Reflective Essay: Technology In The Library

It’s the eve of my first PowerPoint presentation and I carefully flip through the slides and practice my performance with great care. Ultimately, I’ve put forty plus hours crafting my thoughts into what I deem pretty darn good. The fundamentals of PowerPoint do not come easy, but I persevere. Now, I design PowerPoints in my sleep, however in the late 90’s a massive mountain looms. Finally calling it a day and feeling exceptionally accomplished, I awaken early the next morning ready to conquer the library world I am contemplating as a fork in my career. Arriving at the ‘Technology in the Library’ class in the evening, absolutely prepared, I stand up to impart my new information, utterly confident…until suddenly, I was not. The opening two slides are a cinch and the third slide is, well, the third slide is a big fat…WHAT?? As my frozen face looks out at my classmates, I discover my PowerPoint has mysteriously disappeared from the screen. I swear it was there last night. Where could it go? Mortified, the instructor looks at me with a giant question mark, while bewilderment is on mine.

Late in the fall of my fourth year at Country Meadows, a meeting is held in the library for eighth grade students who will be attending the new high school the following year. The woman leading the meeting walks to my desk, introduces herself and chats, looking around the library with great interest. Over the Christmas break, I receive a call from Karlene. Have I considered applying for the librarian position at the new high school opening in the fall? No, I had not. We talked about the possibility and end the conversation with me agreeing to give this opportunity some thought. Hmm…I think this calls for a T-Chart. Plusses and minuses later, with a knot in my stomach, the answer is clear. I apply and to my surprise, I am