture shock in terms of the lack of people scurrying around the area. However, at the introduction of the school term, they started to feel the ambience and buzz of Montevallo town life. McCrickard appreciates how Montevallo “gives back all that you give sevenfold.” Birmingham used to be their “big, shining star” but it’s fair to say that what Montevallo embodies within its barriers pleasantly surprised them and became a place that can be called home.

Caraway Hospital Rooftop view of Birmingham, Damian’s “big, shining star.”

McCrickard hopes to genuinely educate themselves about the city and gain a rich connection with the residents, learning to not take the city’s offerings for granted while living here. They are truly grateful for what Montevallo provides, and cannot wait to begin giving back to the community.

Take a listen to the full interview with Damian!

Bridget McCurrach, Written by Damian McCrickard

How do you personify what is lost? When a language is spoken a world away, can you still hear its call? When a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, how do the seedlings still grow? 

“I guess just out of sheer force of nature,” Says Bridget, a 20 year old Junior in sociology, with a focus on peace and justice studies. They have been heavily involved in student life, community organizing and event planning, being the purple side event coordinator. They’re applying their networking skills to this internship to bridge connections between the whole of the community, and bring their skill set into the professional world. 

I sat down with my co intern, Bridget McCurrach to get to the bottom of these rather ethereal questions. Pulling them into the realm of what is tangible to talk about what it means to understand what is lost and found within one’s self; regarding the places you’re from, the places you’ve been, and the directions you wish to go.

I ask them, “If a seedling grows out of the sheer force of nature, then what are your roots?” 

Bridget: Fun fact, I was not born in the US, I was born in the UK, because my dad is Scottish, so I was born in Scotland, so we lived there for a small bit of my childhood.

Bridget: It’s a very different culture in Scotland, there are some similarities but the biggest difference is how people tend to keep more to themselves yet there’s still a greater sense of community from being Scottish. I wish I could have brought the language with me, specifically the slang, I find it interesting and fun. I have brought back rocks from Scotland which I love. I’ve been told I used to have an accent, I don’t anymore, I’m very sad about that.

Bridget’s hometown of East Kilbride, Scotland.

When a language is spoken a world away, can you still hear its call?

Medina, Tennesse

After Scotland, Bridget lived in a small town of Medina, Tennessee, near Memphis. Afterwards, Bridget lived a stone’s throw away from us here in Montevallo, a town perhaps you’ve heard of, Hoover, Alabama, moving there at age 10. 

Damian: Do you have a preferred state you’ve lived in?

Bridget: I really love Tennessee. I love the culture there, especially in Memphis it's just a very unique blend of southern and urban. It has that music background as well, I love it so much. But Alabama has all my people that I’m close with so I’m very torn. I would love to live in Memphis or Nashville, those areas- but I would miss all my people from Alabama. 

How do you personify what is lost? How do you embody your experiences? 

I asked Bridget to tell me about their time in Tennessee, they spoke of being in a small community where they knew everyone and the differences between Medina and Montevallo. The differences that come with growing up in a small community versus living in one now. They miss the music of Tennessee, that classic Nashville sound and the variety that comes from being in such a cultural music melting pot, but the influence it gave is carried with them to this day.

They long for that connection to their community here and hope to leave an impact that shows how they truly connected with the people during their time here. To find a home that comes from active community engagement, willingness to learn, and historical appreciation that cements their place within Montevallo as a citizen, not just a student who came to reap the benefits of education and leave without a trace. “I want my impact to be felt for decades to come. Something that shows I was truly here and a part of the whole wider thing that is the Montevallo community.”

Bridget: I think I really want to get to know the town more, on a more personal level than just the businesses I frequent. I think this internship will really help me get to know what the town thinks and what the town wants when it comes to the school, and if they want any more collaboration between them. I really want to get into the town history outside of the school, because I feel like the school takes up so much space physically, and in people’s minds when they think of Montevallo, that we don’t really focus on the actual town itself. So I want to get to know what’s been going on outside of the school.

Damian: Is there any specific place or part of town you really want to get to know?

Bridget: This is my own personal curiosity, but you know that hispanic grocery market by Slice? It’s called Navarro’s- I really want to talk to them and I really want to see how they got started and what their experience has been like in the community and what student’s come into that store, who their customer base is predominantly. It’s just my little curiosity. 

Damian: How about on the flipside, is there anywhere in town or on campus; any stories or anecdotes that really just give you the heebie jeebies? A weird mystery or darker curiosity involved? 

Bridget: I do want to know more about King House, because I know that place is creepy and I’ve heard rumors that there’s a “demon” in there or something. I know about the family that lived there and that they had so many deaths but I’d love to hear what the local people think about that.

Do they like the hauntedness of Montevallo?

Damian: Let me know a little bit about what you would want to tell people. Anything you want the folks who read this to know?

Bridget: I just want people to pay attention and focus-in on Montevallo history and just keep an open eye and open mind out for what we want to do. I feel like people don’t really appreciate the town’s culture as much. They just come to school and worry about school and friends and that’s it. I want the people I’m close with to pay attention to this and really learn and get some knowledge out of this. 

Unfurling Our Leaves

Damian: Now let’s have some fun with it and loosen up a little. Are you a cat or dog person? Have you had a favorite pet growing up?

Bridget and their dog Tristan.

Bridget: Growing up I had my dog Tristan, he is this little fluffy terrier. He’s my baby, I’ve always had him. But my newfound favorite is the one we got in recent years, Blue. She’s gigantic, half Mastiff half great Dane. She’s bigger than me, she can stand on my shoulders and be taller than me. And yet she’s this big giant ball of fat and muscle and she’s just amazing. I love her. 

Damian: When you’re not doing all of your events and studying what do you do to find your calm?

Bridget: Music really gets me, if I’m having a bad day music is what helps me get my thoughts to quiet down. So I like taking drives and listening to music. But if I’m not doing that, or I don’t have gas money- 

Damian: That’s so real.

Bridget: …I will probably be crocheting. Because I love to crochet and I love to make little headbands and things. I’m still kind of new at it so I haven’t gotten too elaborate. 

A bandana Bridget crocheted.

When a tree falls in the forest- that is, when the trajectory of life takes a drastic turn outside of one’s control and places them within an entirely new set of circumstances, how do the seedlings still grow?

We, the many seedlings of the roots planted long before we could perceive our own existence, continue to grow through our own will, and the natural power of our own conscious or subconscious resilience. Or, in Bridget’s case, “By sheer force of nature.”

You become what is found.

Bridget, a mighty and avid learner longing to immerse themself in the shared knowledge of the world that surrounds them wherever they may be- heeds the call of a language spoken a world away. Their tenacity in education, dedication to shedding light on any lived story unseen and hidden, and confidence to speak forth and uplift every story left untold. A walking legacy of all their heritage before them, looking ever forward past what has been lost in their life, and moving through this world with everything that has been found within themself.

The future is in good hands with Bridget McCurrach, but most importantly, our pasts are too. 

This project was organized and edited by Josie Daisy, Creative Director and Web Developer for the MLP. Special thanks for Bridget and Damian for their contributions. Keep an eye and open to our website to see what the interns do next.