the Black Female Librarian

Who am I?

March 8, 2024

I’m just a Jersey girl living in Maryland. I will always be a Jersey girl. That is where my family lives (even though I left at 17 to go to college in Maryland). I began teaching in 1996. I know it sounds cliche, but it feels like just yesterday. Twenty-eight years later, I’m looking at my next adventure in education. I was a 22-year-old rookie, Business Education teacher, and in 22 years, I became a Library Media Specialist. Yes, a librarian and yes, we need a master’s degree. I have two. With an ADHD diagnosis at 50, I always knew there was a reason I struggled with organization (Right, I was just talking about my master’s degrees and turned on to ADHD boulevard). Thankfully, I am also an Aquarius, which made me an overthinking, problem solver. When I struggled to organize papers. I came up with a system. When I struggled to keep up with graded assignments, I created a strategy. When I did not get the assessment data results, I expected, I taught differently. I became a great teacher but didn’t start off that way. I changed my major twice before deciding to go into education. I don’t regret it, because it became part of my story and part of my journey to teaching.

How did I become a teacher? One conversation, with one girl, in one college business class made me start taking education classes. I don’t remember her name or which class it was, but she changed the trajectory of my life. If I stayed an accounting major or Information Systems major, I would be making a lot more money. I did not have a teacher like me to make me stay, to make me try to learn, and to make to realize that I could do better. I try to be what I did not have. I don’t blame the teachers; I blame the ADHD. I know now that I needed to be interested and self-motivated to learn. Lecturing wasn’t going to get me to that point. I didn’t know this at the time. I thought, I just wasn’t as smart when it came to Accounting and Computers. How could I think this? I was an A student in HS Calculus. My mom wanted me to be an engineer. Of course, I didn’t listen. My sister was an Accountant and I was good at math. I learned the hard way that Accounting is not only math. Ironically, a couple of years into teaching, I became the resident HS Accounting and Information Systems Management teacher. I became good at producing college Accounting majors and certifying students in computer certifications. Some of those students would later contact me to help them with their first college Accounting classes. I wish I could repeat Freshman and Sophomore years of college with my new found knowledge of business with me as the tutor.

At 44, I loved teaching business and I was good at it, so why did I become a Library Media Specialist? The current Library Media Specialist retired and I had a degree in Instructional Technology with a concentration in School Library Media. There were other reasons. The business program was no longer a magnet program because the district wanted to be equitable and offer this Career Pathway in all schools, not just a couple of schools. This made it difficult to recruit students to take one class, let alone 4 related courses. I also do not like programming. I am a software applications girl. I would have to eventually teach Computer Science if I stayed a Business Teacher. I feel this same way when I first started teacher Accounting but I was in my 20s. I did not realize I had a voice. I was now in my 40s and my voice was telling me that it was time for a change.

Six years later, it was the best decision I could have made. I love the autonomy of my days. I see 1400 students instead of just 150 students a year and the relationships that I build with students is more like a visiting auntie and less like a nagging mother. I also love research. I love learning. I love answers questions. I love looking for answer. I feel appreciated, but I would never have become as successful as a Library Media Specialist without my career as a business teacher. I wore so many hats. In 28 years, I was a curriculum writer, a school leader, a department chair, a professional development teacher, a mentor, a web designer, an student advisor, an Advanced Placement Coordinator, a scheduler, and technology liaison, and a technical trainer.

I think this blog is going to be about my road to retirement, my what’s next, my ADHD journey, my love of local Baltimore food, my love of learning, and how to find a way to put me first. Stay tuned.