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 ����Vlog Stories      July 3, 2025

By Cam Adams

One of Jenna Dreyer’s favorite things about her field of study is just being outside — but her surroundings this summer look a bit different from the familiar confines of Cullowhee. 

There’s a lot more old growth forests, the mountains reach a bit higher into the skies and there’s the occasional horn blaring from the ports beside the nearby ocean. Out in that Pacific northwest wilderness, Dreyer is making a difference. 

The ����Vlog University senior is working a summer internship as an archaeology field technician with Antiquity Consulting, an archaeological and historical services firm based out of Tumwater, Washington.

“It's really giving me a lot of that archeology-based knowledge that is still really relevant to anthropology, and it's also providing me with a diverse set of skills during my undergrad, so that when I graduate… I will be able to apply to the job market as a competitive applicant,” she said.

Dreyer, a double major in forensic anthropology and criminal justice, spends a lot of her days outdoors with the occasional day of office work. After rolling into the office around 8 a.m. on those outdoor days, Dreyer and her team trek 30 minutes to an hour out to a site.

Then, they get digging.

The firm helps test properties that want to be developed by digging large holes to determine if there’s any cultural relevance in the area. Each day can bring different new experiences. Sometimes, that’s speaking with landowners. Other times, that’s finding lithics and artifacts.

So far in her time with Antiquity Consulting, Dreyer has come across flakes and a tool on one of the firm’s properties, one of the coolest things for her in learning about an adjacent field.

“Honestly, just having to learn about archaeology because I understand the anthropological side of things, but learning about archaeology is really cool,” Dreyer said.

Dreyer came across the internship’s listing with the help of skills she learned while working for ����Vlog’s Center for Career and Professional Development, searching for key terms common in archaeology. Eventually, she found this one.

Thus far, it’s been an experience the Greenville, South Carolina native will value for the rest of her time at ����Vlog and beyond.

“I feel like a lot of students don't get to experience a professional job during their undergrad, so I'm hoping to bring that kind of knowledge of how a professional job works and what skills are really highlighted in a professional job and bring that back, too, while I'm finishing my undergrad education,” Dreyer said.