Best day ever

I love my job, no really I am so lucky, for the majority of my working life I have absolutely adored my job. Now don't get me wrong there have been very low moments, you simply cant go through working life without having them. But I cant say there is any job i have done that I havent adored.

I work as a librarian and its mostly been in Higher Education. Not bad for someone who got thrown out of library school in 1984 😊ach its was my own fault, I was partying too hard was scared and felt totally out of my depth. But it wasn't helped by the fact that we had a dragon of a librarian, god that woman was horrible, really horrible. I often wonder if she had been nicer if that would have made a difference. I think it might have.

Anyhoo flash forward 30 odd years and this happens!!!!!

Every year our students association hold the STAR awards, the students nominate lecturers and Professional services staff who they feel have gone out of their way to help them. Ive been nominated 3 times before and honestly the nomination itself feels like you have won, just the fact that a student has gone out of their way to write and nominate you is amazing. They have to provide some justification of why they nominate you so its not just a tick box.

I went along with a lovely group of lecturers and when this category I was down for came up the Student President started to read out some of the feedback. Some of it mentioned referencing and tweeting when the snow storms were here. The table I was at, the lecturers looked at me and said “its you Sheila its you!” and then this came up!!!!!!

By this time I was shaking and tears were rolling down my cheeks, what a daft auld librarian eh? But one of the pieces of feedback was – “sheila never makes you feel like any question is stupid” and that got me, that took me back to my 19 year old self  with the dragon of a librarian who made me feel soooooooooo stupid and unwelcome in the library.

YA BOO SUCKS TO YOU MARY WOOD!!!!!!

Sorry but that felt good. I swore as soon as I eventually got my library degree many years later that I would never let any student feel the way I was made to feel and this award did that.

I have to laugh, I was mortified and told the Student Union Managaress that I thought I had hugged the student president a bit too hard I was so over come. She messaged me this picture and said “ He was so hugging you right back!” Bless I adore working with the students, they really are what gets me up in the morning. That and quilting 😊