Six years ago, I was determined to get a job that would keep my kid in snacks and maybe pay most of my regular bills. I returned to my alma mater for a place to belong. I found my home in the library, which in retrospect is where it always had been. I started as a public services assistant who barely got twenty hours a week, but I was eager to learn everything. I was extremely lucky to work with some of the most amazing individuals pre-COVID - a librarian who had once worked for Library of Congress and still had the ability to write authority records, her assistant, who had more years of experience in technical services than years I had been on Earth for; a librarian who became my creative soul sister in Escape Room creation and display planning; a director with experience in a medical library who thought research went best with two cups of coffee and a protein bar;, and my fellow public services assistant who had worked for Ferrum almost as long as I'd been alive. 

Each of them imparted a bit of wisdom, some quirky skills here or there, but the whole of everything they taught me could not measure up to what I have learned in this program. Admittedly, they taught me a lot, and I rose quickly through the ranks until I hit a metaphorical glass ceiling - I needed my master's to become the director following COVID and the departure of everyone but two public-service assistants. This program changed my life, reshaped who I am as a person, and taught me the value of fighting for who I am.

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