Ruminations upon working at the LRC...
I graduated EKU in the fall of 2007. I started college in the fall of 2002, at the age of 38, at the request of my dying father. When I first came to EKU, I was unsure of myself in this new environment. Self-doubts constantly assailed me: I was too old; I'd been out of school for too long; my brain wasn't as flexible as these younger students'; I had nothing in common with the younger generation, and wouldn't have any friends; I wouldn't fit in, and so would be miserable.
My first semester I made friends who I still talk to to this very day. Although it was a struggle my first semester, I found myself fitting in with college life in a way that not only amazed me, but showed me that this was what I was supposed to have been doing all along. And then, in the fall of 2003, I started working at the Learning Resources Center at the library on campus.
These wonderful women, these fantastic females, these lovely ladies, accepted me with a generosity and a warmth which continues to astonish me even though I'm gone from there now. When things got tough, when the bankruptcy and the family issues and the difficulty of balancing all that against school requirements seemed to be too much for me, the LRC and the people who ran it became my surrogate family and my haven.
The patrons who most used that section of the library became such familiar faces to me; many of them became close friends, and many became confidantes. I didn't realize how familiar my own face had become until yesterday, when I was working at my new job on campus; as I passed by a classroom in the Memorial Science Building, a professor who was giving a lecture rushed out of his class, caught me by the arm, dragged me back into class and introduced me to his students as "the guy to go to when you students have questions about the library." The professor told the class about my winning the 2006-2007 Student Employee of the Year award. He suggested that when elementary and secondary science materials were required, they should come to see me.
I was stunned, to say the least. I had to explain to the class that I had graduated and was no longer working in the LRC, but was employed in the IT department. The professor seemed dismayed, but quickly perked up when I told the class about the quality of the student employees currently working in the LRC, as well as the mettle of the ladies who ran it: Trenia N., Melissa S., Cindy J., Amy T., Linda B., Carol L., Betina G.. I also made many friends among my fellow student workers who I'll miss greatly: Heather A., Zana D., Jen J., Jen C., Lindsy B., Julie N. and Christina D., to name a few, as well as Tacey C., RIP, who I never got to know well but who touched me deeply through her death.
Soon I'll be heading out of state, down south for my grad school and my eventual MFA and professorship. I may never see you ladies again when I go (unless I can entice you all down for a visit--I'm going to be less than a quarter-mile from the beach!). I just wanted you all to know how much you meant to me.
Ladies, professional and student, of the LRC, a large part of what I became here at EKU is because of you. Without the comfort of my place there at the LRC, and your friendship, encouragement and support, I couldn't have made it. Thank you for teaching me that an old dog can, indeed, learn new tricks. I love you all.
**************************************************************************************
By the way, as a totally random thing, here's a story I wrote in the fall 2007 semester that was chosen to be published in the student magazine:
http://studentweb.eku.edu/aurora/fichorror.html
My first semester I made friends who I still talk to to this very day. Although it was a struggle my first semester, I found myself fitting in with college life in a way that not only amazed me, but showed me that this was what I was supposed to have been doing all along. And then, in the fall of 2003, I started working at the Learning Resources Center at the library on campus.
These wonderful women, these fantastic females, these lovely ladies, accepted me with a generosity and a warmth which continues to astonish me even though I'm gone from there now. When things got tough, when the bankruptcy and the family issues and the difficulty of balancing all that against school requirements seemed to be too much for me, the LRC and the people who ran it became my surrogate family and my haven.
The patrons who most used that section of the library became such familiar faces to me; many of them became close friends, and many became confidantes. I didn't realize how familiar my own face had become until yesterday, when I was working at my new job on campus; as I passed by a classroom in the Memorial Science Building, a professor who was giving a lecture rushed out of his class, caught me by the arm, dragged me back into class and introduced me to his students as "the guy to go to when you students have questions about the library." The professor told the class about my winning the 2006-2007 Student Employee of the Year award. He suggested that when elementary and secondary science materials were required, they should come to see me.
I was stunned, to say the least. I had to explain to the class that I had graduated and was no longer working in the LRC, but was employed in the IT department. The professor seemed dismayed, but quickly perked up when I told the class about the quality of the student employees currently working in the LRC, as well as the mettle of the ladies who ran it: Trenia N., Melissa S., Cindy J., Amy T., Linda B., Carol L., Betina G.. I also made many friends among my fellow student workers who I'll miss greatly: Heather A., Zana D., Jen J., Jen C., Lindsy B., Julie N. and Christina D., to name a few, as well as Tacey C., RIP, who I never got to know well but who touched me deeply through her death.
Soon I'll be heading out of state, down south for my grad school and my eventual MFA and professorship. I may never see you ladies again when I go (unless I can entice you all down for a visit--I'm going to be less than a quarter-mile from the beach!). I just wanted you all to know how much you meant to me.
Ladies, professional and student, of the LRC, a large part of what I became here at EKU is because of you. Without the comfort of my place there at the LRC, and your friendship, encouragement and support, I couldn't have made it. Thank you for teaching me that an old dog can, indeed, learn new tricks. I love you all.
**************************************************************************************
By the way, as a totally random thing, here's a story I wrote in the fall 2007 semester that was chosen to be published in the student magazine:
http://studentweb.eku.edu/aurora/fichorror.html