Last month

My cataloging job here at the Modern Greek Division expires in 29 days. I can't believe an entire year has come and gone so quickly, but there you have it. Twelve months ago I was a brand-new father, on the verge of quitting my job over at the Med School so that I could take a chance over here in Cambridge. In retrospect it was somewhat of a gamble, as the position here in cataloging wasn't exactly on the books yet, and with the Harvard budget being what it is there was no telling whether there'd be any last-second reversals. I remember telling some of my Countway coworkers about my big leap of faith into the unknow; they thought I was crazy, and counselled me against leaving Document Delivery without a sure thing in hand. But there was no waiting. It was time to roll the dice, and to my delight they came up sevens.

I haven't looked back since.

At the end of this month things get interesting again, as I will begin my classes at Simmons. I'm not sure I even would have applied to library school (despite the fact that it was just down the street!), had I not left Countway and tried my luck over here at Widener. It was here that I realized that the reason I'd stuck it out so long at the Med School was not laziness or inertia on my part but a genuine love of the art of librarianship which my former supervisor had carefully been cultivating up until she left for personal and medical reasons. That my interest had somehow not been completely quashed by the thugs who took over after her is a minor miracle I'll never quite understands, but suffice it to say that I'm sure I would have found it an uphill if not impassable road to getting my MLS, had I stuck it out in Document Delivery. Whereas here at Widener I've yet to meet a librarian that isn't delighted that I want to get the professional degree and who doesn't bend over backwards to help me along my way.

What a difference a change of venue can sometimes make!