Student Posts

Hello! My name is Amber Mullin and this is my 2023 (and December 2022) year in review. I will also be discussing my goals for 2024.

Firstly, I graduated with my B.A. in English with a concentration of creative writing in December 2022 at USF (pictured left). I was excited to step into publishing in 2023 as an editing intern, so I refreshed my LinkedIn and sent out applications with the hopeful aspirations of a fresh grad. I had a few close calls, but none of them hit for a Spring internship and I was left floating. Then I rocketed into an unexpected tumultuous year.

My family cat of 11 years, a sweet, oversized tabby named Bella, crossed the rainbow bridge at the end of January. My parents and I were racked with grief, and the intern/job search continued unsuccessfully for months. As a sort of healing process, my mom and I would visit pet stores to check the catteries which are associated with the shelters in the area within this time.

That’s where we met Felix (formerly known as Tito at the shelter) in March. We knew at first sight that he was meant to be ours. We like to think he did, too, as he jumped between the cubicles to see us, pressing energetically against the bars for us to pet him. We filled out an application online and within a few days he was home, just a couple days after his first birthday! This long-whiskered tuxedo is a lovebug who will crawl all over you, bounce off the walls during his morning and nighttime zoomies, and has helped us with our grief significantly.

Soon after, our landlord attempted to raise our rent on us. He would not listen to negotiations, so we frantically planned to move out by June. Luckily, we had a location in Cooper City, FL available to us (just about 15 minutes away from where we were in Davie) and so job searching was again put on pause as I helped to pack and organize everything while my parents went to work.

I felt uncomfortable to explore job opportunities at such a fragile time, where we also only had one car and a stress-related health concern arose that lasted until September 2023. However, through all the commotion I thought about a few things. Do I like the idea of an office job? Do I truly want to pursue a career in such a competitive field? Do I feel comfortable with the issues that have resurfaced in publishing lately? I want to be surrounded around books in my work, but do I truly want to be involved in the process of making them? And then I thought about libraries. What an obvious choice. A brief search and I discovered all the separate branches, and so I applied for an MSI at FSU and got accepted.

This is my first semester pursuing my MSI and I intend to utilize it to become a school media specialist. I’d love to introduce stories to children, to help them in whatever endeavors they access the library for. In November I started a part-time position as a tutor at Huntington Learning Center and it’s been a fulfilling experience. I’m excited to see the ways this course will help me develop skills at my current job and for my future career (and a plus for having fun with creativity!).

When I’m not obsessing over what the future looks like, I absorb myself in the multiple modes of storytelling. Books are clearly my favorite, but I also adore playing video games and watching movies and shows. I’m about to finish season two of my favorite show, a Korean Netflix show called Sweet Home. And if you want to follow my reading journey, I just created a Bookstagram account just about a week ago!

Hi! My name is Tracey Evans, and I live in Newberry, Florida, a little town just outside of Gainesville, with my husband and my two furbabies. I’m currently working to obtain my MS in Information to become a Librarian, and I’m working toward earning the certificate for School Librarian Leadership. I have undergrad degrees in History (AA) and Classical Studies (BA) from Santa Fe College and the University of Florida, respectively. This course and Instructional Role of the Information Professional constitute my final two classes, and I’m scheduled to graduate in May 2024.

While I spent almost 14 years working with the Alachua County Library District, I’m currently working as an Administrative Assistant at Santa Fe College. During my time at the library, I was a Library Specialist with a focus on children and teens, where I monitored the collection and built programs tailored to our population.

My goal after graduation is to return to the library in some capacity, and I’m always on the lookout for a position that speaks to me. My overall aspiration is to become a school librarian. Many of the Librarians in the public school system (at least in Alachua County) also serve as yearbook facilitator and teach media (like school news, etc). While I’ve taken many different types of computer classes throughout my time in school and even studied graphic design in high school, I’ve never taken a class that focused on digital media production, and I look forward to learning about this aspect and how it could tie into a future position as a Librarian. Specifically, I would like to gain a better knowledge of editing and what software we’ll be using to do so.

When I’m not in school or working, I love to read and craft. As a Library Specialist, I was able to spend a lot of time crafting, but I now enjoy finding other outlets for that creativity. My favorite books to cuddle up with my pups and read are contemporary and paranormal romance.

My name is C. T. Murphy, but Chris works too.

Once upon a time, I wanted to be a writer. That’s why I studied English at the University of Alabama (yes, that Alabama). The secret to being a writing – beyond advanced degrees, self-help books, and pretentiously quoting obscure poetry – is the doing of the thing. The simple act of seeing a blank page or screen and filling it up. That’s all it really takes and … to be frank … my interest in writing waxes and wanes like the Moon.

You may get me to admit that I have tried blogging before, but rarely do I share a link. In the interest of this class and because they reveal enough to “tell you something about me”, here goes:

I started and failed to maintain a microblog (think this but shorter posts like an old-school Twitter) called Dungeon Manager’s Guide. It was an attempt to merge my forever interest in cross-pollinating Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) with project management. Don’t ask me why I think they work together – we’d be here all day – but trust me, they do. I am slowly working my way toward introducing D&D or D&D-adjacent ideas to my work. Currently, I am a Quality Assurance Analyst & Instructor for a state employer here in Florida. I work on the Organizational Development team so I work side-by-side with professional developers, trainers, instructional designers, etc.

If you want to go further back in my blogging experience, then the oldest one I maintain is Murf Versus, a name chosen part because of my last name and also because “murfvers.us” is an awesome URL. For a long time, I blogged mostly about video games and movies (two more passions of mine). If you dig deeper, you might find more personal posts. I started blogging after finishing my undergrad in 2012 and kept it up at first because I thought I might turn it into a career, but more so because I found it therapeutic. Writing is good for that even if no one reads it.

“What I hope to gain?”

I chose the MSIT program because of my interests in information technology, my desire to grow professionally, etc. I chose this class to challenge my creative side. Between the two, I am always looking to advance my skills and engage my curiosity. I am nervous about the work required for this one but also excited.

Do you feel the same way?