Musings towards the end of Library School

So here I am a month and change away from the end of my time at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta, two-and-a-half years after I began (and at that time I thought I would be graduating around 2015), and part of finishing my program requires me to create a portfolio, including a number of assignments I've done, descriptions of my accomplishments in leadership and professional engagement and how I've gain all sorts of competencies in the field of study.

Also I have to write a mini-essay that synthesizes my time at library school, which got me thinking, what have I gained in the last few years?

When I finished my Library Technician diploma at MacEwan in 2000 I had a specific skill set that helped to land me the job I would end up holding for the next decade.

When I finished my undergraduate degree, I felt that I was better at research, time management, and writing papers (not to mention watching movies, TV series, listening to music, playing games and chatting with friends and family - thank you Communication Studies Major!)

Since starting Graduate School in September of 2011, I've done a lot of research (probably more than I did between Kindergarten and Grade 12), a lot of group work, presentations and become a lot more comfortable putting myself out there, wether that means joining other social networks like LinkedIn or Twitter, or just applying for scholarships (which in turn ended up taking me to library conferences in Jasper, Chicago and Philadelphia - not to mention Vegas later this year!)

I've learned the importance of changing with the times, learning from everything around me and most importantly, finding venues to share all this information with other people in a clear and simple fashion. One of my goals throughout Graduate School was to never write a paper my youngest daughter couldn't understand (she was 14 when I started the program) as I believe that unless what you know can be shared, there isn't much point in knowing it.

Finally, I've learned how incredibly supportive my friends, family and school have been in helping me get the most out of my time at school, and honestly, that may have been my favourite thing I've taken out of this experience.

Oh yeah, and I've learned that with hard work and consistent work, you can do pretty much anything,
Your Old Pal, Bookmonkey