Hello reader! My name is Wardah Mohammed, and I am in my final semester of the Library and Information Science program! I currently work full time as an administrative assistant with an academic medical journal. I also work as a graduate assistant at Moraine Valley Community College and as an iSchool Ambassador connecting with prospective and current students. All throughout the program I focused on developing academic, community outreach, and instructional skills. My time in the program has moved fast and I am grateful for all the memories, growth, and excitement that is to come post graduate school. 

Since this is my last semester, every week is packed with preparing job application materials and making sure to keep up with coursework. The classes I am taking this semester are incredible and the professors are supportive – which helps the fact that I need to give my attention to multiple things in life, professionally, academically, and of course, personally. 

How I’m Feeling

I know I am going to miss school already. Although the days are long and the nights not long enough, being in the MSLIS program has been rewarding and helps me see a career in librarianship as multifaceted. The field itself is filled with dedicated educators and community leaders;, therefore, there are several moments of sharing friendship, camaraderie, and intentional work to help connect people with items, stories, information, programming, and a communal space in a world that day by day can be heartbreaking just as much as it can be beautiful. I think exiting the program has allowed me to finally see that I have loved the coursework and the busyness associated with graduate school. There are so many feelings tied to completing a degree. Sometimes, I would feel hopeless or worried that I was not doing enough. And surely, those feelings do not go away immediately, but I am hopeful they will. 

Next Steps

I have begun applying to universities in the Chicago area and the east coast. All throughout the program I kind of went back and forth with where I’d hoped to work professionally, between public libraries and academic university libraries. Now, a lot of the applications I have completed have been for academic universities. However, I think library work no matter where one ends up working institutionally requires similar skills and outlooks. For instance, it is crucial to be a librarian that understands the myth of neutrality and vocational awe coined by Fobazi Ettarh. Currently, I am taking a course on literacy, particularly investigating how literacy impacts societies politically, religiously, and economically. Socialist literacy campaigns have and always will be the most successful. And it is inspiring to read about literacy campaigns that emphasize an ideology similar to Paulo Freire’s work or the Tehran conference of 1965. Wherever I am fortunate to be hired, and whenever the time is right to begin a career in librarianship, I hope that it is always done in a collaborative nature and with the utmost respect for respective needs of people.