My name is Danielle, and I live in between DeLand and Sanford in Central Florida. Until the end of last year, I served as a media specialist at a K-8 charter school. I truly loved my job, the students and my colleagues. Although it breaks my heart that the position was eliminated due to budget cuts, it revealed an unexpected silver lining. By increasing my course load, I’m now on track to graduate this May, an entire semester earlier than I originally anticipated.
After graduation, I am looking forward to applying for positions anywhere and everywhere. I am a single mom and my son, Jasper, will start high school (what!?!?!) in the fall. Looking for opportunities over the summer to begin a job before the new school year would be ideal. The idea of moving is both terrifying and exhilarating. I have worked so hard for what seems like so long, I almost can’t believe it is happening. Returning to school librarianship is my main focus, but I am not ruling anything out. This field has so much to offer that I am looking forward to seeing what all the possibilities are.
I’m a board game enthusiast. I was introduced to board gaming a few years ago and have since built a diverse collection. I’m particularly drawn to tile-placement games like Harmonies and Azul, as well as engine-builders such as Mycelia and the Century Road series. I attend local meetups as often as I can. Much like the librarian community, I’ve found board gamers to be incredibly welcoming and always ready to share their expertise with others. My collection of games can be viewed on my profile on the Board Game Geek website. As I get more into the hobby, the games get more challenging and usually significantly longer (and more expensive!). I’m looking forward to attending my first board game conference this year!
I have made hundreds of digital graphics for various reasons, but I have found that I tend to use one application over others. I am ready to learn how to use various other platforms to create. I have only created a few projects using both video and audio. Last semester I designed a book trailer for a young adult novel on Canva. I was pleased with the outcome, but it wasn’t something I was confident in making. Having little experience creating with video and audio, I am both nervous and excited to learn how to integrate more of these aspects into my work.
Hi Danielle, I really enjoyed reading your post. Living near Orlando immediately caught my attention. I visit Walt Disney World often and always think how fun it would be to live so close (other than the traffic, of course)! Your background as a media specialist really resonated with me since that is my goal. I can imagine how hard it must have been to lose your position, but it’s exciting that finishing earlier is opening new doors for you. As a fellow mom, I completely relate to that mix of pride and disbelief when kids reach big milestones. They grow up too quickly! I also appreciated your honesty about feeling nervous with video and audio work; I’m in the same boat and a little intimidated by digital content creation, too. I have to say, the board game conference sounds so cool. I didn’t even know that was a thing, but it sounds like such a fun experience! Your openness to new possibilities really shows, and I hope something you really love comes your way. Wishing you the best in your next chapter!
Hello Danielle, I enjoyed reading your post and learning more about you. Your experience really stood out to me, and while losing a job that you really loved is terribly difficult, I want to say that I am extremely proud and excited that you are graduating a semester early. I think it is well-deserved, and I wanted to offer you early congratulations because I know that graduate school can be very challenging. I also wanted to point out that I admire your enthusiasm for board games, and I feel that it reflects heavily on skills often found in librarianship. Overall, I do relate to the feeling of being both excited and apprehensive about learning about creating with video and audio, but I think you timed taking this course perfectly. I think that this course will definitely add to your skills and enhance the creative skills that you already possess. I really do hope that you continue to enjoy the rest of your semester and that you finish strong!
Hello Danielle! I enjoyed reading your post and was very impressed with your collection of board games. As a kid, I was really into board but haven’t played much since then but I will never forget the amount of fun I use to have sitting around a table playing with family and friends! And a board game conference? That sounds cool, I honestly had no idea that was thing but I’m sure it’s a great time! I’m very impressed with your experience with media in general and I have a feeling you’re going to thrive in this course. I am sorry to hear about you losing your position but I’m glad you were able to see the positive side of it. Congrats on being able to graduate a semester earlier than expected, I’m sure you’re very excited about that! I look forward to the semester and learning alongside you! Finish strong! PS: Tell your son, Jasper, I’m a big fan of his jersey!