My experience working for the Department of Special Collections & Archives was great. I really enjoyed working for the department on campus. But working from home was an adjustment, along with working on my time management. Unfortunately, it has been very hard for me to keep focused and get work done while at home. Supervisory Archivist Jodi Boyle has been very helpful with walking me through this process, which I greatly appreciate. Although I have not been able to completely explore the department, I would like to see more collections from historical Black figures. I am currently working on a minor in Africana Studies and would love to have the opportunity to study the works of historical Black figures that could possibly be featured in the department in the near future.

At times it became very challenging to juggle archive work and schoolwork while also dealing with the affects of the pandemic. Nonetheless I was able to set time aside to complete certain tasks, including my assigned review of the department website for any updates. Although I did not find much to be fixed on the website, it was very cool to navigate through. I learned a lot about the history of the university and learned about what the archive department has to offer. Due to the possibility of having another remote semester I can see myself working for the department next semester.

I would like to thank Special Collections Cataloging Coordinator Nancy and Jodi for welcoming me into the department with open arms and guidance. Working with Nancy on a books and cataloging project opened my eyes to the amount of work that goes into keeping the department organized and easy to navigate. I really enjoyed coming to work every day and being able to work so closely with rare historical books and documents. All in all, I had a great experience working with the department this semester.