A calling

I don't really know how most people find their "dream job," but the way I got to the point I'm at was probably a complete fluke. Around my sophomore year of high school, I needed some volunteer hours. My mom thought I should check with our local library, and while she didn't need a volunteer, she remembered me a year later when her library aide quit. I filled out an application, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Five years at that library taught me a lot. Without this sounding too much like my essay for entrance to library school, I found out that librarians do many things, some of them thankless, but many of them with great personal reward. Serving people, helping them find information they need, teaching them how to use all the library has to offer.

What surprised me most about my orientation at St. Kate's on Saturday was that I was one of only a handful of people there who currently work in a library. How can you know if something is your calling if you've never even tried it? If you don't know all that it requires and will take of you, how can you come to it without preconceived notions? I just hope that those of us with experience can help those without any, and that I can come to class humbly and ready to teach as well as learn.