Everything Old Is New Again…or Deja Vu
Well, to say that it hasn’t been an interesting summer would be an understatement. To be honest, most of what has happened to me this summer wasn’t something that I went looking for first. It found me…which is a good thing!
Before moving to Texas in 2001, I was the Assistant Professor / Curriculum Materials Librarian at Oklahoma State University. And even though things were great for me, it was a bit more difficult for my husband who did not have a full-time teaching position in Stillwater. Thus the reason for our move to Texas (Fort Worth to be exact)—hey, we had to pay the mortgage and put three kids through college!! So, even though I knew I would have to give up my position at OSU, it was something that I knew I needed to do in order for my husband to have a teaching position that paid the salary that somewhat resembled what the Occupational Outlook Handbook says teachers should make.
Now, after seven years in Texas, I felt that I had a firm grasp on what my future held. Then… I was minding my own business one afternoon in May when I received a phone call from Stillwater. The current Curriculum Materials Librarian was retiring this summer and she was calling to basically tell me to “get back now!” So, to make a long story (of two months) short, I applied for and was recently hired to be Assistant Professor / Curriculum Materials Librarian at Oklahoma State University beginning this fall— August 1st to be exact!
This will be an exciting transition back into the Academic world after spending the last seven years working at various levels in Texas schools. While the experience in Texas has been a whirlwind in itself, I can see that I had been given the opportunity to have a sample of various types of instructional environments which can only increase my understanding for what many pre-service teachers (and librarians) that I will be working with at OSU may soon face.
It’s not often that someone in education has the opportunity to truly participate at many levels and in a wide range of school libraries and programs; however, I have had that opportunity. From large metropolitan urban school districts where individuals are lost and sometimes never found, to small districts where the Avon lady walks into the library during story time and interrupts you to ask you if you’d like the latest catalog— I’ve been there! Having the opportunity to work in private, college-prep schools where everyone graduates to later attend an ivy league (or at least a Big 12) university to a public transitional schools for medically fragile and disabled children where parents may never see their children live long enough to even attend high school, I’ve had the opportunity to experience it here.
So what will this do for me at the Academic level? Well, aside from being able to come back to work with a fantastic group of professionals who understand the importance of a library within the field of education and who support philosophical discussions as an opportunity to learn rather than a reason to “document a dissending idea,” I have the opportunity to truly say that I understand some of the experiences that these pre-service teachers and librarians may soon face once they graduate. “Being in the trenches” definitely brings credibility to the profession and I understand that some things can never fully be understood unless you’ve had the chance to experience them first-hand. Granted, I may not have experienced every possible situation, but as far as a “sampler tray of educational opportunities” are concerned, I’ve tasted a little of everything.
My experiences may only be a sort of ”career-shadowing” of what others live daily as they continue to work and teach in the same position and at the same school for years and years; however, I know that I spent enough time to invest myself in many of the situations and lives of students that I met. Do I understand what is necessary in the classroom or in the library? Yes! Can I make a difference at the pre-service level? I hope so!
My work begins on August 1st…and I do hope to write more as time goes by. Everything old is new again….and it’s beginning to have the same wonderful feeling that I’ve been missing for so long!! Stay tuned…it’s going to be a wild ride as we cross the bridge between the K-12 environment and the Academic world!
