Flickr project - bringing us all together

In this post about our Flickr project, I'd like to get mushy and focus on what brings us together as MLIS online students (why yes, I have had a brandy alexander in celebration of Obama's early lead).

In the scils598f08 group, it seems that family, home, and pets are important to all of us. Nearly everyone posted at least one picture from one of these categories. Personally, I posted a picture of my "second home" in VT (the home of close family friends), and a picture of my darling cat. It was nice to see that family and home are important across the board. I also think it's kind of funny how nearly none of us posted pictures of ourselves, but we've gladly posted pictures of our children/pets/homes.

In the ed experience group, there were lots of computers, books, and modes of transportation. It seems like there is a mix of strictly online and on-campus/online students in the class. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who spends nearly as much time getting to class as I am in class. There were also some good pictures of distractions, including various drinks, pets, and toys. It's nice to see that even though we work hard, we can play hard, too.

Overall, seeing these pictures made me feel a better connection with my online classmates, only a few of whom I've met before in person, in other classes. The project was a good introduction to Flickr, which I've never used before, and also a good introduction to our classmates.

SCILS educational experience

My decision to attend SCILS was a result of what I call my "quarter life crisis." I graduated from college with a BA in Elementary Education in 2003. I bounced around with summer camp jobs, substituting, and finally ended up teaching preschool. I worked there for a little over a year, and quit just before Thanksgiving 2006, due to "irreconcilable differences" with the management. I became disenchanted with preschool, and didn't want to stay in the business. I started substituting again, and ended up subbing the libraries in my district. I loved it, and within two months, had taken the GRE and applied to SCILS. I'm enjoying school, but not really getting involved with my classmates or any kind of "extracurricular" activities, like clubs or anything.

Anyway, here's my history at SCILS:
Fall 07: 522 (Cataloging & Classification) and 547 (Materials for Children)
Spring 08: 550 (Info Tech) and 548 (Materials for YA)
Fall 08: 530 (Principles of Searching) and 598 (Social Software)
Spring 09: (hopefully) 540 (Ref. Sources & Services) and 555 (Multimedia Production)
What's left: 510 (Human Info Behavior), 514 (Learning Theory...), 575 (Ed Media Center Mgmt), and 592 (Field Experience)

Even though I'm technically an on-campus student, I spend most of my time between my desk and my car.













You can see more of my pictures here, and the ed experiences of my classmates here.