Two weeks ago today, I had my final graduate school class for my master's degree in library and information science, and this past weekend I went down to Champaign-Urbana for the ceremonies celebrating that fact.
I can understand why a lot of people choose not to go or have a dislike for the pomp and circumstance. They can run long or the speakers can be dull and the hats and gowns are expensive to rent (plus, let's be honest, they look a bit silly), but I am so glad that I made the trip and that I had my family by my side to celebrate with me. In the week between my last class and commencement, it didn't feel real or like anything had changed. I was still me. I woke up the next day and went to my job like I always do, but there's just something about standing up when they call on you, walking across that stage, and moving that tassel from the right side of your hat to the left that finally made the whole thing tangible - I dedicated myself to something, I accomplished this goal of mine, and I've even managed to make my family proud of me along the way.
My rejection letters from various agents continue to hang on the same wall that my diploma for my B.A. in English hangs, and once my new diploma for my M.S. arrives, it will join them. All of these pieces of paper represent similar things to me; they are evidence that I have tried. With all do respect to Yoda, sometimes all you can do is try. I worked my hardest, put my best self and my best work out there, and sometimes you get a rejection letter, but other times, you get a diploma which shows that hard work does pay off, and to me they are all things to be proud of.
I wish I had something more wise or profound to say than that, but I feel like my relief at not having homework for the first time in 18 years has robbed me of my vocabulary temporarily (which I need for my WIP!). Also, my commencement speaker Cokie Roberts said it all so well with a mixture of humor and grace that with our degrees, we now have no excuse for not contributing to the greater picture and giving back to the people and world that give us so much. I couldn't agree with her sentiments more.
I cannot emphasize enough though how NONE of this could have happened without the support of my family and friends. It's not everyday that a daughter springs on her parents that she wants to go to get her English degree/go to library school/be a writer/put them on the internet/explore a bunch of things and ideas they're less familiar with, but I'm so lucky that my parents have been nothing but supportive through it all. It means everything to me that they have stood by me no matter what, and I was so happy to be able to share my special day with them, my grandparents, my big brother, and my soon-to-be sister. I couldn't have asked for better company.
And so, I hope you enjoy the videos below chronicling my graduation weekend. Thank you so much to those who take the time to read this blog and to the family and friends who encourage me in my many (often crazy-seeming) endeavors - none of this would have happened were it not for you!
Showing posts with label grad school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grad school. Show all posts
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Day #8654 - Another Chapter Ends
At 8pm tonight, I will be done with my master's degree in library and information science. The fact completely blows my mind. It means that my undergraduate graduation was already two years ago. It doesn't feel like all that long ago I was wrapping up a semester of student teaching at a high school in the suburbs of Chicago, wondering what the heck I could possibly do with the B.A. in English I had completed, and was still waiting to hear back from U of I to find out if I had gotten into the library school or not.
But I did. And there have been a lot of ups and downs during that time. I've gotten to explore this time-honored institution we all know as the library and I can more strongly appreciate the intricacies that build them into such awe-inspiring centers of knowledge and power. After taking cataloging, I'll never again take the complexities of assigning a Dewey Decimal Number and subject headings to a non-fiction book for granted. And thanks to taking such amazing classes like children's lit, YA lit, and adult lit, I finally started doing my own writing and have fallen in love with the incredible literature that is out there for teens right now.
My final course for all of this is LIS418LE - Community Engagement. Over the past 16 weeks, we've discussed what makes a community, what engagement entails, and each student in the class has given the opportunity to pick the topic of discussion for our final projects - a 30 minute presentation on a community or engagement initiative we are particularly interested in or passionate about.
Last week, I gave my talk entitled Teen Virtual Communities, the Positive Impact They Have on Adolescent Development, and How Libraries Can Help Support Them. I gave background and definitions and an explanation about how this fit into our class topics, and then I gave examples. Now not everyone in this particular class is on the school library track or involved in the YA world, but they were all blown away by the Vlogbrothers duo of John and Hank Green, particularly the various avenues of social media they utilize and the outreach that Nerdfighteria is so passionate about such as the Project for Awesome and the Foundation to Decrease World Suck. They laughed when I told them about Maureen Johnson and were impressed by the enthusiasm she expresses every day in her tweets and in her Ask Auntie MJ posts during NaNoWriMo 2011. They were also touched by Heather Brewer's devotion to bullying prevention and how she doesn't just write about it in her books, but also plans to host her own anti-bullying conference and is always there to support the Minion Horde.
The biggest compliment I got from my peers was that my enthusiasm was obvious, but I don't even feel like I can take credit for that. In library school, being a nerd is pretty much mandatory, and with such inspiring people like those I mentioned in my presentation and beyond (there are so many more I wanted to include, but darn those time limits!), how could I not be excited? I got very high marks on my research and presentation, and so thanks to the power of the nerd/YA/awesome community, I'll be finishing grad school on a high note. (Well, finishing my master's anyway. Who knows if a doctorate could be in store for me? hehe)
So starting tomorrow, I'll be a Librarian (in education if not in job title) and I can't believe it's finally here. There were a lot of days where I thought this would never happen, and I've never been quite so happy to be wrong. And none of it would have been possible without the generous support of my family, friends, and classmates. And also thank you to people who inspire me day after day to do more, try something new, dare to suck, be different, and to never, ever forget to be awesome.
But I did. And there have been a lot of ups and downs during that time. I've gotten to explore this time-honored institution we all know as the library and I can more strongly appreciate the intricacies that build them into such awe-inspiring centers of knowledge and power. After taking cataloging, I'll never again take the complexities of assigning a Dewey Decimal Number and subject headings to a non-fiction book for granted. And thanks to taking such amazing classes like children's lit, YA lit, and adult lit, I finally started doing my own writing and have fallen in love with the incredible literature that is out there for teens right now.
My final course for all of this is LIS418LE - Community Engagement. Over the past 16 weeks, we've discussed what makes a community, what engagement entails, and each student in the class has given the opportunity to pick the topic of discussion for our final projects - a 30 minute presentation on a community or engagement initiative we are particularly interested in or passionate about.
Last week, I gave my talk entitled Teen Virtual Communities, the Positive Impact They Have on Adolescent Development, and How Libraries Can Help Support Them. I gave background and definitions and an explanation about how this fit into our class topics, and then I gave examples. Now not everyone in this particular class is on the school library track or involved in the YA world, but they were all blown away by the Vlogbrothers duo of John and Hank Green, particularly the various avenues of social media they utilize and the outreach that Nerdfighteria is so passionate about such as the Project for Awesome and the Foundation to Decrease World Suck. They laughed when I told them about Maureen Johnson and were impressed by the enthusiasm she expresses every day in her tweets and in her Ask Auntie MJ posts during NaNoWriMo 2011. They were also touched by Heather Brewer's devotion to bullying prevention and how she doesn't just write about it in her books, but also plans to host her own anti-bullying conference and is always there to support the Minion Horde.
The biggest compliment I got from my peers was that my enthusiasm was obvious, but I don't even feel like I can take credit for that. In library school, being a nerd is pretty much mandatory, and with such inspiring people like those I mentioned in my presentation and beyond (there are so many more I wanted to include, but darn those time limits!), how could I not be excited? I got very high marks on my research and presentation, and so thanks to the power of the nerd/YA/awesome community, I'll be finishing grad school on a high note. (Well, finishing my master's anyway. Who knows if a doctorate could be in store for me? hehe)
So starting tomorrow, I'll be a Librarian (in education if not in job title) and I can't believe it's finally here. There were a lot of days where I thought this would never happen, and I've never been quite so happy to be wrong. And none of it would have been possible without the generous support of my family, friends, and classmates. And also thank you to people who inspire me day after day to do more, try something new, dare to suck, be different, and to never, ever forget to be awesome.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Day #8099 - A Mighty Wind
People write songs about a lot of different things in nature. Sunshine, rain, starry nights, fire, waves - you name it, there is probably a song about it. Today would have been an appropriate day to listen to all songs featuring wind, and I'm not talking about gentle breezes. I'm thinking more along the lines of Twister. I laughed a little bit yesterday when the weather report said that today we would have the worst winds Illinois has seen in 70 years, but that stopped this morning when I was outside in my pjs helping my mom gather up parts of our backyard fence because it got blown out. Toto may have been a quiet and obedient dog when Dorothy calmly told him she didn't think they were in Kansas anymore, but Addy, my family's current fuzzball, didn't quite follow Toto's noble example. Pups these days...
In other news, life post-LEEP weekend is mostly back to normal. I'll have a full week of my usual online lectures this week, complete with homework due and projects to be worked on. I have done laundry. My room is clean enough for now. My creative writing isn't so great, but at least I'm trying at it again. The only thing that needs to happen now is the Blackhawks getting out of their current funk and I'll be a happy camper.
And before I wrap this up, on a completely random note, am I the only one who thinks that Glee is getting a little ridiculous? Tonight was their Rocky Horror episode, and if I were a parent, I'm not so sure that I'd be letting my kids in elementary school watch this season. I'm really feeling like this year, there's no way it belongs in a 7pm timeslot. But maybe that's just me.
Can't believe it's almost November already. My oh my how the time flies by.
In other news, life post-LEEP weekend is mostly back to normal. I'll have a full week of my usual online lectures this week, complete with homework due and projects to be worked on. I have done laundry. My room is clean enough for now. My creative writing isn't so great, but at least I'm trying at it again. The only thing that needs to happen now is the Blackhawks getting out of their current funk and I'll be a happy camper.
And before I wrap this up, on a completely random note, am I the only one who thinks that Glee is getting a little ridiculous? Tonight was their Rocky Horror episode, and if I were a parent, I'm not so sure that I'd be letting my kids in elementary school watch this season. I'm really feeling like this year, there's no way it belongs in a 7pm timeslot. But maybe that's just me.
Can't believe it's almost November already. My oh my how the time flies by.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Day #8090 - A Weekend Away in Campustown
Under other circumstances, I might feel bad about not updating this thing in a week, but hey, I've been busy and it's not like a whole lot of people actually read this thing anyway. Chances are that if you read this blog, you also live in the same house as me and share my DNA. So there ya go.
I'm currently sitting in the South Lounge (the one that faces the quad and looks like it could belong in Harry Potter) of the Illini Union in Urbana, IL. The graduate school program I'm in is primarily online, but we are all required to come to campus once a semester for a designated weekend for class. It's been fun being back - yesterday and the day before I hung out with my friend Ali, have been enjoying this awesome weather by taking long campus walks, and even went to the Illini hockey game last night. It feels nice to be surrounded by other students and other people, even if just to do homework, rather than doing homework around the house all day. It's kind of weird though that the leaves haven't changed colors yet, here. I guess it's been too warm still.
Classes are going alright. I'm in a really good position as far as work is concerned for the class that met yesterday. My group has made a lot of good headway on our final project. I was really excited about the class that met today, but unfortunately that didn't last as long as I would have liked. The fact that I have such limited experience in schools and absolutely zero experience working in any library in any sort of capacity is starting to weigh on me. We talked about the final project for that class today and after the professor was done explaining all of it, the only thought that went through my head was "I genuinely don't think I can do this." So I'm frusturated and freaking out to say the least. As soon as I finish writing here, I'm going to do some reading for another class and just hope that tomorrow goes better. Class is only scheduled to go until 4 I think, and then I'll hit the road. If all goes according to schedule, I'll be back in Schaumburg just in time to watch How I Met Your Mother at 7 and then the Blackhawks vs. Blues game at 7:30. I figure it'll be necessary to chill out after 3 full days of classes and 3 hours of driving. Might as well try to push off the worry until at least Tuesday.
So I guess that's really it from here. I know, I know. My life is terribly exciting and you're all incredibly jealous. Have no fear, I'll be back in suburbia and my life as a hermit before you know it.
I'm currently sitting in the South Lounge (the one that faces the quad and looks like it could belong in Harry Potter) of the Illini Union in Urbana, IL. The graduate school program I'm in is primarily online, but we are all required to come to campus once a semester for a designated weekend for class. It's been fun being back - yesterday and the day before I hung out with my friend Ali, have been enjoying this awesome weather by taking long campus walks, and even went to the Illini hockey game last night. It feels nice to be surrounded by other students and other people, even if just to do homework, rather than doing homework around the house all day. It's kind of weird though that the leaves haven't changed colors yet, here. I guess it's been too warm still.
Classes are going alright. I'm in a really good position as far as work is concerned for the class that met yesterday. My group has made a lot of good headway on our final project. I was really excited about the class that met today, but unfortunately that didn't last as long as I would have liked. The fact that I have such limited experience in schools and absolutely zero experience working in any library in any sort of capacity is starting to weigh on me. We talked about the final project for that class today and after the professor was done explaining all of it, the only thought that went through my head was "I genuinely don't think I can do this." So I'm frusturated and freaking out to say the least. As soon as I finish writing here, I'm going to do some reading for another class and just hope that tomorrow goes better. Class is only scheduled to go until 4 I think, and then I'll hit the road. If all goes according to schedule, I'll be back in Schaumburg just in time to watch How I Met Your Mother at 7 and then the Blackhawks vs. Blues game at 7:30. I figure it'll be necessary to chill out after 3 full days of classes and 3 hours of driving. Might as well try to push off the worry until at least Tuesday.
So I guess that's really it from here. I know, I know. My life is terribly exciting and you're all incredibly jealous. Have no fear, I'll be back in suburbia and my life as a hermit before you know it.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Day #8048 - Labor of Love
Hey readers, sorry for the gap-ige between posts. Can you believe that for the first time in a long while, I've actually had a bit of a social agenda the last few days? I know, it's shocking, but it was nice to get out of the house for a bit.
I'm currently sitting here at my desk trying desperately to focus on a project due for my class on Tuesday (which, in 20 short minutes will be tomorrow...eek). The task is to write a review of a picture book, so naturally during this time when I need to be concentrating on the works of others, I'm thinking more about my own feeble attempts at writing. I feel like I have a ton of stories building up inside of me, but I just can't ever seem to get them out on paper well enough to do them justice. Or perhaps these many ideas just sound better in my head.
Thank goodness I guess for this blog and my journal, because writing, like anything worth creating, is a labor of love. You have to offer up a bit of yourself in order for anything of any value to come out of it. You have to be willing to get it wrong, have other people hate it, and then try it all over again tomorrow. But in a world where failure is not an option, creativity is becoming stifled - our fear of not doing something that meets everyone's standards has finally outweighed the desire to even try at all. So here's to getting back on the horse. Here's to running everyday even though my back is still feeling off and some days I absolutely dread the walk down to the basement treadmill with my head full of anxiety about this 5K coming up because I know that when I cross the finish line, it will feel that much more awesome. And here's to the stories yet to be written, be it by me or anyone else. Time to just pick up the pen and paper, not worry about it looking great, and just letting the words fall where they may.
And in case you were wondering, yes today's title is a slight pun on the fact that tomorrow is Labor Day here in these United States of America. Celebrate safely, keep it classy, and I'll catch you on the flip side.
I'm currently sitting here at my desk trying desperately to focus on a project due for my class on Tuesday (which, in 20 short minutes will be tomorrow...eek). The task is to write a review of a picture book, so naturally during this time when I need to be concentrating on the works of others, I'm thinking more about my own feeble attempts at writing. I feel like I have a ton of stories building up inside of me, but I just can't ever seem to get them out on paper well enough to do them justice. Or perhaps these many ideas just sound better in my head.
Thank goodness I guess for this blog and my journal, because writing, like anything worth creating, is a labor of love. You have to offer up a bit of yourself in order for anything of any value to come out of it. You have to be willing to get it wrong, have other people hate it, and then try it all over again tomorrow. But in a world where failure is not an option, creativity is becoming stifled - our fear of not doing something that meets everyone's standards has finally outweighed the desire to even try at all. So here's to getting back on the horse. Here's to running everyday even though my back is still feeling off and some days I absolutely dread the walk down to the basement treadmill with my head full of anxiety about this 5K coming up because I know that when I cross the finish line, it will feel that much more awesome. And here's to the stories yet to be written, be it by me or anyone else. Time to just pick up the pen and paper, not worry about it looking great, and just letting the words fall where they may.
And in case you were wondering, yes today's title is a slight pun on the fact that tomorrow is Labor Day here in these United States of America. Celebrate safely, keep it classy, and I'll catch you on the flip side.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Day #8032 - Back in the Saddle
Don't worry, readers. For those of you who have met me and my incredible clumsiness, never fear - I am speaking figuratively, not literally. I am not actually talking about riding horses (though that would be a fun time). I'm referring to the fact that the dawn of a new school year is upon us once again. Or at least, upon me.
Though my classes don't actually start meeting until next Tuesday, I've been spending this week doing all of the required reading that has to be completed prior to each of the first lectures. Who ever thought I'd be grateful for homework? The start of the school year is perfectly timed, because I have just about gotten to the point where I was running out of ideas of how to fill my days productively, especially given my lack of employment at the moment.
And this time, I'm determined to do better. My summer class and 10-day boot camp down in Champaign showed me several things about this program. For starters, this is NOT undergrad - the readings are longer, more challenging, and the professors will be expecting much more of me. Secondly, this really is something I want to excel at. I never took notes on the readings for my summer class, and that was a mistake. By the time I got to campus, all the different articles felt like they had melted into one big confusing puddle in my head. But not this time. This time, I will be organized. Finally, my focus and attention levels need to stay high. Starting next week, I will be going to the library to do my school work. Quiet, big tables, and not being able to wander to the refrigerator every time I'm tired of reading is exactly what I need.
In other news, I'm 100 pages into book 5 (Order of the Phoenix) in my Harry Potter reading marathon. Those 2 days of being sick really threw me off my game, but I think I may still have a shot. It'll be close and maybe it's not going to happen, but if I finish the series before my birthday ends Monday at midnight, I'll consider this a rousing success haha
Though my classes don't actually start meeting until next Tuesday, I've been spending this week doing all of the required reading that has to be completed prior to each of the first lectures. Who ever thought I'd be grateful for homework? The start of the school year is perfectly timed, because I have just about gotten to the point where I was running out of ideas of how to fill my days productively, especially given my lack of employment at the moment.
And this time, I'm determined to do better. My summer class and 10-day boot camp down in Champaign showed me several things about this program. For starters, this is NOT undergrad - the readings are longer, more challenging, and the professors will be expecting much more of me. Secondly, this really is something I want to excel at. I never took notes on the readings for my summer class, and that was a mistake. By the time I got to campus, all the different articles felt like they had melted into one big confusing puddle in my head. But not this time. This time, I will be organized. Finally, my focus and attention levels need to stay high. Starting next week, I will be going to the library to do my school work. Quiet, big tables, and not being able to wander to the refrigerator every time I'm tired of reading is exactly what I need.
In other news, I'm 100 pages into book 5 (Order of the Phoenix) in my Harry Potter reading marathon. Those 2 days of being sick really threw me off my game, but I think I may still have a shot. It'll be close and maybe it's not going to happen, but if I finish the series before my birthday ends Monday at midnight, I'll consider this a rousing success haha
Friday, July 16, 2010
Day #7997 - Finally
Well I can feel a little...different, yeah we'll go with different, now when I say "Hello readership!" because as it turns out, there are really some readers out there! Finally! Granted, this one reader who did take the time to leave a comment was anonymous and accused me of calling vegans unhealthy (which, to be clear, that is not what I said! As with anything in life, I just believe people need to make educated and informed decisions), but hey, a reader is a reader and the more, the merrier! Though for the future, I guess I wonder if I'm allowed to be a little picky and request that you at least leave a name (even if it's not your real one) - anonymous comments still feel so distant. Anyway, so that happened today!
In other news, LIS502 will finally be over after tomorrow's lecture in the morning and final exam in the afternoon. The words "totally psyched" come to mind - not that I haven't enjoyed the experience, because I really have and look forward to the things to com, but it will be nice to be back in my own house and let my brain decompress a little from this information surge that has been underway. Intense, but in a good way. Tomorrow I really would be okay with getting a B! haha
Well back to the grindstone, I suppose. Keep those comments coming!
In other news, LIS502 will finally be over after tomorrow's lecture in the morning and final exam in the afternoon. The words "totally psyched" come to mind - not that I haven't enjoyed the experience, because I really have and look forward to the things to com, but it will be nice to be back in my own house and let my brain decompress a little from this information surge that has been underway. Intense, but in a good way. Tomorrow I really would be okay with getting a B! haha
Well back to the grindstone, I suppose. Keep those comments coming!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Day #7996 - New Recruits
I really need to remember to post here in 4 days when I will now be over 8000 days old! wooot!
In other news, I will be very happy when this class is over with in a few days. Everyone who is here for the first section is completely wiped, and it was just funny today when we left lecture this morning and saw all the people who are here for the second session. I feel like a high school sophomore - we just want to warn the newbies and tell them "Start studying for the final now! Memorize the readings as soon as you can! You're not going to sleep for the next week and a half!" But then I see that they're so smiley and excited and I just don't want to be the one to ruin that haha.
Focusing has been a bit of an issue lately, and it's only becoming a greater challenge as the desire to sleep is growing. We had lecture this morning, we're about to have a discussion section now, a break before another lecture around dinner time, and then a short break before having to give group presentations tonight until 8pm. Then we have a paper due tomorrow morning at 8am, lecture, study study study, another lecture Saturday morning and then my final that afternoon. And THEN I'm done!
Keep it classy, readers!
***5:42 Edit***
Just got my paper back that I turned in two days ago. I got a B, which maybe I'd be more okay with if I wasn't such a perfectionist. Feeling good about the presentation tonight, it'll be hard to mess up the paper due tomorrow, and scared to death about the Final Exam on Saturday. Can't wait to be DONE!
In other news, I will be very happy when this class is over with in a few days. Everyone who is here for the first section is completely wiped, and it was just funny today when we left lecture this morning and saw all the people who are here for the second session. I feel like a high school sophomore - we just want to warn the newbies and tell them "Start studying for the final now! Memorize the readings as soon as you can! You're not going to sleep for the next week and a half!" But then I see that they're so smiley and excited and I just don't want to be the one to ruin that haha.
Focusing has been a bit of an issue lately, and it's only becoming a greater challenge as the desire to sleep is growing. We had lecture this morning, we're about to have a discussion section now, a break before another lecture around dinner time, and then a short break before having to give group presentations tonight until 8pm. Then we have a paper due tomorrow morning at 8am, lecture, study study study, another lecture Saturday morning and then my final that afternoon. And THEN I'm done!
Keep it classy, readers!
***5:42 Edit***
Just got my paper back that I turned in two days ago. I got a B, which maybe I'd be more okay with if I wasn't such a perfectionist. Feeling good about the presentation tonight, it'll be hard to mess up the paper due tomorrow, and scared to death about the Final Exam on Saturday. Can't wait to be DONE!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Day #7993 - Intellectual Property
Good afternoon, my few but faithful readers! Hopefully the number of people actually reading this will someday increase, but for now, it's just a small group discussion. Works for me. Keeping it cozy.
I'm currently camped out in the GSLIS building (that's the Graduate School of Library and Information Science) here in Champaign and after this afternoon's lecture and tonight's discussion group, I will officially be halfway through this class (in terms of time, not necessarily in terms of work)! woot! I really am enjoying getting to know the other people here and have officially decided that right now, I'm a fan of this whole "being a grad student" thing. The 60 of us are bonding everyday over living in the dorm, needing to jump up onto the lofted beds, and the general information overload that's freaking everyone out. It's hard to put off thinking about the final exam because there's so much other stuff to get done first, but when it's less than a week away, in a normal semester I would have started studying for that already.
Anywho, it's our lunch break now until 4pm and I'm working on my paper regarding "the intellectual property rights of indigenous peoples" and basically what are museums supposed to do if, in this case, Native Americans walk in and ask for their stuff back. This paper is all I have really been able to think about for the last four days and it's already due tomorrow. Now the English major in me hates this - normally when I get a paper assignment, I like to mull it over in my head and think things out for a couple days before jumping into writing. No such luxury this week, though. I got a B+ on my first paper which I know isn't bad, but still. This is me we're talking about. I think though, with this paper due tomorrow and the time constraints on top of the 80 other things we LEEP students have going on right now, what I have written for this assignment is honestly the best I can do given everything else. So hopefully that'll be enough.
That's it for now. Not terribly exciting, believe me I know. I'll get my swing and sarcasm back soon, I promise!
I'm currently camped out in the GSLIS building (that's the Graduate School of Library and Information Science) here in Champaign and after this afternoon's lecture and tonight's discussion group, I will officially be halfway through this class (in terms of time, not necessarily in terms of work)! woot! I really am enjoying getting to know the other people here and have officially decided that right now, I'm a fan of this whole "being a grad student" thing. The 60 of us are bonding everyday over living in the dorm, needing to jump up onto the lofted beds, and the general information overload that's freaking everyone out. It's hard to put off thinking about the final exam because there's so much other stuff to get done first, but when it's less than a week away, in a normal semester I would have started studying for that already.
Anywho, it's our lunch break now until 4pm and I'm working on my paper regarding "the intellectual property rights of indigenous peoples" and basically what are museums supposed to do if, in this case, Native Americans walk in and ask for their stuff back. This paper is all I have really been able to think about for the last four days and it's already due tomorrow. Now the English major in me hates this - normally when I get a paper assignment, I like to mull it over in my head and think things out for a couple days before jumping into writing. No such luxury this week, though. I got a B+ on my first paper which I know isn't bad, but still. This is me we're talking about. I think though, with this paper due tomorrow and the time constraints on top of the 80 other things we LEEP students have going on right now, what I have written for this assignment is honestly the best I can do given everything else. So hopefully that'll be enough.
That's it for now. Not terribly exciting, believe me I know. I'll get my swing and sarcasm back soon, I promise!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Day #7991 - The Long and not-so-Winding Stacks
Every year in the back of the iBook (the assignment book that U of I sells that's all school themed) there is a list of things students should do before they graduate. And let me tell you, when I was a freshman I thought this was the coolest list ever. Like an undergraduate Bucket List. Some of the things were more common ("Play frisbee on the Quad", "Attend a barndance") while others were a little more out there ("Attend a lecture that isn't one of your own").
(On a sad note, "Ring the bells at Altgeld" isn't on this year's list, which is a bummer because that was seriously one of the coolest things I have done on this campus. Also gone is "Get free condoms from McKinley." - what is this public school coming to??)
Another item that was cut from this year's list that I had always wanted to do in the past was "visit the main stacks in the library," but for whatever reason, I just never got around to it. But today, that changed. As further part of our orientation (and we didn't even really start the class part of our class until 3:30 this afternoon), we got to take a tour of the Main Library building including going into the stacks. Awesome? I think YES!
(On a sad note, "Ring the bells at Altgeld" isn't on this year's list, which is a bummer because that was seriously one of the coolest things I have done on this campus. Also gone is "Get free condoms from McKinley." - what is this public school coming to??)
Another item that was cut from this year's list that I had always wanted to do in the past was "visit the main stacks in the library," but for whatever reason, I just never got around to it. But today, that changed. As further part of our orientation (and we didn't even really start the class part of our class until 3:30 this afternoon), we got to take a tour of the Main Library building including going into the stacks. Awesome? I think YES!
Day #7990 - Bootcamp
Since my second day of LIS502 aka "bootcamp" doesn't technically start for another seven minutes, I figure I can squeeze out a quick burst into the blogosphere! The drive down to Champaign was fine on Wednesday and I had all of the typical "day before the first day of school" jitters. In some ways, yesterday went a lot better than I thought it would, but in others it was really overwhelming and I wasn't able to really calm down until after I talked to Mom and Dad. "Information overload" puts it kindly, but I think that after I'm able to get the stupid printing all set up here and talk to some people about what classes I should take and what I'm doing with my life, I'll feel better. In the mean time, I'll just keep reminding myself to work hard here because at least after this is vacation in August!
Not that interesting, I know. I'll try to come up with something a bit more human-interesting as the day goes on. Hopefully this class will spark the imagination.
Not that interesting, I know. I'll try to come up with something a bit more human-interesting as the day goes on. Hopefully this class will spark the imagination.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Day #7977 - A Few Random Firsts
Why hello there, my few (but hopefully faithful) readers! I know it's been a few days, but lately I have actually been busy! It's crazy, I know, but it happened. Not really doing much out of the ordinary, though there are a few milestones that I have hit that have kept me away from writing here.
First off, I finally finished all of the required reading for my first grad school class! Now you're probably sitting there thinking 'so what? You were an English major - reading is what you do.' Well please let me elaborate. The course that I'm taking right now asks us to do all of the reading before we have to go to Champaign for what the school calls our 10-day "bootcamp" of a class that ends with a final exam. Rather than reading all of these articles on my computer screen, I had them printed and they now fill two 2" binders that are sitting on my dresser. It took me a few weeks, but I finally finished reading them all yesterday, and I'm feeling pretty good as a result. I still have a 500 word paper due before bootcamp in July which will require me to go back and re-read two articles, but I've left myself a comfortable cushion to get that done.
Another thing that I finally completed yesterday, for the first time ever in my life, was a journal. I've tried keeping a journal at multiple times, mostly during junior high, high school, and college, but I would usually only stick with it for a few weeks or months, then get bored or come up with excuses about why I was too busy to write and eventually just stop. Then when I would rediscover the notebook several weeks or months later, I'd usually rip out the pages I had written before (deeming their contents ridiculous and making me cringe) and then start the process all over again. But this journal was different, at least in the fact that I did not keep ripping pages out. I started writing in it on January 1, 2008 so it only took me two and a half years to fill the whole thing, but I think better late than never. It's a little terrifying to look over at my bookshelf and see this hard cover notebook and know that it is filled cover to cover with my thoughts. So even though I finished writing in it, I don't think I'll go back and read it anytime soon for fear of some major cringing and an over-use of the Awkward Starfish.
Other than that, it's business as usual. I went out to St. Charles to visit my friend Katie which was so much fun. She made dinner and we proceeded to watch an MTV documentary about Courtney Love (she has had quite a life) and then switching channels between Will & Grace and The Golden Girls. It was so great to hang out with her, and I'm not just saying that because of my current state of hermit-dom. It also felt great to just get out and drive - nothing quite like wide open spaces getting away from the more crowded suburbs with the sunroof open and the sounds of James Taylor and Carole King streaming out of my stereo - it was a great summer moment.
Keep reading! Sorry for the ramblings, but I really didn't know what to talk about this time. Maybe it'll be better tomorrow, but you'll have to come back to find out :o)
First off, I finally finished all of the required reading for my first grad school class! Now you're probably sitting there thinking 'so what? You were an English major - reading is what you do.' Well please let me elaborate. The course that I'm taking right now asks us to do all of the reading before we have to go to Champaign for what the school calls our 10-day "bootcamp" of a class that ends with a final exam. Rather than reading all of these articles on my computer screen, I had them printed and they now fill two 2" binders that are sitting on my dresser. It took me a few weeks, but I finally finished reading them all yesterday, and I'm feeling pretty good as a result. I still have a 500 word paper due before bootcamp in July which will require me to go back and re-read two articles, but I've left myself a comfortable cushion to get that done.
Another thing that I finally completed yesterday, for the first time ever in my life, was a journal. I've tried keeping a journal at multiple times, mostly during junior high, high school, and college, but I would usually only stick with it for a few weeks or months, then get bored or come up with excuses about why I was too busy to write and eventually just stop. Then when I would rediscover the notebook several weeks or months later, I'd usually rip out the pages I had written before (deeming their contents ridiculous and making me cringe) and then start the process all over again. But this journal was different, at least in the fact that I did not keep ripping pages out. I started writing in it on January 1, 2008 so it only took me two and a half years to fill the whole thing, but I think better late than never. It's a little terrifying to look over at my bookshelf and see this hard cover notebook and know that it is filled cover to cover with my thoughts. So even though I finished writing in it, I don't think I'll go back and read it anytime soon for fear of some major cringing and an over-use of the Awkward Starfish.
Other than that, it's business as usual. I went out to St. Charles to visit my friend Katie which was so much fun. She made dinner and we proceeded to watch an MTV documentary about Courtney Love (she has had quite a life) and then switching channels between Will & Grace and The Golden Girls. It was so great to hang out with her, and I'm not just saying that because of my current state of hermit-dom. It also felt great to just get out and drive - nothing quite like wide open spaces getting away from the more crowded suburbs with the sunroof open and the sounds of James Taylor and Carole King streaming out of my stereo - it was a great summer moment.
Keep reading! Sorry for the ramblings, but I really didn't know what to talk about this time. Maybe it'll be better tomorrow, but you'll have to come back to find out :o)
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Day #7968 - And I'm back in the blogosphere
Hello there, friends and hypothetical readers!
I'm sitting here trying to think of an excuse that would actually sound believable to explain my one-year absence from this, my blog, but really nothing comes to mind. Sure there's the standard 'I have been so busy lately, I never had time,' but I'm always busy or at least pretending to be so that wouldn't work. I could go ahead and try to justify not writing here this past semester by blaming student teaching and saying that I didn't want to hurt my professional reputation and was afraid that my students would find this or something, but again, who are we kidding? No no, for this one I'll just have to go with the truth - I had accepted/come to believe that the only people reading this were my parents and the writer in me had been hoping to reach a wider audience. A break was necessary to regroup and hopefully this comeback will bring some people back, at least for a time. And if not, meh. That's okay, too. I've kind of missed spewing my random thoughts out into the great void that is the World Wide Web and then waiting to see what could possibly become of it. (I absolutely blame the Julie & Julia Project for that idea - I saw the movie and am unfortunately one of those people who seems to be a sucker for Nora Ephron movies.)
So! Twelve months is kind of a long time to be quiet, so I'll just give the reader's digest version of what I've been up to. Last summer I was never able to find a job or internship, however I was a Vacation Bible School counselor in August, which was fun. I finally turned 21, just in time for my senior year of college. Fall semester went well for the most part - living in a single room in Barton Hall was fine, though kind of lonely especially after being in the apartment with two roommates the year before, but it worked out since I was almost always up to my eyeballs in homework. I moved back home in December after final exams and student taught at a high school for 14 weeks. It's still difficult to answer when people ask me "What did you think of student teaching?" On the one hand, I loved getting to know my students - I have always felt that high school students have some of the most interesting perspectives on things (when you can get them to actually focus on what it is you're trying to teach them). On the other hand, it was really hard to get up day after day knowing that they did not like me, they did not think of me as their "real teacher", and being a person who has always had a hard time making friends, it was especially hard on me to be away from the ones I had while they were still at school and living it up during our final weeks as college students. But hey, I survived! I graduated last month, not all of my kids completely hated me (I hope!), and to say that my four years of college flew by is a huge understatement. If I could go back and do it all again, there are plenty of things I would change, but overall I think I turned out alright.
Which leaves us only with the present. What am I up to now? Still unemployed - some things never change. I applied to a lot of school districts last semester as well as around town for part-time work, however no luck. Hopefully I'll find something sooner rather than later, but I currently have my plate pretty full with GRADUATE SCHOOL. That's right, folks, I just can't get enough of learning. I applied to the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at U of I back in February (which is ranked as the #1 library school in the country) and I found out in May that I got in. I'm doing the program all online (at least, that is the plan for now) and am already up to my eyeballs in reading homework, but I think this will be a good fit for me.
In other news, my social life continues to be non-existent, my room is actually clean for the first time in forever, and I am slowly but surely getting my guitar skills back from last summer. Oh, and my boys, the Chicago Blackhawks, won the Stanley Cup! I'm sad that hockey season is over, but watching them all year was honestly one of the biggest helps in getting me through student teaching. Now if only the Cubbies could take a leaf out of that book...
So that's it for now, I suppose. I'm sure you're all terribly excited that I'm back online and I really do plan on making this a regular sort of column again. I think that's how I'm going to treat this, at least for a while, and see how it goes - sort of a random topic of the day. Thoughts? Send me your comments, per favore!!
I'm sitting here trying to think of an excuse that would actually sound believable to explain my one-year absence from this, my blog, but really nothing comes to mind. Sure there's the standard 'I have been so busy lately, I never had time,' but I'm always busy or at least pretending to be so that wouldn't work. I could go ahead and try to justify not writing here this past semester by blaming student teaching and saying that I didn't want to hurt my professional reputation and was afraid that my students would find this or something, but again, who are we kidding? No no, for this one I'll just have to go with the truth - I had accepted/come to believe that the only people reading this were my parents and the writer in me had been hoping to reach a wider audience. A break was necessary to regroup and hopefully this comeback will bring some people back, at least for a time. And if not, meh. That's okay, too. I've kind of missed spewing my random thoughts out into the great void that is the World Wide Web and then waiting to see what could possibly become of it. (I absolutely blame the Julie & Julia Project for that idea - I saw the movie and am unfortunately one of those people who seems to be a sucker for Nora Ephron movies.)
So! Twelve months is kind of a long time to be quiet, so I'll just give the reader's digest version of what I've been up to. Last summer I was never able to find a job or internship, however I was a Vacation Bible School counselor in August, which was fun. I finally turned 21, just in time for my senior year of college. Fall semester went well for the most part - living in a single room in Barton Hall was fine, though kind of lonely especially after being in the apartment with two roommates the year before, but it worked out since I was almost always up to my eyeballs in homework. I moved back home in December after final exams and student taught at a high school for 14 weeks. It's still difficult to answer when people ask me "What did you think of student teaching?" On the one hand, I loved getting to know my students - I have always felt that high school students have some of the most interesting perspectives on things (when you can get them to actually focus on what it is you're trying to teach them). On the other hand, it was really hard to get up day after day knowing that they did not like me, they did not think of me as their "real teacher", and being a person who has always had a hard time making friends, it was especially hard on me to be away from the ones I had while they were still at school and living it up during our final weeks as college students. But hey, I survived! I graduated last month, not all of my kids completely hated me (I hope!), and to say that my four years of college flew by is a huge understatement. If I could go back and do it all again, there are plenty of things I would change, but overall I think I turned out alright.
Which leaves us only with the present. What am I up to now? Still unemployed - some things never change. I applied to a lot of school districts last semester as well as around town for part-time work, however no luck. Hopefully I'll find something sooner rather than later, but I currently have my plate pretty full with GRADUATE SCHOOL. That's right, folks, I just can't get enough of learning. I applied to the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at U of I back in February (which is ranked as the #1 library school in the country) and I found out in May that I got in. I'm doing the program all online (at least, that is the plan for now) and am already up to my eyeballs in reading homework, but I think this will be a good fit for me.
In other news, my social life continues to be non-existent, my room is actually clean for the first time in forever, and I am slowly but surely getting my guitar skills back from last summer. Oh, and my boys, the Chicago Blackhawks, won the Stanley Cup! I'm sad that hockey season is over, but watching them all year was honestly one of the biggest helps in getting me through student teaching. Now if only the Cubbies could take a leaf out of that book...
So that's it for now, I suppose. I'm sure you're all terribly excited that I'm back online and I really do plan on making this a regular sort of column again. I think that's how I'm going to treat this, at least for a while, and see how it goes - sort of a random topic of the day. Thoughts? Send me your comments, per favore!!
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