Labor Day Weekend and Friends in Illinois

     Well, I have been telling some of my family and friends from back home about the people I am getting to know in Illinois, so I decided it would be good to post some photos of some of my friends out here. Over labor day weekend, Emilee and I planned a hike at Fox Ridge Park and it was so exciting to actually get to go on a hike with friends, and get this, actually walk up hills! I loved it, but I think my body is out of shape from constantly being on flat land. :) We went on several trails, and the day was actually perfect for hiking with the temperatures in the 70s, low humidity, and a slight breeze. We only hiked a couple of hours and then had a nice picnic. 

part of the hike through the trees

left to right:  Josh, Daniel, LiFengu, Christine, Emilee, me, Amanda M., Ben, Shawn, Mat, and Paul

Rather than kiss the frog to get a princess, Daniel decided to experiment to see if it would jump into his mouth :) j/k

 

me playing in the flowers

Lily frolicking in the flowers with me



Amanda, Shawn and myself
doing the monkey walk

It was a really fun day filled with a lot of activities.  I didn't get any pictures of water polo that afternoon or FHE that evening, but labor day was quite a busy day.  I have to admit, Tuesday I wished I had another day to rest from my day off. :)  But it was worth it!

My Two Week Break...

    This is my first break where I have not gone to visit at least one of my siblings. I don't have the finances to do it, so instead I decided to have fun hanging around Urbana-Champaign.
   Well, FHE that week was playing at my favorite park, Meadowbrook. It gets dark early out here since we are right on the border of the time zone, so by 8:45 it was pitch dark.  Still, I wanted to play on the castle playground so I climbed on even though it was a little difficult to see the dark wood in the dark. While walking along, I turned my head to look at someone, and down I went.  Apparently, I missed a step and I sprained my ankle. Trying not to make a big deal out of it, I limped off the playground to the car and called P.A. Deron when I got home. Then I begged my roommate for a ride to get an ace bandage, ibprophen, and an ice pack.  It swelled up quite a bit, and almost two weeks later I now have pretty purple bruises around my ankle, toes, and going up my leg.
    So, anyway, I didn't really go as many places as I wanted to go because I try not to walk too many miles on my foot.  For the first couple days, I mostly forced myself to stay off my foot.  I still went places, but I didn't even walk a full mile.  It is difficult though, without a car to reduce the amount of walking time. Mostly I just pretend my foot isn't hurting, wrap it, and go.  I had to miss the hiking trip I wanted to go on, which is really sad since I was finally going to see my first hill in months. :)  Anyway, it's not so bad really.  I mostly get to show it off now that it finally looks purply-black.
     Instead, I have gone swimming almost every day, finished the Picture of Dorian Gray, and made good progress on Tale of Two Cities.  I fed the missionaries, practiced the piano, and watched old black and white movies.  Best of all, friends from Idaho Falls came to visit me on their roadtrip to the East coast.  Liz and Sara Meyer were so fun to hang out with, and I got to show them around campus and I got to share one of my new favorite restaurants that serves authentic Korean food (at least I think so since I mostly see Korean people in it and the food names are Korean).  
     School starts again next Monday, and I am so excited!  I already have homework to do before class, but I am actually excited to do it because I love my upcoming classes.  I will be taking classes on reference, children's services, 501 (required... not so exciting), and multicultural lit.  Yeah! And get this-- I get to read Hunger Games, Esperanza Rising, several picture books, and lots of other children's and young adult novels for homework. I love my future profession!

Updates...

I realized I haven't posted in awhile, so I decided maybe I should provide a few updates of my activities.

1-I just finished my first semester as a grad student and I got straight A's.  Yeah!!!

2-Went to a YSA activity in Indianapolis where I was able to visit my friend form back home, Parley Wilson.  The YSA activity wasn't my favorite, but it was great catching up with him.  Thanks Parley for a good time!

3-With the abnormally high temperatures (the heat index has been over 110 F at times) the ward has started a new favorite game: water polo.  I am terrible at the game-- I blame it on my lack of height-- but it is so fun to hang out playing coed water polo.  We don't keep score, but it is still competitive enough that we have fights over the ball.  I have been dunked a couple of times and one time literally picked up out of the water.  Oh, the joy of a swimming pool in the complex on hot summer days!

4-I watched the last Harry Potter movie.  Loved it; I'm sad that it is the end of an era. Great book series and movie series.

5-Found the coolest park.  It is called Meadowbrook and it has a castle playground, statues, and a wildlife preserve with walking paths.  So fun!

Anyway, life is going well out in the midwest.

 

2nd Grad Class

     So, I have now been in my second grad class for a couple weeks and it is turning out to be a unique experience.  The Cataloguing and Classifying class is considered one of the difficult concepts of library school for many librarians.  It is an important skills that is constantly adapting itself throughout the years--it reminds me of a library school version of learning MLA or APA.  In this class I am learning how to make a record of what books, magazines, cds, dvds, video games (basically anything that can go into a library) so I can add to a list of what a library has. We also learn how to create a MARC record (machine readable catalogue) so that people can look up items at their library on the computer. It's kind of like learning a computer language with lots of numbers and punctuation marks along with words.  
     I was very excited to dig into this class and learn how to do something every professional librarian I talked to told me I would have to learn.  And that I should dread. Then, I got to class.  The teacher said *quote* "I don't like 'B's", meaning that most of the grades she gives are B+ or higher.  While my grade protector side of me cheered, the side of me that loves to beat a challenge wilted. I went through a couple days where I questioned what a masters in library science at the top ranked school meant. Was it just for the connections and the high hiring rate through those connections? It couldn't be true. To test this, I talked to others about their classes. 
           -the web design class final requires students to create a web page for an actual company who has paid to pick which one they actually will use.  That's pretty cool and gives the class great purpose.
           -the practicum class actually requires day-to-day work as well as a project that takes 25 hours
           -there are classes offered this fall focusing on multicultural literature (actually reading literature from around the globe), fantasy literature, as well as the regular popular adult lit, popular young adult lit, and children's lit. 
          - there is another class designed to examine how lives are changing for young adults and children as technology becomes an even more engrained part of their lives and how to change libraries to fit their new needs
         -classes focus on everything from basics, to technology, literature, building construction, community informatics, and more with lots of hands-on work and a constant focus on class assignments that could also beef up a future resume
         -a person from the Library of Congress is coming to give a lecture next week on how the work on scanning the country's historical newspapers is coming along. Two weeks ago one of the leading researchers on the development of children's literature gave a lecture on the life of Margaret Wise Brown (the author of Good Night Moon and The Runaway Bunny); he is also teaching a summer course on picture books.

     Well, I feel better now.  It is just this one teacher, not the program. Class is also getting better although the teacher talks to the TA the entire three hours and even congratulates her for answering questions correctly (the TA is a masters graduate who is a professional cataloguer at the university library-- yeah, I'd hope she'd get the answers right in an introductory cataloguing class). Still, I enjoy learning how to create/build on a library catalogue. 

First Masters Class

       So, I have now been in Illinois about four weeks. In that amount of time, I have finished the class portion of my first graduate class, Comics in the Library.  The class portion of my class lasted two weeks with class being three hours every day Monday-Friday.  The second two weeks are focused on creating a wiki that each student create a page explaining how comic books are used in different aspects of information studies.  So, I know it sounds like a really strange/pointless/entertaining class, but it was so fun and it really taught me a lot.
       In the two weeks, we went on field trips to three different types of libraries: public, academic, and preservation.  We also had several guest speakers, including the author of our text book.  During the class I was introduced to a lot of new graphic novels like Persepolis, Blankets, Fables, and Contract with God, as well as several interesting websites.  One website even allows students to create a graphic novel with characters that can be clicked and dragged.  The class also taught about comic book use in many different forms of libraries, so I was able to see which library format I liked the best.  I really liked public libraries, but I also liked academic libraries, museums, and I wanted to learn more about archives.  While studying how each library focused on comics, I was able to see how each library functioned.  Archives tend to keep the information in boxes and don't care as much about bringing in people to see the information as much as just making sure the information is taken care of.  Museums are similar, although they also like to have people come.  Academic libraries are focused on collecting all of a particular type of book. 
       I still like public libraries the most because I would get to work with people every day and I can work on programs for different age groups.  I have to worry more about banned books and people asking for books to be taken off the shelf, but at least I would get to work with many different types of people.  My particular wiki page is about programming using comics, which I really like since I hope to be able to work in a large public library in the future. 

And the final choice is...

      So, I decided I really need to update this blog.  A lot has been happening.  Thanksgiving with my family at a cabin, Christmas playing with my family some more in Idaho's snowy weather, playing with friends sending a couple friends off on missions, celebrating several friends' weddings, relearning how to play the organ for my church calling... you know the usual. But, I really should focus the updating on my grad school application progress.

      So, I finished three applications for grad school by the end of January--University of Illinois-Urbana Champagne, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and University of Arizona.  I received an acceptance letter for Arizona February 14.  Yeah, I was walking in the clouds all day, preparing myself for the hot Tucson weather.  Then on February 18th, I received an acceptance letter from Michigan.  Woot woot!  This school ranked 3rd in Library Science programs in the country.  For several weeks, I waited to hear back from Illinois, but nothing happened.  I weighed my options, but it was difficult to decide since Michigan was several thousand more a semester and Arizona does not have as many opportunities in its program.  Then, I checked my email March 15th.  Illinois accepted me.  Illinois is the most affordable school, and ranked the best in the nation in library science.  It is the best of both worlds.  I can't believe my luck.  I never expected to be accepted to all the places where I applied.

      So, to make a long story short, I am going to Illinois in May.  I will officially be a graduate student starting May 16th.  I am so nervous and excited.  I have been in contact with the singles ward in Urbana and it seems very strong, along with a great institute program.  I also am working on having a roommate.  I will miss my family and friends here in Idaho, but I don't want to miss this amazing opportunity.  I don't know what will happen next, but I know that this is right for me.
      Wow, life is wonderful and crazy!!  

      Some views around campus... 

In their own little corner...

So tonight I was reminded how quickly life keeps moving by.  I had several shocks.  First- my 97 year old Aunt Geneva passed away.  It wasn't surprising because she has wanted to go for quite some time (I think she was a little jealous of my mother), but it was still a shock to realize that I can't go visit her anymore.  She lived a full life, and she is much happier where she is now.  She gets to be with all her old friends, her sister, family-- all the people she has missed.  I just wish I had visited more or at least said goodbye.  I also realized Mom's birthday is coming up soon... she would have turned 60 this year.  I still miss her at times, especially when I get to hang out with her grandchildren.  My nieces and nephews are all so amazing and growing up so fast- she would have loved being with them. She always loved being a grandma.  As well, my own grandma will have been gone for 5 years come November 1st.  She was an amazing woman who has left a great legacy of strength and wisdom behind for her posterity.  These three women have been a great source of strength to me throughout my life.  I have looked to them as examples of taking what life gives you-- the struggles, the joys, the pains, the triumphs-- and making the world better in your own little corner of the world.  These three women will never be listed in history books, but the way they have touched others lives will have a greater impact than many of the people I studied in college. 

They each had great testimonies of God.  I would often see my mom on her knees praying in her room when she thought I didn't see her and she loved to pray for her family while she would take her walks. I never heard my grandma say an unkind thing about anyone, and she had the power to make people want to be good just because she believed you already were. Even when Aunt Geneva couldn't leave her house, she would listen to every sacrament meeting through a radio at her table and then read her large print scriptures.

They were good women who simply lived each day with a focus on God and helping the people around them.  I am grateful that I got to know these women and that I can honestly call them my friends as well as my family.  May Heavenly Father and his angels be with Aunt Geneva's family at this time.  And thank heaven for the people around the world, past and present, who make the world a little better in their own little corner.