Enjoying the Journey

Posted February 28, 2019 by Megan Ondricek

As the semester goes on I continue to feel very pleased with the way that it has turned out. Taking that two-week preservation course at the very beginning was the best thing I could have done. I enjoyed the topic more than I thought I would, and it left me with just one class to worry about for the rest of the semester! It does feel a little strange to not be driving up to South Hadley every Saturday, but I am thrilled to have my weekends back and to spend them with my family. It is a good thing too, because the weekly class schedule for metadata makes all the assignments and discussions due on Monday – which means I’m pretty busy over the weekend.

Fortunately my internship makes up for the missed classroom interaction and sociality I enjoyed up at SLIS West. On Thursday I got to observe Matt, the senior instruction librarian, teach the class that I’ll be teaching next week! The lesson plan, activities, presentation and materials are already provided for me, I just need to work on my delivery. It’s like teaching with the training wheels on, letting me focus on getting comfortable with classroom dynamics and the flow of a lesson. I know I’ll be super nervous for my first time next week, so I just keep reminding myself of three things. First, that it’s not my first time teaching/speaking/presenting in front of people and all those other times have generally gone very well. Second, that I am prepared to do this and right where I want to be. Third, that it’s not that big of a deal and it’s okay to be a little shaky at first. Matt and I talked about how reading and taking LIS classes and observing can only prepare you so much before you just have to start doing it. Being nervous and shaky is all part of the journey, part of the ground that must be traversed before you arrive at your destination.

Speaking of the journey, my time at Simmons is quickly winding down and while I’m very much focused on what comes next, I’m also trying to relish my last semester. I love school and I have loved being a Simmons student and I may never be a student like this again. School is stressful and a lot of work and while the end result is very important, there is a lot to be gained from the journey itself. Try to soak it all up while you can!