Although I grew up in Rhode Island, I have been fortuate enough to travel throughout the United States, and have lived in South America and Europe. My most memorable time abroad was spent in Cartagena, Colombia at Colegio Jorge Washington during my senior year at Narragansett High School. I spent three months with a Colombian family, going to school with their children and travelling within the country. It was the first time that I had experienced being the "minority," and living in a foreign country made a huge impact on how I view the world. I knew from that moment on, that no matter what my future held, I would embrace multiculturalism.
I attended Plymouth State College right out of high school, but I mainly concentrated on down hill skiing and spent most of my freshman year at Waterville Valley Ski Resort. After growng up a bit, livng on my own and working, it was apparent that I would have to go back to school to achieve my goals. I graduated from URI in 1995 with a degree in Political Science, and a minor in English. While an undergraduate I was very active with the Newman Club on campus and volunteered with the underserved population of Providence, RI and the Bronx, NY.
After graduating from URI in 1995, I met my husband, Joe, and we started a family. I worked part-time, teaching kindergarten, coordinating activites at the YMCA and substituting in the public schools. It was difficult to find the "right" job that matched my skills and interest. Then I saw what librarianship had to offer: community involvement, instruction, and programming. I felt that I had finally found a career that inspired me and challenged me - a career I could be passionately involved in for a very long time. As I sent my youngest child on the kindergarten bus; I made the decision to go back to school.
I feel proud and fortunate to be one of the PRISM scholars in URI's GSLIS program. The Information Literacy Instruction and required internship are rigoruosly preparing me for a position in public or academic libraianship.
In the summer of 2007 I was chosen to tutor Talent Development students during their intense 6 week "Pre-Matriculation" sessions at URI. I met students from Nigeria, Rwanda, Haiti, the Domenican Republic, and other Carribean nations. All the students were so eager and enhusiastic to be headed for college - it was a great experience and I hope to do it again next summer!