Getting to know you

Dear LIS 7850 Classmates,

Greetings! My name is Courtney Diputado, and I was born and raised in San Francsico, CA. I currently reside in East Contra Costa County (part of the San Francisco Bay Area) and work as a library assistant for the Contra Costa County Library. I graduated from La Sierra University in Riverside, CA with a BA in English: Literature. This is my second-to-last semester as an online student at Wayne State University, and I am very excited at the prospect of graduating in June 2013. While my work experience is based in public librarianship and my MLIS degree has no specialization, my career goal is to work as an academic librarian at a community college. My immediate career goal post-graduation: find a full-time job (ha!).

As someone who assists individuals of all backgrounds, ages, and abilities at the public library on a daily basis, and yet has minimal training in accessibility for all - my first and last library accessibility training was five years ago during new employee orientation - I hope this class will help fill the gaping holes in my knowledge of universal access so I can provide better customer service to all library patrons. Sometimes I feel uncomfortable helping patrons with disabilities, not because I'm afraid of their disability, but due to the fact that I lack the knowledge to fully understand their disability and am likely to provide inadequate assistance as a result. 

Moving on to group projects: if you need a hard-working, reliable teammate, call me - I'll take on any task, will communicate with the group regularly, and am fairly flexible with online meeting times. I prefer reliable, easygoing, and communicative teammates. Nearly every LIS course I've taken so far required at least one group project, and at this stage of the program I have a good idea of what works and what doesn't work in a group project.

Outside of school and work, I am a part-time Zumba® fitness instructor, and am licensed to teach Aqua Zumba®, Zumbatomic®, and Zumba® Toning. I have been teaching for almost a year, and I love every minute of it. On occasion, I use the word "hella." When time permits, I play video games and read manga. I like Hello Kitty (nay, I am obsessed with all things Hello Kitty) and the San Francisco Giants. I am convinced that every problem and life situation can be solved with pizza.

Looking forward to working and interacting with all of you this semester!

Courtney