It's Been Awhile

It has been a while since I last posted a blog entry.  A bit of an update, I finished my first semester of graduate school.  I am certain I got an A in one class and pretty sure that I got an A in my other class to (still waiting on grades for final project).  Therefore, I find myself, in a bit of a lull here before the holiday season starts next week.  I allowed myself to be stressed out during the semester but I also found myself enjoying being challenged on an academic level.  I had not realized how much I missed being challenged like that.  Now I have something to work towards a concrete and solid goal.

I know that my lovely wife will welcome the break.  I am sure she grew tired of me talking about school so much of the time.  Therefore, I am going to try to find a project or project (s) to keep me out of trouble this next month. This past semester I took a course called Foundations of Library and Information Science, and The Organization of Information.  Next semester I am taking Introduction to Archives and Information Retrieval.  The second is one of the four core courses that all students in the MLIS program at UWM have to take.  The course in archives is the intro class in that field.  I am strongly considering a career in archives.  However, I am also keeping my mind open also for public and academic libraries.

I really enjoyed my Foundations class.  A lot of that was the professor I had Dr.Latham.  She uses the Socratic Method in her teaching.  Asking questions and then prodding us to look deeper for answers.  She also designed the writing assignments in the course to help us learn how to write at the graduate level.  Part of these assignments was turning in formal outlines.  The first time I did an outline I found it difficult to do.  Nevertheless, the second time through was much easier.  I found it much easier to actually write the paper, because in the process of doing my research and writing the outline the hardest work for the paper had been done.  Overall, Dr.Latham challenged us to become better thinkers and better writers, because, she wants to see us succeed in the program.  I find that what keeps me engaged and getting bored is that I need to be challenged intellectually or personally by something or someone.  This is one reason my wife Charlie and I are so good for each other.  She challenges me to be a better person then I am.  She keeps me on my toes, so I don’t get bored : ).  She recognizes this in me, and since she loves me and wants the best for me, she challenges me to be the best person that I can be.  I thank her for loving me enough to kick me in the butt and keep me moving : )