Simmons Wrap Up

Posted December 9, 2014 by Gemma Doyle

When I decided to apply to Simmons for my Master’s, I was working as a records management professional in a corporate setting.  I loved certain parts of my job, and I wanted to make sure I would be able to keep a career in records management going – so a Master’s seemed like a sound (if possibly unnecessary) investment in my future.  (Corporate records managers haven’t really needed a Master’s in the way that a librarian would, although in the current climate it is becoming more and more necessary to have some education or certification to make you stand out from the rest of the pack just to get a job in the first place.)

I was worried about how I was going to balance school and working full-time.  I was especially worried that I would end up only being able to take one class per semester, and would be in school for 4+ years – that I might lose momentum, or that there were so many things that might happen to knock me out before I finished the degree. 

It took two full years, but I managed to finish when I hoped I would.  Over the course of my time at Simmons, I have changed my mind three or four times about what I want to focus on once I have the degree.  The thing you don’t understand before you start is that it’s not just archives or libraries; there are different types of libraries and different types of archives, records management, digital repositories, etc.  Even now there are a lot of classes I really loved and a lot of different career paths I think I would enjoy, and choosing just one is difficult.  I’ve been interviewing a lot over the past few weeks, and have had one offer so far, so it really is time to make a decision, finally.  No matter what I end up doing, I am extremely excited about the future.