R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I've held many jobs in my short life span. Some have been pretty unique, like the time I was an office manager for a volunteer fire station in rural northeastern PA. There was a time when I was an art conservator assistant where I cleaned wall and ceiling murals and mixed various soapy concoctions to clean a myriad of who-knows-what off of priceless state owned oil paintings. I've worked administrative assistant jobs (old schoolers know this as 'secretarial' work :) and I've even worked as a field reporter during college covering local news with a lead anchor.

I guess I've seen a lot/done a lot and maybe not everything, but in each job I've gained something to take with me. All lessons learned should not be forgotten because it seems that the world of situational experience is cyclical. To quote the great Yogi Berra, "It's like deja vu all over again." (Wikipedia, 2010)

However, there is something unique about being a 'working student' or GA. For some reason, the moment the student role is assumed, it seems that past experience, knowledge and respect go by the wayside. I have worked as a graduate assistant in my previous graduate degree program and I distinctly remember the hierarchical treatment by some faculty members...not all, but some.

As a member of the teach-library program, I have a certain level of responsibility to perform a job. Not only am I on the payroll of the library, but also, I am a representative of the caliber of student the LIS program is attracting to their program. I have had the pleasure this semester of working with people who respect the experience that I bring and have taken on this project by looking at it as not a GAship with some "extra writing work" tacked on to make it unique.

The reasons I applied for this position were because:

1. I wanted to work with someone who was doing the role I hope to do some day
2. I wanted to collaborate with faculty and practioner to (hopefully) make changes or enhance both the practice and the curriculum
3. I wanted to have a unique experience that might elevate me from the title of "student" to be included in big picture thinking about my profession as an information professional

This is, and should be, more than what a typical graduate assistantship entails. If it is not, than either the practioner or the faculty member are not performing in their role to allow the student to unite them and bring about rich discussion to our field. In my experience, the student in this role has the unique opportunity to perhaps influence the work within a particular specialty area and if, after getting the foundational elements, are not able to experiment or express their desires towards change or be included in a collaborative, than somewhere the model is failing that student.

People will always say 'that's the way it's always been done', however, if this was true, we would still be riding on horseback instead of driving hybrid vehicles. {insert your 'green' argument here} I think you get the point I'm making....

This is an opportunity to respect the ideas and experiences that a person who happens to be a student brings into the workplace. If treatment of the student is regarded by practioners that they should feel blessed to even be entering into such hallowed grounds, I think the praticioner needs to review why they signed up to join in on this program in the first place.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T - learn it, live it - if you want a GA, that's easy to get. If you want a teach-library student, then it's more of a give-and-take relationship and, at some level, those involved need to provide the necessary financial and curricular opportunities to attract the caliber of student with the necessary experiences to make the program successful for all.

Works Cited

Wikipedia. Retrieved from Wikipedia-Yogi Berra: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogi_Berra#cite_note-21