get a master's degree in library science

I just found out that the Registrar FINALLY posted my degree. So in all senses of the word, this is DONE!

Got the internship grade, confirmed that my paperwork was submitted correctly, and even found out that the state library has me on their list of confirmed graduates. SO! I’m done, right?

Well, yes. But for some reason I’m reluctant to take this goal down! I guess I’m still nervous about SOMETHING (don’t ask me what, I don’t know) going wrong. I want the diploma in my hands before I call this done! No telling how long that will take, though.

It’s hard to believe. 2 years is not a very long time.

I have an internship evaluation to submit, but have already submitted my plan of study form thingy. I’m not marking this ‘done’ until they TELL me for sure I am graduated, but for all intents and purposes, my degree is complete.

This somewhat crappy semester seems to be turning around a bit! I got an A on a big assignment that I was SURE I did poorly at. The prof did point out (correctly so) that my research was weak. However, I guess the English degree writing skills paid off, again!!

Whew. That was nice. I looked at the posted grade thinking that it was going to ruin my whole day, but the opposite occurred.

I am determined that my next issue analysis paper for this class will be so excellent that the prof will post it as the ‘exemplary paper’ for that topic. The topic is rural broadband, something that I’m passionate about anyway, so that helps, too.

Now to do some catch-up work in my other classes!

Just found out that I got A’s in 2 of my 3 classes (I haven’t received the grade for the third yet). A relief: I was worried about my participation grade for one of the classes (I did not contribute to online discussion quite as much as I thought I should), but just got a note from the prof saying she thought my participation was good? Odd, but fine by me!

I am not worried about the third class, as I think I’ve done very well with all the work.

I know grades are not everything, but darn it, I’ve been conditioned. I can KNOW intellectually that I did good work, but at least in an academic context, until that is recognized, I feel uncertain about the quality.

I am happy with my efforts in 2 of the classes, and VERY happy with how I’ve done in my database class, dealing with completely foreign and frightening ideas. Even though I don’t have the knowhow to administrate a database for real, I can read a database diagram, make (some) sense of SQL, and use 3 new pieces of software. I can also understand a LOT of vocab that I didn’t know before, and many other issues.

As far as my children’s lit class goes: I’ve created a whole 200 item collection from scratch! And it’s made up of up-to-date items, not just ones I was familiar with before.

The other class…eh. I did what was needed, but felt it was not as good as it could have been. In any case, it’s almost over.

I was really worried about next semester – was waitlisted on 2 of the 3 classes that I NEEDED to take. Was afraid that I’d have to quit my job in order to get one of the others done. Just found out that I was given a waiver and can enroll in those, so all that will be left in the summer is my internship! As I planned! Hurray!

Found out yesterday that I got the grade I wanted in my summer class. I thought that I did good work, but it’s nice to have it confirmed. The one thing I was worried about was my level of participation – it’s something I struggle with in class, both online and in person (especially in person). It’s not that I’m shy exactly – I don’t mind speaking up when I have something to say. It’s just that I learn by listening and processing, so by the time I finally get around to collecting my thoughts and coming up with something to say or ask, the topic has changed and the class has moved on. Evidently I did participate enough for the professor.

The good thing about 2 of the classes I’m taking this semester is that the professors are much more structured about how they will be running their online discussions. They have greater but also more clear expectations about how much we should be posting. At least one of them will be providing starter questions also, which is a lifesaver.

I spent an hour or so this morning playing around with a calendar in Excel and mapping out the start dates for each week in each class. Color coded and everything! This way I should have no problem remembering what I’m supposed to be doing for each class and when I’m supposed to do it…hopefully.

Fall Semester Number 2 about to start!

I’m taking three classes: Youth Services, Data Admin. Concepts and Database Management, and Info. Tech for Libraries. Kind of cool – I’ve got a very service-oriented class, a totally tech. class, and one exploring the intersection between the two.

The challenging thing about this semester is that all 3 of my classes will be taken online. To add another interesting wrinkle, all three class “weeks” start on different days. Eek! This is going to require a lot of self-discipline from yours truly. The only way this will work is if I can keep myself on a strict schedule.

I’ve ordered all of my textbooks and should have them by the end of this week. I’m going to start by creating a calendar of the semester and marking down all due dates for all assignments and projects…then I’ll post all the months together on one wall, like one big timeline. This should help to keep me on track.

Semester 2 is complete – my online summer class starts in less than a week. I’m happy with my grades overall, and happy that the 4-class semester is over.

Plans for this summer include improving job skills through means other than school (practicing Spanish on my own, studying XML etc.) and setting up an internship for next year.

It’s almost over; 2 big projects down, 2 to go. I’m trying to figure out whether or not to take a class this summer. There aren’t many being offered that I want to take, which is too bad. I’d like to take a kid’s lit course, but a lot of those seats are reserved for School Media students (which I understand, but it irks me – public librarians need those classes, too!). Sigh. I’ll figure it out eventually.