And here we are.

Thank you for reading. Hopefully, like while I was writing it, you had laughed abundantly and realized some significant LIS things about yourself while reading it.

Before starting this MLIS program, I had not worked in a professional capacity for close to a decade. Instead, I had dedicated myself to building my fiction portfolio and raising my son. After three-dozen rejections from literary agents and a heartbreaking home life, I craved a new beginning. The first two MLIS programs I had inquired with nearly decimated my resolve with the amount they were charging for tuition; the thinly disguised salespeople, calling themselves “application counselors”, were unclear on job or professional development opportunities, too. Then a mother of my son’s classmate mentioned San Jose State University.

Reviewing the courses by Pathway, and the program’s history, graduation policies, and expected tuition, I evaluated my resources then applied.

And I never looked back. It was, for now, the best decision of my life. Every choice since then was made to serve the purposes of studying well, working hard, and figuring out what I had in me to bring to my future users. Each course taught me how to build, support others, and enjoy the spirit in revealing whatever I can to whoever comes with a problem.

I find myself spontaneously conducting reference interviews. A woman on the street asked where to find a restaurant nearby, and I showed her how to download and use Google Maps on her phone, then suggested a few similar eateries nearby and in the next neighborhood. A customer asked why the bakery’s croissants were sometimes smaller, so I explained about dough lamination and ideal proofing conditions, then recommended she check out a publication with in-depth recipes for award-winning viennoiserie. My son asked why I did not believe in ghosts, and after explaining that I personally had never come across any peer-reviewed articles proving they exist, we watched a few YouTube videos debunking ghost sightings.

I have also revived my inner writer. It was the most brutal self-love that made me stop creating the storylines where my characters can love, fight, and grow with each other. Leaving them at the time was the only way I could have focused and succeeded in my MLIS courses. Speaking with a soothsayer about my anguish over this, she “read the Akashic record” and reassured me I will always be a writer, only it will also be on subjects other than fiction. How kind of her, and what opportunities had met me during my time at SJSU. I certainly had not expected to learn how to write computer code.

These past years reintroducing myself to the world has given me so much compassion for those who do not have or would not give themselves access to the means for intellectual freedom like I had learned studying for my MLIS. Every kind of struggle I have had, each hurdle I had to leap has taught me a lesson, and I cannot wait to share them with anyone in need. St. Jerome, patron saint of librarians, had (apocryphally) taken a thorn from a lion’s paw when all the other records keepers had fled the building. This gesture was to illustrate his grace and dedication to helping whoever came to the library with a problem.

I am ready for my lions.

AFFIRMATION

1. All introductory, reflective, and evidentiary work submitted is mine alone (except where indicated as a group or team project), and has been prepared solely by me.

2. I [had] protect[ed] the privacy of the contents of my e-Portfolio by password protecting it or by sharing the URL only with my e-portfolio advisor.

3. Before making my e-Portfolio public I will respect the privacy of others by removing mention in this e-Portfolio of information that could lead to the identity of individuals (team members in group projects, internship supervisors, interviewees, etc.) and institutions.

4. Vida Yeung