The End

Okay so it’s not as good as the original version but I think it was worth a shot. Even so, I think my alterations work with the situation that’s going on here. 

Indeed, my time as a graduate student is dwindling down; about twenty days, I am going to walk across a stage to receive my Master’s in Library and Information Science!* Can you believe it ’cause I really, really, REALLY, can’t. It seriously feels like just yesterday that I attended SLIS (or GSLIS as it was known then) orientation after accidentally walking towards Kenmore for ten minutes. Yet here I am, weeks away from the inevitable end. And OMG, what an adventure this whole experience has been! 

Although this might sound like a total cliche, a lot can happen in three years. I know that I am not the same person that I was when I first started at SLIS. Through academic courses, job and internship opportunities, SLIS sponsored events, and networking, I have made tremendous strides in my path towards becoming a professional within the field of LIS. While these are things that I knew would occur over the three years that I would a student in SLIS, nothing could have prepared me for just how much they would impact my overall professional development. While I thought that I knew which area of LIS I wanted to focus on (archives), my coursework and experiences have led me down a slightly different path. Although I would still like to work in an archive, I have discovered a fondness for reference work and an interest in special libraries. These are realizations that I would never have had were it not for SLIS resources like the Jobline or emails calling for applications for internships.

Returning to my lyrical opener, I want to emphasize the truth behind the fact that none of my experiences would have ever occurred had I not been encouraged by members of the SLIS faculty to push myself to try new things. Had I not done so, I would never had landed a job as a medical reference librarian and fallen in love with reference work. If there is one thing that I have to impart on incoming students it is this: don’t be afraid to go outside your comfort zone; you never know what you might learn. The SLIS experience is the one that is tailored to the individual. No one is going to have the same story here and that’s primarily due to the path(s) they take between orientation and commencements. But you have to put the effort in. If not, then you are not getting the full SLIS experience.

I have had a blast blogging for the School of Library and Information Science for the past three years. It has been awesome chronicling my time in the program as well as sneaking in references to Kevin Bacon (like this one). I am not sure what is in store for me after graduation but I am confident that SLIS has prepared me for what is next. 

I might be back this summer with a blog post or two but for now, this is Jill Silverberg signing off!

*I will earn my Master’s in History this August since I have selected to take a slight extension on my thesis.