Oh, By the Way...

 Did I mention I got a job as an archivist?  I didn’t?  Oh.  Well, as of March 5, I have been employed as a temporary, part-time manuscripts processor at a local university.  Yesterday, I got my first paycheck from that gig, and it felt pretty darn sweet, maybe more so because my spirits had been flagging as of late.  

 You see, as the holidays approached in 2011, I decided to shelve my efforts to actively hunt for a job as a librarian or an archivist.  I graduated in 2009, and both the economic climate and my lack of experience left me treading water, unsuccessfully sending out resume after resume.  I wanted to face the New Year rested and my mind free of rejection. 

 Thanksgiving passed, and I had successfully eliminated the anxiety of what I was beginning to feel as wasting my time.  Instead, I stayed busy setting personal goals, spending time with my family, and indulging in too many sweets.  My mind was clear, even of plans to restart the search in 2012.  So, when an email came my way at the end of December from the university archivist where I interned two years before asking me if I was interested in an opportunity to process a collection, it was a complete surprise.  However, it took no thought to reply, “Well, yeah.”

We met a week or two later to go over the collection, the identity of which I guessed by reviewing their News and Announcements section on their website that discussed recent acquisitions.  After she showed me the extent of the collection, pointed out that processing had already begun with the previous intermittent archivist, and indicated that funding was not yet guaranteed, she asked if I still wanted the job.  No, my mind had not changed.

            

 I left the university very excited and anxious to start.  Unfortunately, it literally took weeks to get an answer on funding, which dimmed that excitement and had thoughts of funding falling through plaguing my days.  Finally, I got the confirmation that I could start filling out the employment paperwork.  I didn’t waste any time crossing my “T’s” and dotting my “I’s”, and within a few days I was on campus picking up my ID badge.  When I went into the office to do so, the young man behind the counter asked if I was student or faculty.  Of course, I said, “Faculty.”  Favorite answer ever.

             

The next few posts will discuss the work (in oblique terms since I don’t want to deal in specifics here) and what I’ve learned both about the profession and myself as an archivist.  Seriously, colleagues (I have colleagues!) have called me an archivist.  That’s pretty awesome.