Although I was abroad in the fall and therefore set my learning goals for the internship in the winter, I believe I have taken steps towards reaching those goals over the course of the last term and during the first half of this term. My first goal was related to Special Collections and gaining a sense of what it is like to work there, and my projects in the winter term– a pop-up exhibit and an acquisitions project– satisfied that. For my second goal, I hoped to gain experience answering questions at the reference desk (in-person and online) and, in doing so, improve interpersonal skills. I have received only a few questions during these last two terms (due to the challenges of pandemic life), so that has been a difficult skill to work on, but through the few questions I have gotten, I was able to learn more about the Gould Library databases and resources.
My third and final goal for the year is broader than the others, so I thought I would devote a paragraph to it. This goal was to spend time preparing my post-Carleton plans, and I think I have made progress this spring term because some of my hours have been specifically allocated to thinking about these plans. This goal entails working on my resume and cover letter(s) and spending time researching jobs and graduate schools. The latter aspect of this goal is where I believe I have been most productive because although I plan on spending a year participating in an education-related Americorps program, I have been able to research graduate schools or long-term jobs for the following year (2023-2024) and think about my own interests and motivations in comparison to job or course descriptions, which has been valuable to me because it has allowed me to clarify for myself what I am looking for in a future job.
Owen Schuster
