Personal Goals:

My goals going into the SLM program at the University of Georgia involved but are not limited to the following:

  • Learning how to successfully run a school library program
  • Involving the learning community in the growth of the school library media program
  • Creating an educational setting that is in alignment with the school mission and curriculum
  • Understanding all of the elements of a successful Media Center such as collaboration, collection development, providing services to the learning community, etc.

How I have met my goals:

The SLM program at UGA has prepared me with the tools to achieve my professional goals.  The courses have been relevant to my real world experiences.  My work experience during my educational journey has been thankfully supplemented with my coursework and wonderful professors!  Thanks to my professors' patience and my tendency to overload, I have been able to achieve my goals and understand what they mean to my professional growth.


How the SLM program has prepared me for the future:
The SLM program has prepared me for the future in several capacities.  I feel equipped to be an informer, educator, facilitator, and provider of knowledge.  I realize I started my career as a Media Specialist in a backwards manner, but I wouldn't change a thing about it.  True, there are advantages and disadvantages of my method, but I have grown into my career in a way that no one else has.  I have dealt with many challenges and know that there are many more to come, but now I have a degree to back me up.  However, my search for knowledge and professional growth doesn't end on graduation day.

Future Professional Plans:
My current plan is to stay at MDCHS for another year as the Media Specialist.  I plan to re-revolutionize the media program I roughly began two years ago.  I intend to implement everything I have learned and continue growing the profession.  I hope to use my education to one day explore a career in law.  I feel like my life as a Media Specialist has made me more aware of problems in education, and I hope to be a solution to these problems one day.

How I met the departmental diversity requirement:
I have been working at Fowler Drive Elementary School on a weekly basis with the senior class at MDCHS.  This weekly experience has exposed me to a great deal of diversity.  I have seen the bonding of races and the barriers that language can impose on those bonds.  Our weekly trips involve reading to students of several grade/developmental levels.  While there are behavioral issues with the MDCHS and FDES kids, I have witnessed what a simple story read out loud can do to a group of underprivileged kids.  While I am satisfying a degree requirement, the fruits of these encounters far outweigh school agendas.