The End!
Me, doing my best “Shush!”
I feel like I’m about to cross over into some new world. Graduation day has been the bright light in the distance for so long, I can’t believe I’m this close to the end. So much has happened to me both inside and outside of the program since I started. The projects, papers, service, research, discussions and analysis that I have done show how far I have come and how dedicated I am to the process of becoming a librarian. Reflecting on my educational achievements I’m proud of what I have been able to accomplish. I have not only learned practical skills like teaching, cataloging, reference, collection development and management, but I have also learned the theory behind all of these skills. What has really surprised me is the amount of overlap I have experienced between my work at the hospital and the classes I have taken, or I should say, the more I have learned about library science, the more I have been able to function as a personal librarian to my coworkers (some of whom are currently in graduate programs themselves).
This has truly been a learning odyssey. Having had the opportunity to study with so many wonderful teachers and professors has prepared me to take on the world. Besides the iSchool faculty, I am indebted to Marie Potter, the iSchool’s Academic Advisor, for contributing to my experience by helping me in so many ways, including setting up my Directed Fieldwork and with general iSchool and financial aid issues. She was always calm and encouraging, helping me when I was frantic and in need of gentle understanding. My classmates also contributed to my education in innumerable ways from participating on discussion board threads and group projects, to all the wonderful friendships I have formed while in school. I could never have done this amazing thing without all the help I received from everyone. Before I started this program, I wrote in my application essay about how I thought that librarians were Super Heroes, and that I wanted to be inducted into their elite league. Now that I have completed nearly all the coursework for my degree, I know for sure that this is truly what I want to do with my life.
