Library 101

I’d love to share a few things with you that can help you as a student.

What is an academic library?
An academic library exists to help you with your research. That’s why we are here. If you’ve taken a Communications or English 102 class, you might have met one of us already. We do these sessions with classes to get you started on the research process, and guide you through the rockier moments. We can assist you in person, over the phone, email, and chat.

We have research guides, a collection of quick instructions for researching across multiple topics and classes. These are designed to help you when we aren’t available. These include instructions on things like creating citations,or developing research questions. To get meta, this is a research guide about everything the library offers that isn’t a book.

Finally, if you click on chat it will direct you to the reference librarian on the reference desk who can help you with a research assignment, ask basic questions about campus, or anything else.



And of course, we have books.

What do you wish students knew?
You aren’t interrupting us with your questions; it’s our job to answer them! We are at the circulation desk to check out books and answer questions. We are working to hire more librarians for the reference desk, but have it staffed the bulk of the time we are open. A reference librarian is like human Google. They’ll answer any questions and help you with research.

Library Hacks
Please don’t pay for any articles or books while you are in school. Your PSC user name and log in gives you access to a massive collection between our website and the physical library. If we don’t have something, we can probably borrow it from another library using something called interlibrary loan. Simply fill out this form with the article or book that you would like. The process usually takes a few days, but with some changes coming next year will be as short as a day.

We have movies, audiobooks, and music
Kanopy is a collection of movies, as is Feature Films for Education. We have a collection of audiobooks through OverDrive. Using an app called Libby, you can borrow these titles and listen to them over your phone. You can also add your local public library to your Libby app for even more titles. Finally, we have music, mostly classical, and some jazz through Naxos, a collection available with tens of thousands of recordings to stream while you study. And all of this is free with your username and password.

We have study rooms
During the worst part of the pandemic, we were closed, and the next year our study rooms were not available. (That was last year for those of you keeping track.) If you need a completely quiet place to study, our study rooms are back for groups. You can reserve one online, or in person on a first-come, first-served basis from the circulation desk. Right now the library classroom is available for silent individual study as well. We also have things like earplugs and headphones at the reference desk that are yours to keep.

We have programming
We host a book club at least once a semester, typically advertised over your student email and social media. We also have some sort of crafty event where we create something you can take home once a semester.

Immediately after spring break, we are hosting a traveling exhibition called Americans and the Holocaust, which seeks to answer what Americans knew and what more could have been done. You can see the exhibition and attend any programming for free:
https://prairiestate.edu/events/ushmm.aspx

Lastly, we are here for you. Please reach out through Ask a Librarian with any questions.
 

Assistance for Veterans

By Maranda Martinez-Brink

If you or a loved one has served our country, then Prairie State College wants to serve you. Our Military Student Affairs Office is here to provide assistance and guidance for the military community and their dependents to ensure a smooth transition to college and resources to ensure your success. 

How Can Prairie State Help?

Students can find assistance with the following resources:

-Providing support for military educational benefits

-Resource referral services for other veteran’s resources

-Credit for military experience

-Priority registration for courses

What Benefits?

There are many benefits available from the Veterans Benefit Programs, which are federal and state government programs to assist military-affiliated students. These can include

• – Illinois Veterans Grant (IVG)
  – Illinois National Guard Grant (ING)
• – Illinois MIA/POW Scholarship (for spouses and dependents)
• – Montgomery GI Bill® Educational Benefits (Chapter 30, Post 9/11, and Chapter 1606)
• – Department of Veteran’s Affairs Veterans Readiness & Employment (Chapter 31)
• – Department of Veteran’s Affairs Dependents Educational Assistance  Program (Chapter 35, Fry Scholarship, and ToE)

Not Sure What Benefits You Qualify For?

Contact the Office of Military Student Affairs coordinator, Georges Sanon, at (708) 709-3567 or via email vetcenter@prairiestate.edu / gsanon@prairiestate.edu. Or consult the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website.

Getting all of the documentation can be overwhelming, so the library has made it easy to access their resources through the research guides with multiple tabs directing students to the precise location of documents, forms, and assistance. 

Under each section, there are links to helpful material that can help students take steps to receive all of their benefits. 

In- Person Resources

The Student Veterans Club is another excellent means of support where members can gain community and camaraderie amongst students, veterans, and faculty. Meetings occur every first Wednesday of the month at 1300 hours or 1:00 pm.

In addition to online resources, the physical office is located in room 1240 of the main building at Prairie State. 

Hours of operation: 

Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday: 0830 – 1700 hours (8:30 am – 5:00 pm)

Wednesday: 1030 – 1900 hours (10:30 am – 7:00 pm)

Friday: 0800 – 1630 hours (8:00 am – 4:30 pm)

“The Military Student Affairs Office is committed to ensuring military-affiliated students a smooth transition to college and a successful educational experience.”

Can you get disability help?

The transition to higher education is not an easy one in the slightest. From the high pressure of school and life balance to the complex inner workings of the higher education system, the task of getting your college education can seem daunting. This overwhelming list can get so much longer when disability issues are added into the mix. As a student with a disability myself, I know how hard it is to ask for help, but once you have it, it can feel like a weight lifted off your shoulders. 

A Short History

The American Disabilities Act of 1990 provided protection to people with disabilities from discrimination and legal required accommodations. This is not only applied in the workforce, but also in postsecondary education. (This includes students at Prairie State.) Access and Disability Services are required to provide available accommodations to students with documented disabilities. So what counts as a disability? More than you probably would think! Anything that impairs walking, seeing, breathing, and thinking COUNTS as a disability, even if the impairment is temporary. A few examples of qualifying disabilities are:

• Epilepsy
• Diabetes
• Visual impairment
• Hearing impairment
• Neurodivergency (Autism, ADHD, OCD, Tourette’s, etc.) 
• Any disability that requires a wheelchair, crutches, or canes

There are so many disabilities that are protected by the ADA to help students get the accommodations they need.

What Accommodations?

So, unfortunately, disability services can’t give you an automatic A, even though we all wish it could! HOWEVER, it can provide some really helpful resources to give students the best chance of success. Accommodations are set on a case by case basis to a student’s needs but can look like more time to take a test, or reducing distractions while testing. Each student with documentation has the opportunity to work with a member of disability services to figure out the proper help needed. 

Accommodations for Everyone

Even students without documentation can go on D2L and find accommodations on the platform. D2L has ReadSpeaker that provides text to speech options for students that need or prefer auditory learning.

How to Get Started with Accommodations

1. Visit and review the Office of Access and Disability Services web page.
2. Review the following documents:
   Students with Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities
   from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights:
   Differences Between High School and College Level Accommodations
3. Complete and submit the online Office of Access and Disability Services Intake Form.
4. Complete and submit the Accommodation Request Form (if you are registered and have a class schedule).
5. Provide appropriate documentation of disability.
   • Visit the following link for documentation guidelines: https://prairiestate.edu/student-services/disability-services.aspx (Click the “Documentation” tab.)
   • Please send documentation via email to disabilityservices@prairiestate.edu for review.
6. Schedule and Attend an Intake Appointment.
   • Intake Appointments will be conducted virtually through Google Meet.
   • Please send a few dates and times that you are available to: disabilityservices@prairiestate.edu.
   •  Scheduled Appointments will be confirmed via email.

You can also call Access and Disability Services at (708) 709-3755

Some easier ways to access resources

College is hard enough without the tedious job of creating citations. After Googling, “What is a citation!?” at 2:00 AM the morning of the due date, it can seem like a daunting task. But do not fret! To help you finish off the semester strong, we created this short list of tips and tricks to help you access and use sources, so the last thing in your paper is the last worry in your mind.

1) How to find reputable resources
The internet is full of information…and misinformation. Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish between a worthwhile source and misinformation. How do you make the distinction?

The research guides on our website, which contain quick, how-to instructions on various topics, are a great start. We have a specific research guide dedicated to evaluating sources. This guide will help you distinguish between a credible source, and one to avoid. Many of these techniques will work both for your coursework and help you spot misinformation on social media.

2) How do I create a citation
I kept a dog eared MLA citations pamphlet from high school. This booklet was clearly a copy of a copy and was probably 15 years old when I received it in 1999. Citations had to be typed out “by hand.” Nowadays it is much easier to create a citation and all you have to do is copy and paste. Please cite your sources to give credit to other scholars’ work and avoid plagiarism.

(This is real btw.)

Method 1: Use our citation guide

This research guide is for creating citations. There are two main types of citation styles you’ll use during your time at PSC. The first is MLA, which stands for Modern Language Association, and is typically used in humanities courses. The other is APA, which stands for American Psychological Association, and is more common in the social sciences, business, and education. Our guide shows you how to cite in both formats.

Method 2: Generate a citation using OneSearch’s tools

When you search for something in our collection you can create a citation from the Detail Record page. The Detail Record page gives more descriptive information about the book, article, video or whatever it is.

Below is the detail record page for an ebook copy of our next book club pick, The Fifth Season by N. K Jemisin.
On the right hand side of the page you’ll see a list of tools. These tools allow you to save the detail record page a number of ways (but not the actual book). Click cite and you’ll generate a citation in the style your professor would like.

Then simply copy and paste the citation that you would like to use into your Google or Word doc.

Method 3: Use a citation creation tool like the one from Excelsior University OWL

Excelsior University in upstate New York has an Online Writing Lab (OWL get it!?) that has multiple great tools to help you with citations. They walk you through the writing process, talk about why we cite, and help generate citations. Take a look at this video to learn their tools.

Try some of these methods and see if one works better for you. Remember that we are always here to help with any questions on citations, whether that be their formatting, when to do so, or something else!

3) Citation mining

Maybe you’ve found one or two good articles for a research project, but your professor wants you to have more. How frustrating! There is a trick called citation mining to find more sources. Citation mining means taking the citations used in your two “good” articles and seeing if those articles will work for you.

Scholarly articles will have a massive list of citations at the end. It might be called a works cited, or references page and will look like this:

Jona R. Frohlich, et al. “Examining Co-Patterns of Depression and Alcohol Misuse in Emerging Adults Following University Graduation.” Addictive Behaviors Reports, vol. 8, no. 40–45, Dec. 2018, pp. 40–45. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2018.06.002.

The references in your perfect article are a goldmine. Copy and paste interesting titles into OneSearch to see if we have access to them. Here I’ve copy and pasted the second title from the above references into OneSearch:

If we have access to it, then start reading. If not, you can request the article through interlibrary loan, or ILL for short.

Select “article” on the ILL page and copy and paste the information from the citation directly into the Google form. The article will be emailed to you.

Librarians love nothing more than sharing tips and tricks to help you better navigate the research process. The time is quickly approaching when you’ll have big projects, so please reach out at Ask a Librarian with any and all questions. As my dad used to say, “The only dumb question is the one not asked.”

What I wish I had known as a student:

Believe it or not, we were once college students too. We made great friendships, stayed up too late, and ate entirely too much pizza. We didn’t always know what we were doing though, and sometimes we struggled, when we didn’t need to. I wish I had known how many folks on campus were happy to point me in the right direction.

In this month’s blog post of Library HELP!: a monthly blog to help you student, the library crew answers, “What I wish I had known as a student:”

• 

  Alex: Your interlibrary loan librarian can request items from another library for you. Fill out the online book and article request forms on the Library’s website: https://library.prairiestate.edu/ill.aspx It typically takes about 3 to 5 business days for requests that have been ordered from Illinois Libraries. Out of state requests may take about 7 to 10 days to arrive. Contact ILL Librarian Alex Altan at aaltan@prairiestate.edu with questions.

• 

  Victoria: Don’t be too bashful to approach your professor. Professors want you to reach out, but many are too fearful. Engage in class, participate in discussions. More than anything, it was the class discussions that clarified ideas and thoughts for me.

• 

  Bill: Asking for help is not a negative thing. Your professors welcome questions Start your papers and projects early. This will allow time to engage with the material to better understand what you want to say. You don’t write better in a crunch. Take care of your mental health Be cognizant of your friends’ mental health Be open to the new experiences and people you’ll meet along the way

• 

  CJ: You don’t have to have your “best” subject as your major. If there’s a major you find more interesting and fulfilling, then you can choose that. You’re allowed. Asking your instructors for help or for clarification is going to help a lot. It shows that you are willing to put in the effort to do the work.

• 

  Valerie: Most college campuses have a lot of resources to help students navigate the experience. If you are struggling emotionally, PSC has personal counseling. We also have a counselor who can help you navigate transferring from PSC once you are done. If you have a disability, the Access and Disability Services Office can assist you with finding the appropriate accommodations. The Military Student Affairs Center is here to help veterans and those currently enlisted navigate their military benefits, as well as support and comradery. TRIO Student Support Services offers holistic support to first-generation, low income, and disabled students to navigate college. Career Services can take you from undecided to working towards a degree and job that you will find fulfilling. Finally, the Student Success Center/Tutoring can offer you some extra assistance in your tougher classes.

• 

  Kennedy: Everyone has their own pace. Don’t base your speed around everyone else. Not many know what they want to pursue right out the gate. Apply for FASFA and any scholarships you qualify for. Take some fun courses while you do that, you may discover you like something you wouldn’t have experienced otherwise. You don’t need to take all of your classes at once. Traditional schooling is not for everyone: Take online classes and check certificate programs. Online classes are hands off and give you more freedom. Make school work around your schedule. Do you already have a career plan? Certificate programs can get you the skills you need to get started. Fields like IT especially can be done this way and some jobs may even pay for you to go to school and get more knowledge. Just make sure you aren’t stressing yourself out. Go on the educational journey that makes the most sense for you!

All of these images came to you from the PSC Archive. Pay the archive a visit if you would like to see more fun images and learn more about PSC history. Simply contact Alex Altan, College Archivist, at (708) 709-3553 or aaltan@prairiestate.edu.

Transfer Counseling

If you are nearing the end of your time at PSC, congratulations! During this tough time in the semester, it can be easy to lose sight of this accomplishment. For some of you, this means looking for a job (an adventure of its own), and for others transferring out to a four-year university. Today’s post is for those who are transferring out to other institutions. We have a few different places you can get information, which are detailed below.

PSC has a Transfer Counselor, Sarah Hein, who specifically helps students who will need to transfer to complete a four-year degree. This is a process, which is why we have someone available to help you. If you would like to learn more, the library and Transfer Counselor are co-hosting a couple of upcoming events. Join us for some snacks, beverages, and information:

Snacks Session with the Transfer Counselor

Wednesday, April 13th and 20th
10:30 – 11:30 AM

The Library

The library also has a research guide, which walks you through the transfer process. How do you find a place where you fit in and feel safe? Do scholarships just fall from the sky? How do you craft a well-written admissions essay? And how important is that essay anyway? This guide can help you reason through all of those pieces and steer you towards a college program that is just right for you.

Lastly, the library’s current book display features books on the college application process. You can consult our faculty newsletter for a partial list, but will need to visit the library for a full display. Everything on display can be either checked out, or accessed as an ebook.

Your future is just that- your future. This can be scary, but it is also an opportunity for you to shape it how you see fit. Talk with Sarah Hein about what kind of college you would like to attend. Take a look at some of the resources in our research guide to create a plan to get there. Consult our display too. Remember that we want you to finish PSC strong, and continue your educational journey, no matter where that takes you. 

Library HELP!: a monthly blog to help you student

Let’s talk about money
I remember being a broke college student, barely able to gas up my car, or buy groceries. To do a load of laundry, I once moved washers and dryers to collect the quarters others had dropped. Years later, tuition is more expensive than ever. We know money causes students a lot of stress, and rightly so! Let’s talk about money.

This blog post isn’t going to be a shame-based lecture on why you should skip Starbucks or Dunkin’. We don’t want to wag our finger at you; enjoy that coffee! It will cover working with the financial aid office. More than 50% of PSC students receive financial aid, and students all over the U.S. are able to attend school with a combination of grants, scholarships, and loans. Read on, you might be surprised to learn that you qualify.

I spoke with Assistant Director of Financial Aid Yvette McGhee about what she wished students knew about her office and their services. Here is a summary of our discussion.

–The Financial Aid Office is located in Room 1359 on the main campus. The office handles work-study, grants, loans and award scholarships. This webpage details different types of financial aid, and how to apply. Take a look and see what will work for your situation.

-Your first step should be to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or The The FAFSA application determines eligibility for various types of financial aid, including federal and state grants as well as Direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans. The FAFSA is free to complete at studentaid.gov and opens on October 1st for the next school year.  Complete the application, even if you don’t think you will qualify for grants. Any forms, in addition to the FAFSA, requested by the Financial Aid office should be filled out sooner rather than later to get assistance in a timely manner.

-The Foundation office  has an online database of scholarships https://prairiestate.academicworks.com/. They can assist you in finding ones that fit your needs and unique abilities. Sarah Hein, Counselor, and Transfer Coordinator, recorded this webinar on scholarships that you might find useful. While it can take some time and energy to apply for scholarships, remember that this is money that won’t need to be paid back, unlike loans.

-Pay close attention to the disbursement calendar to see when you will receive your refund. Bear in mind that financial aid  funds are  transmitted on a two-week cycle. This means there may be a lag between when financial aid is awarded and when a balance disappears from your account.

-If you are struggling in a class, contact Financial Aid before withdrawing (dropping) the course. (Also contact your instructor; they want you to do well.) Depending on when you drop a class in the semester, you could wind up owing a balance, and that would be a bad surprise. If you do decide to withdraw, make sure you do so officially, instead of skipping class.

-Remember to check your student email. You can also have your student email forwarded to your personal email address, if that is easier. Financial Aid regularly sends reminders about deadlines, as well as other sources of funding. You can also sign up for PSC Alerts, which may contact you about payment deadlines, in addition to more exciting things- like snow days! Imagine missing this email:

-Finally, take out loans as a last resort, after looking at grants and scholarships first. PSC offers Direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans. We caution you to borrow conservatively while enrolled in PSC to ensure you have remaining loan funding once you transfer to the college or university of your choice. 

To wrap it up; if you think college is expensive, you are correct. The price of tuition has increased dramatically in a brief period of time. The Financial Aid Office is here to help fund your education. Be sure and stay in communication with the college so that you don’t miss any funding opportunities. Fill out the FAFSA, and while loans may be necessary, look into other options first. Lastly, if you are struggling, reach out and ask for help from the Financial Aid Office, and your professor before withdrawing.

Library HELP!: a monthly blog to help you student, Asking for Help

There will come a day when you need help to complete an assignment or pass a class. It happens to everyone. There is a problem set you can’t solve, a writing assignment that is giving you writer’s block, or a chemical equation you can’t balance. Your problem may be less concrete, or even emotional.

Struggling is common, and so is asking for help. We went into education (and librarianship) because we want to serve others. PSC is not a big school. Our small size means that we are able to get to know our students as individuals and provide personalized time and attention. Detailed below are some hints that you need help, and where to find it.

How do you know you need help?

• There is a wide range of normal, but if you find that it takes you much longer than your classmates to complete assignments, you might need additional support.

• If doing your work makes you want to run away, or leaves you in tears, some tutoring is a good idea.

• If you find yourself stuck and unable to do any work, having help would be wise.

• If you are trying your best, but aren’t passing, then one-on-one help would go a long way.

• If you are thinking about your problem(s) all the time and it is bothering you so much you can’t eat, sleep, or do things you enjoy, then some counseling sessions would be beneficial.

• If you are spending more than an hour a day on your emotional problem or rearranging your life to avoid it, then you should talk to someone.

• And finally…if you need someone to talk to, the counseling center can help.

Where can you go for help?

Here are some of the services we provide to help.

The Student Success Center offers tutoring for a wide variety of subjects, including math, science, business, Spanish, and information technology, to name a few. If you need a personal tutor, please email Lisa Hansen. Provide your name, course subject, and availability and she will connect you with a tutor.

The library can help with the research process, point you towards resources, or help with citations. Our Ask a Librarian Page has links to get in touch. We are open in person from 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM and have chat available until 8:00 PM.

The Writing Center provides one-on-one help with writing. They can assist with grammar and syntax, as well as setting up a writing schedule. Check out their webpage to set up an appointment in person or online.

TRIO is a holistic support system that allows networking opportunities as well as additional institutional support. TRIO goals are to assist, retain, and graduate participants each year. The program includes much of the above programs, but in one place:

• Academic advising

• Career and personal support

• Computer study area in the SSS office

• Cultural activities and events

• Financial aid and financial literacy assistance

• Transfer advising

• Tutoring and study groups

• Informational workshops

You need to apply to be a part of TRIO. To apply call (708) 709-7945, or make an appointment on QLess.

Personal Counseling If you are struggling with something less concrete than homework, PSC has counselors. People ask for help for all kinds of problems, and whatever you are struggling with, you don’t need to go at it alone. Our counselors are trained professionals who have heard it all. Remember that if you are in immediate danger, go to the emergency room.

PSC is here with personalized help when you need it. We want you to succeed, even during these strange and difficult times. You aren’t bothering the librarian with your research question; we love this stuff! The math tutor just wants you to love quadratic equations half as much as they do. (I Googled that!) The writing tutor will help you create the perfect turn of phrase. We are here; all you have to do is ask. 

The burkean parlor

As you move through your program, you will complete assignments along the way. Your schoolwork—your scholarship —is all part of the ongoing conversation in your discipline and profession. Even if you don’t have your degree yet, you are contributing to the body of work with your assignments.

In academic terms, Kenneth Burke called this the “Unending Conversation.” The Burkean Parlor is a metaphor used to help us understand our place in our disciplines. Burke asks us to imagine entering a parlor, a party, a conference, or a café. The people you see are having an intense conversation, and they’re so passionate they can’t fill you in on what has already been said. So, you listen for a while, understand what the different positions and ideas are, and feel comfortable jumping in. Throughout this time, Some people join the conversation; others leave. Eventually you get tired, and you too depart. The conversation continues.

Your time at PSC helps you enter that Unending Conversation, or Burkean Parlor. Participating in your courses is the most important way to understand the discipline; and there are many other opportunities that strengthen your position. Check out these additional ideas below, and share with us your suggestions in the comments below for building connections in your profession.

Join a student group
Prairie State College has a number of student organizations, tailored for different interests. Examples include Nursing Club, Pioneer Newspaper, and STEM Club to name a few. You’ll get the chance to bond with students and PSC faculty who have similar interests and meet others outside of your classes. These groups can also serve as a support group. Who else knows what you are going through than those in your cohort?

You can learn more about these clubs on Student Life’s Clubs Page. It is okay if there isn’t a club that perfectly aligns with your major. Clubs that tangentially fit interests and hobbies also offer an opportunity for comradery. For example, your coursework as an English Major is plenty applicable to the newspaper. Drama Club can teach you to think on your feet, which is invaluable in a number of (seemingly) unrelated fields. Don’t see a club you care to join? The above web page lists instructions to start your own. 

Join a professional organization
You don’t need a degree to join a professional organization, and many offer student rates for memberships. For example, I joined the Special Libraries Association at the student rate while I was still in school for my library science degree. I was able to attend all events, including networking ones where I made professional contacts. I also joined a great group of people who have been nothing but supportive as I went from student, to job hunter, to working librarian. Bear in mind that many organizations are meeting remotely, so if there isn’t a chapter close to home, that may not be a barrier to entry.

There are a few different ways to find professional organizations. While this website is limited, it is a good starting point to search for organizations in your area:
https://www.careeronestop.org/Toolkit/Training/find-professional-associations.aspx

The best option is to meet with the Career Services Office to talk through potential careers and their accompanying professional organizations. They can also help you find a career if you are unsure what is next. 

Publish
You don’t need a degree or to be a famous author to publish. In fact, there are many publications specifically for undergraduate research and writing!  For example, Queen City Writers showcases research from English classes—and some of our own PSC graduates have had their Composition II essays published here. MarSci publishes undergraduate research focused on marine and aquatic sciences, just like you might complete in a Biology class at PSC. Other opportunities include presenting papers, or posters. A poster session is a presentation of original research that can fit on a large poster. Many academic conferences have poster sessions for students, like the LOEX Conference Poster Sessions, which is for library science students. If you’re proud of your academic work and are interested in sharing it with a broader audience, chat with your professors and your librarians. We’re happy to strategize together. 

Find a work study or other job that relates to your major (even if tangentially)
Not every job will fit into a career arc, and sometimes you just need a paycheck. Every so often, though, you’ll have the chance to work in your field even before a degree.

Work study
Did you know you can get a paying position on campus that accommodates your schedule? Paid positions are available as part of the work-study program through the Financial Aid office. A work study position is part of the Federal Work-Study Program and is a part-time position on campus for students with financial need. Read more about the different forms of Financial Aid- which include Work-Study on the Financial Aid Department’s website. It will include steps to obtain a position.

Finding transferable skills
Wherever you currently work, you will gain transferable skills. Everyone starts somewhere, and that’s okay. While you are a student, take a look at some job postings for your dream job. It doesn’t matter if you are qualified for it or not, since the goal isn’t to apply for the position, but to see what skills are desirable. Make a list of the ones you can reasonably learn in any position.

If you are currently working, then make a list of all of the tasks that translate into necessary skills for your dream job. If you aren’t working, look at postings for your dream job, and then search for jobs that meet your current qualifications and allow you
to build those skills, even if in a different industry. The Career Services Office can help you with this process too.

While still in school I looked at librarian job descriptions to see what skills were desirable. Then I looked for student friendly jobs that incorporated those exact skills.
Remember, it doesn’t matter if you have the qualifications for these job postings while you peruse. This is a chance to see what skills can get you to a position like this one.

Wrapping it up
My years of retail work prepared me for the customer service portion of my job. Your time at a bakery can help show how detail oriented you are. Learning to work with difficult customers can demonstrate your empathy and patience. Your work on an assembly line helped you better understand how one production process fits into a larger whole. Take these experiences and fit them into the larger story of your career. Your current paid work and scholarship will make you a whole person and even better prepared for the ongoing conversation of your career.  

Nordquist, Richard. (2020, August 27). What is the Burkean Parlor? Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-burkean-parlor-1689042

How to Unwind after Finals

You’ve finished your exams, turned in your papers, but now what? Finals are stressful and how do you unwind after running on fumes so that you aren’t exhausted when the next semester starts?

First, take care of your basic needs-
Have you been getting enough sleep? Eating enough? Drinking water? Take care of your most basic needs, which for many of you will probably start with getting a good night’s sleep. It sounds silly, but you’ll be in a better headspace once you do and contrary to popular belief- you can’t sleep when you are dead.

Do all of those things for your health you put off. For example, have you gotten your COVID-19 vaccine or booster? Have you been to the dentist lately? Take a few minutes and schedule these appointments so that you know they will get done.

Treat Yourself–
It is a pandemic, so we don’t encourage you to go to a club, held in a poorly ventilated basement, with 100 of your friends. Your celebration may need to be more low-key, and that’s okay. You can celebrate by baking. It can be watching hours and hours of Netflix until you get this message:

It could be taking a hot bath. Insert any activity you love but haven’t had time to do during the semester.

These are simple, and frankly, cheap ways to exhale and celebrate a job well done. Actually put the time on your calendar, or pay for a reservation to hold your slot for your haircut, massage, or anything else to ensure that you don’t skip this celebration. You’ve worked hard.

Don’t worry about your grade, but do thank your professors-
Professors are really touched when students reach out to say thank you. A quick email is plenty and will make their week.

To reiterate:  take care of your basic needs, find time for celebration, send a thank you note, and rest up because the spring semester is coming!