In a nutshell: I’m a former Student Affairs professional, who is currently practicing librarianship at public library branch — all while trying to tackle motherhood.
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In great detail: I worked in Greek Affairs at the University of Arizona, as well as the University of Illinois. I decided to pursue other career opportunities after a few years, because in Student Affairs, you partake in administrative meetings and planning during the day — then meet with student groups at night and on the weekend. I was easily working 80-hour weeks. There were two ideas I took away from that experience 1) I truly enjoy working/interacting with the traditional college-aged student and 2) Take advantage of expertise that is right next door to you (I worked with campus psychologists when it was apparent students had eating disorders, had abusive boyfriends, had been sexually assaulted, etc., University legal counsels for “situations” that involved the law, campus grief counselors for times when an organization lost a classmate, etc.).
These two ideas I took with me on my road to librarianship. I “fell into” instruction — and I began to find my niche specifically with teaching methods and the first-year student, as well as instructional technologies. The former allowed me to hone my teaching skills using learning theories focused on assisting the 18-year-old during his or her transition from high school into the world of academia…and I (hopefully) could be a positive part of that student’s collegiate experience and success. The latter, instructional technologies, I found useful in enhancing my teaching — and I looked to the expertise of and collaboration with Systems colleagues, Instructional Design experts, and Information Technologists just to name a few.
