I am a proud native of Covington, Kentucky (otherwise known as Southern Cincinnati). According to my Myspace page, I rock at karoke, love France and French things, also love pinup art and other "vintage" styles of art, and I want to be a professional reader when I grow up! I graduated from Holmes High School in 2003, where I went through the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and was one of eight students that year to obtain the IB diploma. Holmes is one of only 5 high schools - either public or private - in the state which offer the program. Through this program, I was introduced to an early liberal arts education, especially in the fields of english literature, history, and music. Because of this great opportuntity, I went on to attend the University of Kentucky for my undergraduate degree in English, with a cross-disciplinary minor in American Studies.
I loved UK so much that I decided to stay here, where I am currently pursuing my MLIS. Although I am working over at the William T. Young Library as a member of the Reference Department and The Hub (the new Information Commons), my true career goal is to become a Young Adult (YA) librarian and work in public libraries. I guess you can say that I got my start in libraries by a "lucky accident". As a high school junior, I volunteered time through the National Honors Society as a tutor for middle school students who met 3 times a week at the Kenton County Public Library in Covington (which conveniently, is situated right across the street from the middle school). I got on well with the students and library staff, and one day, I was asked by the head of the department if I would like to a job there. The rest, as they say, is history! I worked my way up from a children's department page and shelver, to a few summers ago working as a children's reference assistant. This past summer, I went back to work for KCPL as a Children's Summer Outreach Programmer, where I designed storytimes and information literacy programs for children attending 5 different federal lunch sites across the city. The kids spanned in ages from pre-school to fifth grade.
When I am not living out of the library or working away in a lone classroom in the Fine Arts library, you may find me at one of two other places on campus. First, I work 5 extra hours a week for the English as a Second Language (ESL) department, where I lead informal conversation hours for both undergraduate and graduate level students who are seeking a fun way to practice their english and learn more about American and UK culture. Second, I volunteer as much of my waking time and talents as I can to the Victim Intervention Prevention Center, formerly known as the Women's Place. Although it is an alarming statistic, 63% of UK female students have experienced at least one incident of violence victimization in their lifetime. Essentially, through conducting in-depth research studies conducted by the Center for Research on Violence Against Women in both 2003 and 2007 (this past spring), it was discovered that 36.5% of women students will be victims of sexual assault‚ physical assault and/or stalking while attending UK. The vast majority of victims do not report and do not reach out for help. These statistics are completely unacceptable and as a community, we must stand up and speak out against such violence, especially when we can have a direct impact on our own sphere of influence and deter this type of violence by such actions as bystander intervention. This has been my passion for the past 3 years and I believe so fondly in the mission of promoting education and awareness of this topic to all UK students, staff, and faculty that this was one of the main reasons in choosing to stay at the University of Kentucky to continue my education. I also hope to take some of the things I have learned at the center, such as grassroots activism and local community knowledge into my career in public libraries and youth services.
