I cannot state strongly enough how much I enjoyed this program. Yes, at times the workload was daunting. Yes, at times I felt like I was never going to be finished. Yes, there were a couple of classes that I wanted to take but did not, and a couple of classes I did take and wished I had not. But now that my time in the program is drawing to an end, I have to admit that choosing this career path and this program was the right decision.
Working on my ePortfolio has been challenging but rewarding. Rereading class notes, lecture presentations, articles and textbooks, as well as revisiting discussion posts and homework assignments made me realize how far I have come and how much I have learned. There were times when I looked at the requirements for a particular competency and thought “how am I supposed to remember what I learned all those semesters ago” but then, as I began to write, I realized that learning had truly taken place and I knew what I was talking about. Moreover, I began making connections with certain concepts that I had not seen clearly during “the heat of the class.” In true constructivist fashion, the learning process continued through the writing of this ePortfolio as I built upon what I had already learned. I also think it was important for me to choose the ePortfolio over developing a thesis because I have not yet worked in a library, so strengthening my understanding of the key competencies required of librarians has helped me prepare for upcoming job interviews.
My strengths lie in my attention to detail, my eagerness to help people, and my never-ending thirst for knowledge. I love to learn. As I mentioned, there were several classes I wanted to take but was unable to for one reason or another. I hope to take those classes in the future through the open-class program.
When I embarked on this journey four years ago, I had little more than a general sense of what librarianship involved. The classes I have taken have challenged my concept of libraries and librarianship and allowed me to broaden my horizons in these areas. I appreciate that this program has allowed me to explore different types of libraries and different career paths. Classes that I particularly enjoyed include those on reference services, collection development, and correctional library management. Interestingly, as a self-proclaimed research junky, I thought INFO-244, Online Searching, would be an easy class. Lesson learned: never underestimate your ability to overestimate your abilities. That class challenged me and I learned so much about querying information retrieval systems. I have put that knowledge to good, practical use both for myself and in teaching other students how to use information retrieval systems.
The other enjoyable aspect of being in this MLIS program has been my job as graduate assistant to the iSchool web technologist. Taking classes on HTML coding and data content management is one thing, being able to execute what I had learned is another, particularly when mistakes may cause whole webpages to disappear. Luckily, my supervisor began by having me handle small, simple tasks, and as my knowledge and confidence grew, he assigned increasingly more challenging tasks. When necessary or appropriate, he provided training and patiently answered my questions until I understood. I cannot thank him enough.
As much as I have enjoyed the iSchool’s MLIS program, I am glad to be finished and ready to begin the next chapter of my life. As I have stated repeatedly, I do not know exactly where I will end up or what kind of library I will work in, but one thing is for sure: working in a library is my destiny. I know that I am well-prepared and ready to serve the patron community as I proudly represent the profession of librarianship.
Kristin Lehigh 