One Year Later: Lemon and Lifelong Learning

A year ago, I officially concluded my graduate school studies in the pomp and splendor befitting a graduation ceremony, as together with a throng of students donning caps, gowns, and lemon colored master's hoods made our way across a stage, shook hands, and then got 4 letters tacked on after our names, that of MLIS, Master's of Library and Information Science.

As we processed out of the ceremony venue, while walking through a hallway off to the side, a student volunteer cheered for us as he remarked no more school for us.  As a newly-degreed MLIS person, I just had to turn around and say that our learning continues.

Indeed, one of the core values of librarianship as defined by the American Library Association is education and lifelong learning.  It’s clear that there’s so much to learn outside of formal school classes, and I have definitely had much to learn over the course of the past year.

For one, I’ve learned my engaging in library work.  I’ve assisted with various projects that adjust the organization of the collections at the Oak Park Public Library.  I’ve spent time with the bibliographic team helped them delete and pack up old materials and check new orders for accuracy, learning some of the particular procedures behind these acts.  And I’ve continued to engage with the community by assisting patrons who approach me for help, taking stock of what they seek when they come to the library, and reinforcing my knowledge about our offerings.  One other fun thing I’ve done is participate in community outreach events with the library’s book bike.  Engaging in the work of librarianship has helped me learn how libraries impact their communities, and has given me the chance to think about my professional capabilities as I have sought broader opportunities.  Some of these I've encountered at professional events, like the SLA conference in Philadelphia last summer.

Furthermore, traveling has broadened my perspectives.  Planning these trips, and going to places like Philadelphia, Colorado, and Florida has given me the great opportunity to experience new locations and get new insights on the world.  I’ve even learned much from ambling around in Chicagoland doing things.  Even my work as an election judge has helped me see a different side of the process of government, and in it, I have learned much.  And certainly librarians are people who seek after new perspectives to enhance the work that they do.

One of the opportunities of this past year I have delighted in most has been teaching RE for another year.  There are so many parallels between teaching RE and being a librarian professional, especially in that in both roles, I am helping other people encounter information and put it to good use.  It’s been extraordinary sharing my faith with the young people in my charge and helping them grow in it, especially as many of them experienced the sacrament of Confirmation.  I was in a pivotal roel of getting them ready for this sacrament, and then continuing to support them and extending their formation through our classes in the weeks afterwards.

Helping others grow in faith has deepened my understanding of faith, because I am putting into action, and so I thus learn more deeply about its impact.  And ultimately, faith is meant to be like the ripples of a wave, spreading outward, and as it does so, it bounces off other things in the water, creating more waves and ripples.  Indeed, as these young people grow in faith in Christ and are transformed, they are in a position to impact the world for the glory of God.

At the conclusion of the RE year, we had a closing Mass, and included among the proceedings was an opportunity to offer some remarks about the students, reflecting on the year, and encouraging them for the future.  I sought to inspire them in my speech to keep learning, guided into Truth by the Holy Spirit, Who is God living inside of them, as Jesus discusses in His Last Supper discourse in the Gospel of St. John.  And then I talked about putting faith into action, to impact the world, as a sign of the transformation Christ has brought us through the Paschal Mystery.

There's this idea that says the best way to learn something is to teach it.  At first, it seems paradoxical, because how can one teach something without being taught and told first.  Yet in my experience, my learning has come full circle as I’ve put my knowledge into action through teaching, the act of passing it on, and watched God's marvelous work come alive, among the many new things I've experienced throughout this past year.

It's putting me into a good frame of mind to keep learning through experiencing new things, just like now as I spend time with family for a few days this week in North Myrtle Beach, SC, celebrating my Abuela's 80 year of life, even as my journey here, much of it onboard Amtrak, has allowed me encounters with new things.

Indeed, my learning will continue in marvelous, delightful ways, as I open myself to new possibilities.