1. What are you hoping to learn from this experience?
From my campus employment experience with Special Collections & Archives, I hope to learn more about the collections available at Wesleyan, the practicalities of collection maintenance, and more about myself as a professional.
2. How do you see this work as complementing your academic, extracurricular, or career interests?
Special Collections & Archives and the College of Letters are closely connected. Exposure to the wide range of subject matters housed within the collections can bolster my work in colloquia as well as elective courses as well as provide inspiration for my senior thesis. Further, I’ve found my work with Special Collections & Archives has made me more comfortable than my peers in utilizing the resources available through the libraries such as research help. As for extracurriculars, my experience in Special Collections & Archives has provided unique insight useful in my role as one of the chapter chairs for the Adelphic Education Fund. With regard to my career, I do not plan on pursuing library sciences but I do think that the skills practiced and gained during this job are invaluable: experience in a professional workplace, use of Excel, and exposure to archival databases for example.
3. What is the best way to give you feedback and support you to ensure your success in this role?
I respond well to verbal feedback and open communication. I am happy to receive feedback in order to improve my performance or to hear advice on how to improve. I thrive in environments where questions are welcomed. I enjoy making connections between my work and other interests as well as clarifying the details of a specific task when given verbal instructions.
4. Of the six Ideals into Practice competencies, which do you feel play to your strengths or past experience, and which do you feel need more development?
I feel that I am a collaborative, communicative, and curious person, and, while I strive to be socio-culturally aware, I recognize that I have attended PWIs for most of my life. Occasionally, I feel that I can be creative and I think that those times are when I am performing at my best. I want to continue fostering my creativity and become more comfortable expressing it because I think that my fear occasionally holds me back. I am also looking to build on my digital literacy skills so that I can communicate my ideas more effectively.
