What's Next? Question Answered

Yesterday was my official last day working at the University of Michigan Hatcher Graduate Library.  I first started working there in 2004, as an undergraduate student.  It was a place I loved going and from where I couldn't stay away.  My student position led to my first job out of college, before I left Ann Arbor and tried other fields and professions.  I couldn't stay away.  In 2009, I moved back to my favorite city and had the chance to take on another role at the library (to spare you all of these details in this post, I'll simply post a link to my website http://alissatalleypixley.com in case you're interested).  This led to my interest in obtaining a Master of Science in Information, and to my position as a University Library Associate (ULA).  It's been an amazing journey these past eight years, and I'm incredibly grateful and feel extremely lucky to have worked with so many professional, intelligent, and thoughtful colleagues.

My previous positions in the library and in academia peaked my interest in higher education more generally, so, as I wrote in November 2011, I applied and was accepted to the Higher Education program at UM.  So when I started thinking about my future careers after my two year ULA appointment was up, I knew I wanted to intersect my master's degrees.  And it just so happened that the School of Information, from where I graduated in April, recently opened a position for a Recruiting and Admissions Coordinator.  I immediately applied and was hired a couple of weeks ago.

It will be a busy and exciting time in my professional life.  This position will allow me to use the skills that I learned at UMSI such as customer service (in my reference classes), information literacy, and non-profit management, with those I practiced in my last position including instruction (speaking in front of people, knowing how to put together meaningful information in an allotted amount of time) and supervision of students, with my knowledge of higher education gained in that particular master's program.  I'm thrilled to be able to combine all of my previous work experiences and use the transferable skills from each position to advise prospective students, plan events, manage online communities, and everything else that will crop up as I grow into this job.

Thanks to everyone for your support in whichever way it was provided in helping me get to where I am today.  It will be fun to explore this new role and I hope you'll enjoy following me as I learn and develop in a new environment.