Getting Involved
Posted April 24, 2012 by dunhame
I know, I know. Its annoying to talk about how important it is to get involved in extracurricular activities. Weve been hearing about it in every stage of education since we were old enough to make our own decisions about how to use our time. I think it is important, however, to re-emphasize once again, even if only to myself, how crucial it is to make an effort to get involved in the student professional community during your short time in library school.
For me, Simmons GSLIS was very different from anything Id ever experienced before in terms of how much effort it took to get involved. For the first time, Im attending a commuter school; this semester I only have to be on campus twice a week. Each semester Ive worked 3-4 days a week, and oh goodness, so much homework! How could I possibly find the time to drag myself to campus other times during the week to go to faculty and/or student group-sponsored events?
Its true, theres no way to conjure up extra time, as much as us humans would love it.
Im pretty locked in when it comes to events going on during my work hours, and I really allowed myself to get discouraged by that last semester. I thought, Well, it looks like all the cool stuff on campus happens on the days I work, so I might as well stop reading these event announcement E-mails. Its something I really regret.
By committing myself to remaining diligent and paying attention to all the announcements, Im now finding that a decent number of GSLIS community activities take place when Im not at work. The wonderful people who plan these things realize that grad students are incredibly busy (because theyre incredibly busy grad students too), so they make an effort to variegate scheduling. For instance, just this past Saturday I was able to attend the First Annual Graduate Student Symposium, organized and sponsored by the Student Chapter of the Society of American Archivists (SCoSAA) and the Special Libraries Association (SLA). It was an amazing experience; a conference put on by students for students that provided a comfortable but professional environment for students to share their projects with one another. It was also a great opportunity to meet and get to know colleagues I might not have met otherwise.
My general antsiness over my lack of involvement in the GSLIS community inspired me to run for a SCoSAA position. Im honored to have been elected as the 2012-2013 SCoSAA Webmaster! Ill be managing SCoSAAs webpage and social media presence. By committing myself to working for a student organization, I will have no choice but to follow through on my goal to get involved. This is just the motivation I needed, and Im very excited about it!
The point I think Im trying to make here is–getting involved isnt easy, but its worth the extra effort. Getting to know your colleagues is an essential part of the library school experience; this is the time to build friendships and make professional connections with like-minded library folks. Take a second to check out the GSLIS Student Groups page here, and have a great week!