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The art of balancing

The skill I honed in graduate school is juggling. I don’t mean tossing a few balls in the air like you would see at the circus, but managing my time effectively. As a student, I try to meet the expectations of my professors with the coursework. I try not to let my fellow students down by contributing my share to any course projects we may be assigned. I work hard to give my employers my best at my part-time jobs. And I make sure I spend quality time with my family and friends, but most importantly my two year old. Do I do all of this well? All of the time? Nope. I’ve learned to do my best and my best is pretty darn good. I’ve learned to put my readings down to play with my son or cancel dinner with friends because a paper is due. Graduate school is hard. But I firmly believe it is worth it.

Posted by mccato on October 30, 2006 at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)

Directed Field Experience

I’m really excited about the Directed Field Experiences (DFE) I have had while at the School of Information. Directed Field Experiences are really internships that can be done over the summer or during the school year for CREDIT. I love the concept of getting CREDIT for a “working” experience while I’m in school. To be honest, the idea of DFEs was one of the main selling features of SI for me. I really appreciate the combination of theory and practice I have received which will help me make the transition into a new career field. I did two internships with large corporations and this semester I am working on a project for the University of Michigan Library System’s Usability Working Group. I took 622 last semester and this semester I will be putting it to practice. How cool is that? I should say that 622 is really SI 622: Evaluations of Systems and Services. I forget we have a habit of referring to courses by their number and not their name.

Posted by mccato on October 03, 2006 at 06:48 PM | Comments (0)