So I guess I'm a Librarian Now...

After two years and eight months of part-time work, I got to take the stage at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada yesterday and am now completely finished with my time in Graduate school.

The last few years have been pretty great, and a huge part of that was doing this blog (which I fully intend to continue with) as it got me very used to delivering written work on a regular basis.  For all of you who have followed my blog over the years, or commented on any posts, Thanks!  To the folks who have just swung by and read - thanks as well, keeping you all in mind while writing has definitely kept me on my toes for the last few years.

As a special thanks, here's a photo of me on my Convocation day, I'm sitting next to one of my favourite sculptures on campus and am holding the eagle feather I was awarded by Aboriginal Student Services upon graduation.

Thanks everyone!

You can call me MLIS-ter Bookmonkey!

So here we are, I just got home from my last class of my last course between me and my Master's of Library and Information Studies degree!

A little more than two and a half years after I began I can now say I'm finished with Postsecondary school (my wife says I have to say "for now"), which is very bizarre for me as I started on this road back in 2004 when my seventeen-year-old daughter was my seven-year-old daughter.  It took me seven years to get my Bachelor's degree and almost another three to get this one, but for the first time since my late twenties I no longer have to figure out how to balance school, home and work.

I've got to say, it's actually freaking me out a little...

Gaming Slowdown in March

Although I’ve read Reality Is Broken, and can therefore argue all sorts of benefits that gaming can bring to people, I’ve hit my last month of my graduate degree and having recently finished the first episode of “The Wolf Among Us” I’m pretty hesitant to start any new games in my last few weeks of school.

So right now I have two telltale games - The Walking Dead: Season Two, and The Wolf Among Us, as well as a three others, Assassin's Creed III, Red Dead Redemption, and Dead Space 3, all sitting on my bookshelf, waiting for me to have some free time.

I'm 100% sure I could both begin a new game and continue with my school work for the next month without much of a problem, but as I'm now four assignments away from my degree I'm using the games as incentive to put more work in to my assignments.

On the other hand, I don't think I could really function if I slowed down on my reading - past what I already did when I started school - after all, you can only slow down so far.

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

Things I've Noticed: I'm Seven Eighths of the way to my Masters Degree

Whew - I'm almost at the end.

Although I still have one more class to attend on Tuesday, I've handed in all of my required assignments for this term which puts me seven eighths of the way through my Masters Degree.

This is actually pretty cool as I've been working at this degree since I started the program back in the fall of 2011 and have been taking courses year-round since then.

Also I got to do both of my "if only" courses in the program - meaning "if only I have the time and opportunity, I wish I could take these courses" being one focusing on Multimedia Literacies and one focusing on Comic Books and Graphic Novels in School and Public Libraries.

Also it means I've got my last month off between courses, as the new ones don't start up until the beginning of January, so my plan now is to catch up on books, movies and games I've borrowed from friends and family.