Category: Meet the GAs

And now we’ve come to our last Graduate Assistant at the iSchool Help Desk for the Spring 2023 semester and the end of our showcase (until Fall 2023)! Today’s second GA featured is Kiran Williams. We asked Kiran about her career aspirations, hometown favourites, and her favourite place to hang on campus.

Kiran

Kiran is a native of Princeton, New Jersey, where she loves how green the state is, how much farmland there is, and how beautiful its nature is. Kiran is our only first-semester, first-year MSLIS student at the iSchool, interested in pursuing a career as a research librarian in an academic library or special collections; she wants to connect BIPOC students with rare resources after graduation.

• What is your favorite part about working at the Help Desk?
  • Solving mysteries and lovely, supportive coworkers

• What is your favorite board/video game?
  • Clue

• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
  • East Coast, United States or St. Vincent and the Grenadines (father’s country)

• Where’s your favorite spot to hang out on campus/CU?
  • My apartment

• If given the opportunity, what book would you choose to reread again for the first time?
  • The Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb

• What would your superhero superpower be?
• Tie between an eidetic memory and the ability to read, write, and speak any language (past or present)

• What technology are you *really* most interested in for teaching/learning?
  • AI/ChatGPT

• Who would (or would you want to) play you in a movie about your life?
  • Me

We’re reviving our “Meet the Graduate Assistants” section for Spring 2023! As part of this series, we sat down with returning Help Desk GA Spring Olivares to learn more about her favourite haunts in Champaign-Urbana, video game recommendations, and more.

Spring Olivares

Spring hails from Baltimore, Maryland, where she enjoys the history, being close to stuff, and the diverse population. She is a first year, second semester student in the MSLIS program, hoping to work in a museum or library in the future.

• What is your favorite part about working at the Help Desk?
  • The people. It’s easy to do good work when you feel supported.

• What is your video game?
  • The Layers of Fear series.

• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
  • Japan or Nepal.

• Where’s your favorite spot to hang out on campus/CU?
  • In Champaign-Urbana: My house. On campus: Near the Help Desk.

• If given the opportunity, what book would you choose to reread again for the first time?
  • On the Road by Jack Kerouac

• What would your superhero superpower be?
  • Invisibility.

• What technology are you *really* most interested in for teaching/learning?
  • Canva.

• If you were an animal, what would you be?
  • Llama.

• Who would (or would you want to) play you in a movie about your life?
  • Keira Knightley.

Yet another post in our Meet the Graduate Assistants series for the Spring 2023 semester! Today’s special feature is Melissa Frazier, who we asked about her favorite board game, campus hang-out spots, and her most anticipated technology instruction ideas!

Melissa

Melissa joined the Help Desk from Milwaukee/Madison, Wisconsin, where her favourite thing is the skate parks! Melissa is a first-year student in her second semester of the MSLIS program at the iSchool.

• What is your favorite part about working at the Help Desk?
  • Co-workers and the lovely iSchool folks that come to the desk

• What is your favorite board/video game?
  • Dominoes

• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
  • Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

• Where’s your favorite spot to hang out on campus/CU?
  • Urbana Farmers’ Market

• If given the opportunity, what book would you choose to reread again for the first time?
  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

• What would your superhero superpower be?
  • Teleportation

• What technology are you *really* most interested in for teaching/learning?
  • Canvas

• If you were an animal, what would you be?
  • Cat

• Who would (or would you want to) play you in a movie about your life?
  • Jennifer Lawrence

Today’s installment of the Spring 2023 Meet the Graduate Assistants series for the iSchool Help Desk features *drum roll*… Jonas Yela! We quizzed Jonas about his spirit animal, dream home destination, and his fav spots in his hometown.

Jonas

Jonas comes to the Help Desk from Milwaukee, Wisconsin where his favourite thing is the lake. He is a second-year student in the MSLIS in his last semester at the iSchool.

• What is your favorite part about working at the Help Desk?
  • Helping solve problems for people

• What is your favorite board/video game?
  • Magic the Gathering/Dark Souls

• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
  • Spain

• Where’s your favorite spot to hang out on campus/CU?
  • Rose Bowl

• If given the opportunity, what book would you choose to reread again for the first time?
  • The Dispossesed by Ursula K. Le Guin.

• What would your superhero superpower be?
  • Fly

• What technology are you *really* most interested in for teaching/learning?
  • Anything that allows for the open creation and sharing of educational resources. Media Commons and the Illinois Wiki are a couple of examples, even if there may be tools that do the same thing better.’

• If you were an animal, what would you be?
  • Capybara

• Who would (or would you want to) play you in a movie about your life?
  • Oscar Isaac

We’re back again today with another twofer special of awesome iSchool Help Desk Graduate Assistants! We’re starting off today with Kennedy Pasley, a sunny GA who we asked about her favourite on-campus hangout spot, ideal superpower, and much more!

Kennedy

Another Southern Illinois native, Kennedy’s favourite part of the her hometown is Quatros Pizza. She is a second-semester, first-year student in the MSLIS program at the iSchool, interested in pursuing a career in academic libraries as a student success librarian.

• What is your favorite part about working at the Help Desk?
• Love co-workers, love making graphics/social media, and TIKTOK!

• What is your favorite board/video game?
• Ticket to Ride

• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
• Thailand

• Where’s your favorite spot to hang out on campus/CU?
• Espresso Royale

• If given the opportunity, what book would you choose to reread again for the first time?
• The Broken Earth Series, The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

• What would your superhero superpower be?
• Never be cold

• What technology are you *really* most interested in for teaching/learning?
• Canva

• If you were an animal, what would you be?
• Giraffe; I identify with them because I am so tall

• Who would (or would you want to) play you in a movie about your life?
• Yourself

Today’s second fabulous Graduate Assistant in our posts for the Meet the Graduate Assistants Spring 2023 series at the iSchool Help Desk is Christina Sweeney! We questioned this Team Awesome member about her favourite board game, most anticipated/exciting instructional technology, and ideal home base!

Christina

Christina, as one of our Illinois natives, comes to the Help Desk from the western suburbs of Chicago, where she enjoys the fact that there are a lot of trees. She is a first-year student at the iSchool in the MSLIS program, interested in pursuing public librarianship in the future.

• What is your favorite part about working at the Help Desk?
  • Co-workers! Fun to work with fellow GAs

• What is your favorite board/video game?
  • Mountains of Madness

• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
  • Pacific Northwest OR Canada

• Where’s your favorite spot to hang out on campus/CU?
  • Spoon House

• If given the opportunity, what book would you choose to reread again for the first time?
  • The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

• What would your superhero superpower be?
  • Flight

• What technology are you *really* most interested in for teaching/learning?
  • eLearning technology, LMS/Podcast, TikTok

• If you were an animal, what would you be?
  • Cat

• Who would (or would you want to) play you in a movie about your life?
  • Saoirse Ronan

The second Help-Desker featured in today’s twofer in the iSchool Help Desk’s Meet the Graduate Assistants series for Spring 2023 is Matthew Monteith! We harangued Matthew about his favourite hometown quirk, his perfect place to call home, and more!

Matthew

Matthew is also an Illinois native from Southern Illinois, which he describes as a unique part of the state. He is a second-year student in his last semester of MSLISs program at the iSchool, hoping to go somewhere to use tech or to be a public librarian.

• What is your favorite part about working at the Help Desk?
  • Co-workers including the full-timers

• What is your favorite board/video game?
  • RimWorld

• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
  • Pacific Northwest

• Where’s your favorite spot to hang out on campus/CU?
  • HopScotch Cafe/Help Desk area

• If given the opportunity, what book would you choose to reread again for the first time?
  • The Lord of the Rings Collection

• What would your superhero superpower be?
  • Shape shifting/Time control (tie)

• What technology are you *really* most interested in for teaching/learning?
  • Collaboration Software, Google docs, etc.

• If you were an animal, what would you be?
  • Raven

• Who would (or would you want to) play you in a movie about your life?
  • Robert Downey Jr, and/or Weird Al

Today, we continue with yet another pair of posts for Meet the Graduate Assistants Spring 2023 for the iSchool Help Desk! Our first Help-Desker of the day is Rachel Nelson! We quizzed Rachel on her post-grad career goals, favourite card game, and more.

Rachel Nelson

Rachel is a Champaign, Illinois native, who likes her hometown for its big city/small town feel. Rachel is a second-semester student at the iSchool, interested in going into archive or metadata curation and/or museums post-graduation.

• What is your favorite part about working at the Help Desk?
  • Co-workers and the environment

• What is your favorite board/video game?
  • Coup

• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
  • London, Edinburgh or Italy

• Where’s your favorite spot to hang out on campus/CU?
  • The Literary (in downtown Champaign)

• If given the opportunity, what book would you choose to reread again for the first time?
  • Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

• What would your superhero superpower be?
  • Know every language

• What technology are you *really* most interested in for teaching/learning?
  • Notion (Collaborative tool)

• If you were an animal, what would you be?
  • Otter

• Who would (or would you want to) play you in a movie about your life?
  • Emma D’Acry

Continuing our Spring 2023 run of the Meet the Graduate Assistants series for the iSchool Help Desk, we have another spectacular GA spotlight for today: Adam Hathaway! We harangued Adam to get the scoop on the best board game, his favourite spot in Champaign-Urbana, and the new instruction tech tools he’s most excited about.

Adam

Adam came to the iSchool from Scandia, Minnesota, where his favourite part is the lakes. He is a second-year MSLIS student in his last semester, interested in working in a public or academic library upon graduation.

• What is your favorite part about working at the Help Desk?
  • You can ask others for help

• What is your favorite board/video game?
  • Monopoly/RimWorld

• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
  • Summer Home in New Zealand

• Where’s your favorite spot to hang out on campus/CU?
  • Home

• If given the opportunity, what book would you choose to reread again for the first time?
  • The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

• What would your superhero superpower be?
  • Invulnerability

• What technology are you *really* most interested in for teaching/learning?
  • Webtools

• If you were an animal, what would you be?
  • Porcupine

• Who would (or would you want to) play you in a movie about your life?
  • I don’t know. Myself or Robert Patterson. Jason Ralph was recommended

This week, as part of our Meet the Graduate Assistants series for 2023 at the iSchool Help Desk, we are highlighting fabulous Graduate Assistant Delaney McCoy! We asked Delaney about her hometown, animal alter ego, and favourite part of being a part of Team Awesome!

Delaney

Delaney comes all the way from Kansas City, Missouri; her favourite part about her hometown is the BBQ! She is a second-year student in her last semester of the MSLIS program, interested in pursuing a career as a museum librarian.

• What is your favorite part about working at the Help Desk?
  • Learning new technologies

• What is your favorite board/video game?
  • Tetris

• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
  • Northern California

• Where’s your favorite spot to hang out on campus/CU?
  • Analog

• If given the opportunity, what book would you choose to reread again for the first time?
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

• What would your superhero superpower be?
  • Supersonic good hearing

• What technology are you *really* most interested in for teaching/learning?
  • LibGuides

• If you were an animal, what would you be?
  • Cat

• Who would (or would you want to) play you in a movie about your life?
  • Rachel Weisz