Inspiration at the Start of Spring Semester 2014
Posted January 18, 2014 by Maggie Davidov
I’m getting the 5th semester itch and I’m starting my semester off all wrong. Anyone know the feeling? I sit on my couch staring at the stack of books that has accumulated in the past few days and I think how good it would be if I actually read them. Then I think about how there is this vast vacuum of time waiting for me and whatever happened to weekends? Oh that’s right I’m a grad student and weekends don’t exist. I don’t know any friend of mine at GSLIS who has what normal people call a weekend. We work hard at usually more than one job. We write papers and read ridiculous amounts of professional literature. We do all this and I don’t know about everyone else but sometimes it all feels like nonsense. I’m paddling to stay afloat and I never imagined that would be what my education would look like.
Then, the most amazing thing happened to me: my boss quit. That’s right, my boss, the most incredible woman, the most awe inspiring and fearless librarian I have ever known decided to leave her job of 22 years. Why is this inspiring, you ask? Well, first of all, she should have consulted me, as she should on all things life altering, because really this is all ultimately about me. However, the reason my boss has knocked my socks off is because this choice is her deciding to begin again. I don’t know what she’s going to do. She might knit a hat for every starving child in the world. She might travel to places she’s been dreaming about for ages. She might start a whole new career. The inspiration comes from her deciding that she wants to challenge herself and do great things.
Our professors and colleagues tell us all the time how happy librarians are and that’s why no one can get a job because no one ever retires. This may be true, but isn’t it incredible to think that the field of library science fosters communication and professional growth so much that librarians are happy enough to stay forever or quit to begin anew? Regardless of what you think I call it a reason to get past my 5th semester itch and bust through this wall of procrastination. I have one year more to prepare myself for the greatest job I’ll ever have. This is big! So big that it will prepare me for whatever I think needs to come next. Thank you, boss (you know who you are).