Author: ISSA

The final spotlight in our Summer Spotlight series is on Tessa Biesterfield! Tessa is entering her second year in the MI program and offers great insight into student life. Thanks to Alysha, Ramina, Kellie, and Tessa for contributing blog posts for this series. We hope you enjoyed getting to know a few of our SIM students and look forward to welcoming our new cohort of students at our fall Orientation Week! Keep visiting us at our website for more information on the exciting programming and events we have lined up for the 2022/23 year!

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Hi folks! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer – I know I have! I am excited to soon be starting my second year at SIM, but I can’t believe how fast this summer is flying by.

Are you working/volunteering anywhere this summer?

I have been working on a few different research projects this summer. One for a family member writing a book, one for a friend doing her PhD in Biology at Dalhousie, and one with a group of SIM students helping faculty at the School of Public Administration with some research. However, I do have a full-time job this summer doing database management for Dalhousie’s Human Rights and Equity Services department. It has been great to put so many of the things I learned in first year to practical use – controlled vocabulary, creating database views, Boolean operators, as well as some privacy practices. While the subject matter of the work I do can be heavy at times, it feels great to be contributing something meaningful to my new community at Dalhousie. Everywhere there is information to be managed, and it feels good to help my community, friends, and family with the skills that I am learning at SIM.

What is your favorite summer activity? Or your favourite Halifax activity? 

I only moved to Halifax just last autumn, and I am still getting to know the city! There has been a lot going on this summer – free concerts, local festivals, and the waterfront is always busy. There are beer gardens, ice cream stands – one of my favourite places to get a snack is Chunchung Rice Dogs by Citadel Hill. They come on a stick and you can pick whatever toppings you want. Picking up a rice dog or an ice cream cone and walking around downtown is a nice treat for me at the end of a workday or as a break. I also live close to the public gardens, and love to take a few minutes to have a snack on a park bench or to wander around and smell the roses. 

As much as I enjoy living downtown, I love to get out of the city when I can. There are so many lovely trails close to Halifax – Long Lake Provincial Park, Chain of Lakes Trail, and Hemlock Ravine Park are all close by. After spending so much time reading or doing work online, sometimes nothing is more satisfying to me than getting a breath of fresh air for a couple of hours. Sometimes I go by myself, or with friends, or I’ll take my dogs with me. 

What is your favorite summer activity? Or your favourite Halifax activity?

This is my first full summer in Halifax and a good wander around the city lets you find so many fun little festivals and events. I’ve enjoyed spending time with friends exploring Halifax and the HRM. One of my quirks is that I love being near water and Halifax easily delivers when I feel the need to sit, sketch or read by the water.

Are you working/volunteering anywhere this summer? Tell us a bit about your role and what you like most about your position!

I’ve landed into a mixed bag of things to keep me busy for the summer. I have been doing a reading course for my thesis, working as a research assistant for some SIM faculty and working for the Political Science department and the Centre for the Study of Security and Development as a student assistant. I’m researching a bunch of interesting topics while being able to connect with new departments and learn about the behind-the-scenes operations of the university.

What are you most looking forward to this coming school year? (E.g. any courses or subjects you’re interested in diving into, etc.)

I’m so excited to finally be officially starting my thesis! I’ve done so much prep work leading up to it for next year (and it’s evolved into almost a whole new thing the last couple of months) that I am ready to get the project started. For the couple of classes I am taking, I’m excited to be taking more technical, specialized courses and diving into privacy and ethics on the side. I’m also preparing to take the CIPP/C certification and potentially the Records and Information Management certification through ARMA to compliment my degree.

Do you have any words of wisdom/encouragement for new students starting in the fall?

Don’t be afraid to try new things and don’t let the idea of failure prevent you from trying them. Now is the time to research a new topic or learn a new skill – especially in an environment that is so supportive of students exploring their own interests. Even topics or skills you might not think you will ever need are valuable, being able to adapt your skillset is so useful for anything you can encounter down the road. 

Our second summer student spotlight is on Ramina Mukundan! 

Ramina is entering her second year in the MI program and is currently working at the University of Calgary Taylor Family Digital Library. We caught up with Ramina to hear how she has been keeping busy this summer. She has shared pictures of her time out west, and provides insight into her work with OER. Thank you Ramina and we look forward to seeing you back in Halifax for the fall semester!

What is your favorite summer activity? Or your favourite Halifax activity? Are you working/volunteering anywhere this summer? Tell us a bit about your role and what you like most about your position!

I am spending summer 2022 in Calgary, Alberta, working as an Open Education Resource Co-op Student Librarian at the University of Calgary Taylor Family Digital Library. I work with my Teammate Sarah Adams the UCalgary OER Librarian, a recent graduate from the McGill university with a lot of experience and enthusiasm for open publishing platforms with her past work experience in Pressbooks. We are working on publishing an OER by Discipline Guide for the University of Calgary, which will be published shortly in July. 

My manager James Murphy, the Librarian at the Schulich School of Engineering, is an active OER team member at UCalgary. He provides me opportunities to visit the UCalgary Archives and Rare Books collections, the Art gallery in the TFDL, and the LabNext at the UCalgary library, where they have the maker space, 3D printing units, etc. I work with my teammate Sarah at a unit called the Spatial and Numeric Data center. TFDL has a High-density storage library at a different location with over 8 million collections, and I will be visiting this library in mid-July. 

I have made a few new friends at the University residence, where I met and interacted with several international exchange students from all over the world who are here to work at the various UCalgary labs and research units during the summer. I went hiking in the Rocky Mountains on weekends with my new friends. I also went sightseeing Calgary while enjoying the sun and the rain along with the beautiful spring blooms and the Calgary mountains and valleys. I am also looking forward to participating in the Calgary Stampede from July 8th to 17th, a regional event hosted in Calgary.

Do you have any words of wisdom/encouragement for new students starting in the fall?

For the freshers at SIM, all I would like to say is that you are at a great place. Value your time at SIM and make good connections. While you focus on your programme with dedication, these two years you will cherish for a lifetime. Good luck in your studies and all your ventures. 

Happy summer, everyone! 

As we approach midway through the summer semester, many SIM students are engaging in program courses offered this term. Others are working in internships, summer positions, and volunteer roles. We will be highlighting four current SIM students over the next few months to catch up with how they’re making the most of their summer!

Our first student spotlight is on Alysha Try who is entering her second year in the MI program. Many thanks to Alysha for sharing a bit about her summer and her experiences at SIM! We hope you enjoy getting to know our students through these summer spotlights.

What is your favorite summer activity? Or your favourite Halifax activity?

I love going for summer walks and absorbing all that Vitamin D (can’t forget the sunscreen, though). This is my first summer in Halifax, and I’m astounded with all the beautiful, lush greenery. I’ve really been enjoying getting to know the South End better. 

Are you working/volunteering anywhere this summer? Tell us a bit about your role and what you like most about your position!

I am currently working at the Patrick Power Library at Saint Mary’s University (SMU) for the summer. In this role, I work 50% in research reference services and 50% in information literacy. What I like the most so far is the community at SMU; I’m lucky to work with some wonderful library staff in a student-focused environment. I’m learning a lot!

What are you most looking forward to this coming school year? (E.g. any courses or subjects you are interested in diving into, etc.)

I enjoyed my first year of grad school, but I think second year will be even better since there is more flexibility in our choice of courses. I’ve decided to focus on obtaining the librarianship certificate while harnessing my passion for community-building and social justice. In terms of courses, I think I’m most excited for Culture of Privacy, Cataloguing, and Community Led Services. I’m also very excited for the return of the Information Without Borders (IWB) Conference this year! 

Do you have any words of wisdom/encouragement for new students starting in the fall?

My number one piece of advice is: take care of yourself. Busyness in a professional Master’s program is to be expected, but if you’re here, you are probably already an overachiever. To the best of your ability, budget enough time for rest and also fun – getting to know the people in a very welcoming community like SIM’s has been the most rewarding part of grad school so far!