Real World
Fall Beckons!
Posted September 13, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
My penultimate semester at Simmons has begun and the summer is officially over. I’m at this stage of my school journey in which things are beginning to feel very repetitive. Here I am: getting up before 6 am every Saturday, driving the same route to South Hadley, Mass., stopping at the same places for gas and a bite to eat, walking the same paths to familiar classrooms, seeing the same faces, eating the same lunches at the SlIS West office…. This is not to say that there’s nothing unique about this semester, just that it’s begun to feel very routine. In many ways, though, this semester is unprecedented. For the first time, both of my kids will be at school for some portion of the day, giving me chunks of dedicated homework time in the mornings. The kids’ school schedules force all of us to be up and at ’em fairly early so there will be more discipline and more routine. And I’m starting this semester with more planning, motivation, determination, and better personal organization…
A Season’s Change
Posted August 17, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
I was listening to a podcast by one of my very favorite authors and speakers, Rob Bell, earlier this week. This gem of an episode was entitled “Everyone Is Your Teacher,” and it turned out to be one of those well-timed bits of amazingness that was dropped right into my lap. The day was oddly gloomy, I was on my way to work when I would have much rather been curled up in my pj’s while binge watching The Bold Type. Still, I had a half hour walk and decided to tune in and see if Rob had any words of wisdom and humor for me. (Spoiler alert: he did.) He shared a short vignette about the seasons that we experience in life, and how the various seasons we have teach us different things. He said that part of the power in celebrating any particular season is being honest with ourselves and letting it be what it was after it has run its course. Now, what am I getting at here? A few things…fall is…
Staying Busy and Finding Meaning
Posted July 23, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
I’ve been wracking my brain this week trying to come up with a good metaphor to compare summer online courses with regular semester ones. The one I keep thinking about is running. Let’s say the normal semester course is like running the mile. You know it’s going to be four laps around the track and you know you can’t sprint the entire time and so you pace yourself, trying to keep your speed steady and saving your energy for a little burst at the end. This online summer course is like running 800 meters. You can still try to pace yourself, but there’s not as much distance in this race and so you mostly just run and hope your strength holds out. (I don’t actually have any experience with these kinds of races so I apologize if the metaphor doesn’t fit.) There are just two weeks left in my class and today I went and signed my kids up for summer camp at their adorable little preschool. At the beginning of the summer my husband…
A Glimpse of Summer
Posted June 28, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
I had almost forgotten about the feeling of that sweet exhale summer break brings until now. I don’t know if what I’m doing 100% qualifies as a “break” since I am working a lot and still managing to keep my schedule quite full, but it is nice to be doing all of those things without having to worry about homework and readings for a few months! In terms of work, I’m still filling in as a senior substitute at the Somerville Public Library. I love it for…well, many reasons. 1) SPL is an awesome place and you should come visit us, okay? Okay. 2) We’ve got three branches, and I’ve been fortunate enough to work in various roles at each of them. Plus, I have amazing co-workers who have been so helpful and supportive. A little circulation here, some reference desk there, and my personal favorite–the children’s room. I got to do an impromptu preschool story time a couple of weeks ago and it was only a little scary, but mostly a lot of fun…
Some Thoughts on Cars and Parking Permits
Posted June 15, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
Hello, people of the world! I’d like to pass along some practical advice about what it’s like to bring your out of state car to Massachusetts, because there are a number of things I’ve had to learn the hard way since I did just that a couple of weeks ago. First off, there are a number of cities in the Greater Boston Area that will require you to have a street parking permit if you aren’t lucky enough to land in a place with a driveway or garage. Know that you have been blessed by the parking gods if such fortune falls upon your head. And since the spaces in the lot behind my apartment complex were already filled up, I was in need of such a permit. I made a big, fat assumption that since I was a grad student living here temporarily, I’d still be able to get some kind of permit. Oh, I was wrong. So very wrong. It turns out that when you’re living here and have your vehicle here, you’re…
Pondering the Future
Posted June 13, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
So, readers, my little summer break is almost over. My new class starts next week (LIS 415: Information Organization). As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, it’s an online class again and I’m excited to start. I am a little bit ambivalent about the shorter timeframe, but I’m really excited about the topic and I’ve already started in on the reading. Over the past few weeks I’ve been pondering my future a lot. Currently, I’m doing the Archives Management concentration within the MS in Library and Information Science program. Even though I’m near the beginning of the program and am still taking my core classes, I can’t help but wonder whether or not the Archives Management track is right for me and if I should instead be doing the design-your-own option. I’ve been doing a lot of informal networking lately, and through my discussions with other librarians I’ve started to think about what I really want to do with my life once I graduate from Simmons, and if archives will play a role in that. …
A Much Needed Break
Posted May 28, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
I’m afraid I don’t have any exciting summer adventures to report on yet; with my son’s preschool still in session our summer hasn’t officially started. To be quite honest, I’ve been laying pretty low since the semester ended. I’ve written no blogs (until this one), largely ignored my school email, and given barely any thought to school or libraries. I’ve also been sick almost the entire time (thanks kids) which has necessitated taking it easy. That means watching shows, reading books, and playing silly games on my phone. But the best part of my break so far has been all the unstructured quality time I’ve been able to spend with my family, without the worry of school deadlines weighing me down and subtly siphoning away my energy and attention. My husband and kids are thrilled to have mommy back in full for a little while. And yes, as others have mentioned, spring is in full swing here in New England. It’s that brief and magical time of year when the house needs no heating or…
Job Hunt
Posted April 18, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
Before I applied to Simmons, I did thorough research on the Master’s of Library Science programs and what types of jobs you can get after you graduate. Unfortunately, what I did not have was experience working in a library. The only experience that I had working in a library was volunteering in middle school to help sign people up for the summer reading program (I’m pretty certain that doesn’t count). The thing that was stressed over and over in the information sessions that I attended before applying, and while meeting with my advisor, and in class was to get experience during your time at Simmons. So, right now, I’m looking for that experience. The Archives Management concentration does require an internship course, LIS 438: Introduction to Archival Methods and Services, so I know I will get some experience when I take that class. However, I’m not taking that class now so I’m hoping to find something before I take that class, whether it be a paid job, an internship, and/or more volunteer experience. As I…
Librarian Advice
Posted April 2, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
Spring break has come and gone (while we’re still waiting for actual spring to arrive) which means we’re entering the second half of the semester. It’s amazing to me how different this semester has been from my last. In the fall I had the same number of classes and the same number of credits, but 20 hours a week was barely enough time to complete all the assignments and I struggled to keep up with the reading (I was also doing my 60-hour archives internship). This semester, 20 hours a week feels fairly sufficient, and my current two classes require lighter reading and fewer written assignments. Last Saturday we had one of our Day-in-the-Life lunchtime programs that could have been called “Personalized Advice from a Career Librarian.” It was awesome. These lunchtime events are one of the best things about SLIS West. There’s free food and the opportunity to mingle with classmates and librarians from around the area. Saturday’s speaker was Barbara Friedman, current part-time director of Erving Library with nearly fifty years of library…
In Case of Free Time
Posted March 29, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
Due to some marvelous twist of fate, I indeed have some of this coveted free time mentioned in the title, even in the midst of three classes, two part-time jobs, and an internship. Phew. Did I mention that the twist of fate was marvelous? Of course, a fair amount of said free time is spent taking care of important things (i.e. homework & blessed, blessed sleep) along with the everyday banalities of life. But how else to fill in those special gaps of nothingness? Here’s how it looks for me: I still read for pleasure. Honestly, I’ve found it impossible to stop! I tote books around to read on my train or bus commute, and I’ve joined a couple of different book clubs in the area. I was a little shy to jump in at first, but they’ve helped me be motivated to read new things regularly, and I’m also getting to meet some great new people. FYI- the Meetup app is an awesome way to get plugged into groups like this! Speaking of great…