Yes, that's right folks -- I've completed 10 out of 12 classes and I'm 83.333333333% done towards earning my Master's degree in Library and Information Science. ::phew::
I realize that others have accomplished much greater educational achievements than I, but this is my story and only that.
It's been a long road to get here. To say I've been interested in pursuing several fields/careers would be an understatement. The first "job" I remember wanting to have was cruise director. Take a wild guess why.
Yes, the wonderful 80's television show, "The Love Boat." Every Saturday night I'd marvel at Julie McCoy and how perky she was and the fact that she got to meet all of these fun new people and travel to fun new places. It was only later in life when I went on a real cruise that I realized that not all passengers are B-Movie/TV stars and that the cruise director lives in a tiny little room at the bottom of the boat. No thanks.
Shortly thereafter I wanted to be a hairdresser. I can barely cut a straight line on paper. Enough said.
Then it was marine biologist. I can't really pinpoint where this came from. Probably a trip to the aquarium. It was a passing fancy.
In junior high, I traveled from Boston to Washington, DC with my dad. I was enchanted by the hub of the government and the U.S. itself. I knew D.C. was the place I wanted to be. I figured that while Rome do as the Romans do, or while in D.C. does as the District of Columbians do -- work in a government-related job. I visited American University in Washington D.C., nestled in among embassies from such far away lands as China, Guatamala, and Malta. The physical building themselves and their grounds are beautiful and again, I was enamored. Working at an embassy sounded like a good idea -- majoring in International Studies might get me there. (Meanwhile, no actual concrete idea of WHAT I'd do at an embassy.)
After a year at American I started to realize that politics and government weren't my bag. Uh oh.
Panic set in. Time to start randomly grasping at careers I've never considered before. Like...nutritionist! I took a nutrition class and thought, "OK -- this isn't bad." I took a "real" biology class (required for the nutrition field and not the biology for non-science majors.") Uh oh again.
I left American after two years not having any real idea of what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to be back in Boston, so I took my old part-time job from high school back and took two part-time classes at Northeastern University. Let the randomness begin again -- I took juvenile justice and a child development class.
Guess what? I LIKED these classes. I was interested in the material. I investigated Northeastern and found that they had a Human Services major. (I know, I know -- you're thinking Human Resources. No -- completely different.) Human Services is an interdisciplinary major from the Education, Sociology, and Psychology departments. I had finally found my niche. I can't really describe why it was "me." It was all about people and their lives -- how they live them, how they're educated, why they do what they do.
I interned at many different types of places (special education classrooms, hospital, and a non-profit that educates parents of children with disabilities about special education laws.) I eventually took an administrative position at said non-profit and worked there for over five years. While I learned a lot, I knew there was more out there for me.
On a whim I applied for a job at my current place of employment (creator of aggregated research databases). I got it. Not only had I made a switch from the non-profit to the for-profit world, but I was exposed to a number of new careers -- sales, technology, product management, and library science.
Most kids rebel against their parents and what their parents want them to be and try not to follow in their footsteps. At this point in my career, an internal voice was saying, "Um, KT? Your dad's a librarian. You shouldn't be a librarian." Completely irrational, since this job made my dad very happy.
I'll wrap this up by saying that with encouragement from friends, co-workers, yes, grudgingly, my dad, I figured library science might be my holy grail of careers. I stepped out of my very comfortable zone and after 12 years of being out of school, I started my Master's in Library and Information Science. As soon as I took my first class, I knew it was the place for me. The past 2 1/2 years have been difficult, balancing work, family, and school, but looking back, I wouldn't do it any differently. (Except maybe try to avoid staying up until 2AM cutting finger puppets out of felt with cuticle scissors.)
Two more classes. Seven more months. The road to get here was windy, scary, and uncertain at times, but I can see the end -- or is it the beginning?
