Grad school  − 1 August, 2000

Near the end of my time in college, I decided that in order to pursue my long-term writing career goals, I would need to get something more financially stable than journalism to keep myself afloat until I could live off writing. It was at this point that I started to consider librarianship as something I would actually like to do for a career.

Until that period, I had spent many happy hours in the library as a patron, but hadn't thought about actually working in the library. One day in the spring of 1999, it clicked that maybe it would be worth a try. (This followed a harrowing "real world" moment I shared in college prior to this, where my fellow college paper editor and I were shocked by a science class handout showing relative starting salaries earned by people in different professions. Dead last: journalist, opening salary $15,000 a year.)

From then on, I devoted myself to finding and getting into library school. I eventually discovered the School of Library and Information Management in Emporia, Kansas, and, although I hated the idea of moving to Kansas, I had to admit that SLIM's program was the best.

I moved to Emporia with my girlfriend at the time, which was a mistake I shouldn't have made in the first place. Despite the fact that I had a good time in my classes and working as a graduate teaching assistant with my fellow SLIMsters, my time in Emporia was trying -- partly because of living with someone I didn't want to be with, but also partly because I was in the middle of nowhere Kansas at 22 years of age.

I held out, though, and got my Master's in 2002, and got a bonus of several wonderful friends with whom I still keep in touch. It was well worth it. Following my time in Emporia, I moved to Lawrence, Kansas, a much more well-connected area.