Although Leyla Evenson volunteered at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens for more than just the ability to see a Gutenberg Bible in-person, her excitement when discussing certain historical pieces could fool anyone. Through her time teaching children about history and plants through arts and crafts at The Huntington, Leyla Evenson fostered her passion for history, manifesting in her commitment to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), majoring in history and pre-law.
Leyla Evenson’s mother, Jennie Evenson, watched her daughter transform as her passion for history truly developed.
“[Leyla] has always loved going to museums, ever since she was very young. Whenever we travel now, she’s a wonderful tour guide. What I’ve noticed, now, is how much she knows about each one of the items she’s looking at. When she was young, I think what she really enjoyed was the experience of going to the museums, the quiet environment and looking at the pictures of art. Now, she has a lot to say about whatever she’s looking at in the museums. She’s become someone who is very knowledgeable about what she’s looking at and why it’s important to her,” Jennie Evenson said.
Volunteering at The Huntington was more than just gaining experience in teaching historical facts and working with kids for Leyla Evenson. Being in a richly historical environment every day lengthened her own knowledge on a wider variety of topics.
“I got to be around the museum and just historical things a lot, and that’s really important to me and to who I am as a person. It’s very important to me to spend time in those kinds of areas. I was able to go through the gardens, and I also got free admission, so I’d be able to go through and look at the European Museum and experience the art. Having that experience was honestly just fun. It taught me to appreciate and enjoy life more,” Leyla Evenson said.
Juxtaposing her enjoyment of peace, quiet and beauty, Leyla Evenson is no stranger to working hard in order to reach her goals, according to Jennie Evenson.
“One of the things that surprised me about this season of college applications was how much work it was. I would often wake up in the morning on Saturdays, and Leyla would’ve been awake for an hour at seven o’clock in the morning and she was already working on things. I was just incredibly impressed at how hard she worked day in and day out,” Jennie Evenson said.
Leyla Evenson has a reason behind her work ethic, however; a reason that volunteering made clear to her.
“Sometimes when I’m working on schoolwork, it’s hard to remember what I’m working towards. But when I was in that environment [at The Huntington] every Saturday, I was pretty frequently reminded that I’m doing all this work for actual reasons. Seeing history is something that I enjoy, not just a chore,” Leyla Evenson said.
With Leyla Evenson’s work behind her and a secured commitment to UCSD, she now has years of experience ahead of her where she can apply the skills she has learned.
“[Leyla] is very driven. When she decides she wants to do something, she does it. It’s incredibly impressive and she doesn’t mind working hard to get what she wants,” Jennie Evenson said. “I am really excited to see what she’s going to do with her life because she’s got such promise. She’s got so many ideas and she wants to do so many different classes, she’s going to go abroad and she knows what she wants to do for her career.”
Ultimately, Leyla Evenson’s dedication to history is a testament to her own beliefs regarding history’s societal impacts.
“History is everything. You can explain the history of anything. Because of that, it’s an intersection between all subjects of study and every facet of life,” Leyla Evenson said. “Sometimes, people think that history doesn’t have to be taught or talked about, but it’s really intrinsic to all of our lives. Things start to make a lot of sense when you’re able to recognize patterns, and history is the study of patterns and how one event is related to another.”
