The process of preparing this portfolio has been at times exciting, terrifying, nerve wracking, and informative.  Something about the seriousness and finality of a culminating project made me apprehensive and worried that I couldn’t possibly be ready to tackle such an important task after only three semesters.  Sometimes I worried that I wouldn’t be able to speak to the competencies, or even worse, that I wouldn’t have any supporting evidence.  Other times I would write easily, with a feeling that I truly understood and could relate to the competency.

Throughout my time in the program, I would periodically review the competencies to see how my understanding of them had changed.  Like any student, there were times when I felt confident about being able to complete my portfolio and times when I was less sure.  But I forged ahead, taking classes that fascinated and challenged me, all the while collecting the knowledge and evidence that I have presented here.

Before I started in the MLIS program, I knew that I had strong customer service and communication skills that would carry over into my new career, but I have found that I have a passion for working with metadata and detail oriented tasks such as working with code that I can’t wait to put to practical use.  Finally, being in the program has taught me the valuable skill of knowing how to advocate for libraries, especially when people inevitably ask me, “You’re going to be a librarian? Aren’t they closing all the libraries?”  Being able to answer these questions with confidence is something that I am incredibly proud of.