Students
Ladies and Gentlemen – Nicole Cunha!
Posted February 15, 2014 by Maggie Davidov
Every semester I interview someone so fantastically excellent from the GSLIS program so I can share him or her with the Student Snippets fan base. This semester I have chosen a friend and colleague of mine from Beatley Library at Simmons. Nicole Cunha, a graduate of Simmons College, has been working in the library since her junior year. She is now a dual degree major in Children’s Literature and Library Science at GSLIS. She is a constant inspiration to me. She works in almost every department at Beatley and when she’s not working, she’s here working on all of her homework. She is a rockstar. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Nicole Cunha. 1) What made you choose the GSLIS program and what is your focus while here at Simmons? How did you get here? Long story short, my hometown/elementary school librarian told me about Simmons when I was younger; or she at least tried to get me interested in it. If I remember correctly, she had mentioned Simmons to my mum because she recognized…
I Need Office Supply Rehab.
Posted February 4, 2014 by Carolyn Lucas
Please indulge me as I nerd out for a second about something that I don’t think many people nerd out about. Yes, I played World of Warcraft for years. Yes, I am really into Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and a plethora of even less well-known fantasy and science fiction-y stuff. But one of my favorite nerd-outs is so nerdy that no one even talks about it, and I’m not sure if anyone else suffers from this affliction besides myself (and apparently the whole of South Korea). Let’s nerd out about supplies. Seriously, guys. Is there anything better than the perfect pen, or a fresh notebook, or – the crème de la crème – a desk organizer? I have spent years hunting for the right school supplies. My father, bless his heart, finally gave up and sent me his credit card number so I could order my own planner, because in his words “just pick one already and buy it for yourself and consider it a Christmas present.” Everyone is different with what…
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…
Study Break
Posted November 16, 2013 by Maggie Davidov
I believe Jack Prelutsky speaks for all of us with this poem. I leave it to you on this Saturday of endless study. Homework! Oh, Homework! Homework! Oh, homework! I hate you! You stink! I wish I could wash you away in the sink, if only a bomb would explode you to bits. Homework! Oh, homework! You’re giving me fits. I’d rather take baths with a man-eating shark, or wrestle a lion alone in the dark, eat spinach and liver, pet ten porcupines, than tackle the homework my teacher assigns. Homework! Oh, homework! You’re last on my list, I simply can’t see why you even exist, if you disappeared it would tickle me pink. Homework! Oh, homework! I hate you! You stink! Prelutsky, Jack, and James Stevenson. The New Kid on the Block :Poems. 1st ed. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1984. Print.
All About Going Abroad
Posted November 15, 2013 by Jill Silverberg
Having the chance to study abroad is something that I think many students want to strive towards when they begin their career as college students. While a number of my close friends did indeed get to experience the wonders of studying in a foreign country, I unfortunately did not. With the idea that my opportunity to go abroad had finally passed, you can imagine my pleasant surprise when I discovered that GSLIS offered its students a number of study abroad options. Yes you are reading this correctly; you can study abroad in graduate school! Who knew? For those of you who are curious, GSLIS will be offering two study abroad options this summer, one in Seoul, South Korea, and the other in Paris, France. For two whole weeks, groups of students will have the chance to take LIS classes, experiences the wonders of another culture, and get to explore locations they have only dreamed of! Just to clarify, for each trip, two different course options will be offered. As for the classes themselves, there will be a total…
Savor Your Time at GSLIS
Posted November 9, 2013 by Maggie Davidov
Are we there yet? I keep asking myself this question. When I started at GSLIS, I thought I would be at a great advantage over the full-time students. Here they were rushing through a very full and complex curriculum, while I would be plodding along, taking stock of my interests as I went. This, fundamentally is true. However, with both sides of the coin it seems I shall mix metaphors and say that the grass looks greener on their side! I want so much to be DONE. I have learned a great deal here and I’m enjoying my classes. But I’ve finished almost four semesters and the thought of three more is weighing me down. So, what’s the remedy here? Who can I turn to? In this case I turn to everyone and anyone who’s worked full-time and gone to graduate school at the same time. Most of the teachers at the high school I work at completely feel my pain. We sit over lunch and ask ourselves, “When does life get easier?” When we…
Three Reasons Study Groups are Awesome
Posted November 3, 2013 by Jill Silverberg
Study groups are something that I used to avoid when I was an undergraduate student. Back then, I found them to be disorganized and extremely one-sided, with one person usually doing all the work. However, I’ve had a recent revelation regarding study groups: they are AWESOME. Perhaps its because I am now a mature graduate student or something, but the study group dynamic that I was used to seems to be a thing of the past. Indeed, I have found that having a study group is one of the wisest decisions I’ve made since starting at Simmons. As much as I would like to think that I am one of those students who can do it all on their own, I am not. With assignments that really challenge you to use everything you’ve learned in class and then some, its nice to have a group of people who are equally as confused as you are. It seems to create a nice sense of solidarity, if you catch my drift. So, to showcase how awesome and…
GSLIS Goes to Rome!
Posted June 28, 2013 by Emily Boyd
Ciao! I’ve been absent from blogging for the last few weeks because I have been on a whirlwind tour of Europe. My travels took me to Rome and the surrounding countryside; including day trips to Florence, the Mediterranean Sea, and a day of wine tasting in Orvieto. After the course ended, I extended my visit further east to Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary. I’ve returned to the states inspired, overwhelmed, and reassured once again about how much I love GSLIS. This was the first time Simmons has taken GSLIS students to Rome and while the trip was not without its glitches, overall the experience was wonderful. We stayed in a beautiful neighborhood full of cafes, wine bars, and restaurants and had easy access to all of Rome’s historic sites. Highlights of the trip included our day trips outside of the city, a fabulous tour of the colosseum, and eating my way through the city of Rome. Lest I forget, I should also mention that we were in Rome to take a class. My Intellectual Freedom and…
Drawn to Being Withdrawn
Posted June 24, 2013 by Sarah Barton
I have recently done an unusual amount of reading about solitude while also living a more solitary life than usual – I do not have classes, work less than thirty hours per week, and my significant other is interning in Washington, DC this summer. I am an introvert by nature, so this temporary low-key lifestyle is right up my alley. Any doubts about my chronic introversion were nullified by Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. I also read The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Peale (as a counterbalance to The Positive Power of Negative Thinking by Julie Norem, which confirmed that I am quite the defensive pessimist, but that is a whole different story) and this speech by William Deresciwicz, both of which touch upon the importance of solitude and reflection in developing one’s thoughts and cultivating one’s best self. Over the past two weeks I have spent a bulk of my free time reading and writing instead of watching TV and socializing, and it has…
Busy, busy, busy!
Posted June 20, 2013 by lazylibrarian
You’d think summer would be less stressful….but no. I’m running around like a chicken with its head cut off. New job, new internship, new apartment, new bank account, even a new boyfriend. Breathe in, breathe out. But my internship is so much fun! I’m in the midst of planning two exhibits, both based on the same collection. Today, I worked on the second one which is going to trace how a children’s book is published since we have all the steps represented in the collection. Notes, contracts, illustrations, mock-ups, royalty checks! So cool! But I also got to see some other sides of the archives today. Wednesday is our “late” day. The archive is open from 5-9 instead of the regular earlier time frame so that people who work full-time can have a chance to stop by. That makes it a little more busy than usual. Today we had three patrons in the room at the same time! That might not sound too amazing, but the manuscript portion of the collection is very small since…