Hilda C. Landers Library & Archives

For senior Psych major and Ed Studies minor Stephanie Schindler, the right college experience ended up being a lot closer to home than she ever thought.

A Maryland native, Stephanie grew up in Mechanicsville – at the north end of St. Mary’s County – in a house her family built right next to her dad’s childhood home. After attending private Catholic schools through K-12, including high school at St. Mary’s Ryken, when it came time to look for colleges, her mom only had one rule: it had to be an in-state school. Stephanie visited a few Maryland schools that just didn’t feel like the right fit, including Salisbury University, which she describes as “too big.” However, when she visited St. Mary’s as a prospective student, something clicked. Stephanie was drawn in by the small size, which created a comfortable atmosphere that reminded her of Ryken. Receiving a full scholarship sealed the deal; according to Stephanie, it felt like “St. Mary’s chose me.”

She didn’t always have her sights set on a Psychology major, though. As a first year student, Stephanie was planning to do a student designed Biology and Environmental Studies major (back before there was an official ENST major), but she realized during the first semester of Principles of Biology that a Bio/ENST major wasn’t for her. Despite not being very interested in Psychology class in high school, after taking Psych 101 in the Spring of her first year at St. Mary’s, Stephanie was hooked! Fast forward a few years later, and Stephanie has been inducted as a member of Psi Chi (the Psychology honors society) and has completed her Senior Seminar project in Psychology, focusing on new religious movements (like Scientology) and investigating how they view mental health and how these views affect the mental health of their followers.

Stephanie has worked in the Library since the fall of her Junior year. While searching for an on-campus job, one of her friends, who was already working in the Library, recommended that Stephanie apply. While she enjoys working in the Library environment and getting to help people use the Library, one of Stephanie’s favorite parts of her job is finding misshelved books that have been designated missing or lost. Since beginning her job, Stephanie has found 15 books that were considered missing or lost but were simply shelved in the wrong place! Though she has a knack for finding these misplaced books, Stephanie still wants to encourage everyone not to put books back at random places on the shelves. (Editor’s note: you can put books you don’t want to check out on any cart on the first or second floor.)

In addition to working at the Library, Stephanie has been involved with a number of clubs on campus including acting as a Peer Health Educator, living in the Women in Science House Living & Learning Community (WISH), serving as President of Circle K, and participating in many Sustainability Club events.

Looking forward, Stephanie is interested in pursuing a career as a Special Education teacher. After graduation, she plans on getting a MAT focused on Special Ed from Notre Dame of Maryland University, and in the meantime you may find her substitute teaching in the Southern Maryland public school system in the Spring.

For senior Anthropology major and Museum Studies minor Sam Sisay, working at the Circulation Desk in the SMCM Library, Archives & Media Center is more than just a job. It’s also a great opportunity (from an anthropological point of view, of course) to observe people and gain a unique perspective as they use the library.

A self-described nerd and crochet enthusiast who loves the color pink, Sam was born in D.C., grew up in Silver Spring, and currently calls Hyattsville home. Though she was accepted to St. Mary’s out of high school, she attended both Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC, and Montgomery College before finally transferring to SMCM in 2014. Having always been attracted to small schools, the beautiful and welcoming campus struck Sam as “a place I could be at.”

As a kid, Sam loved going to the museums in D.C. with her dad – especially the Museum of Natural History. Combined with the fact that she has always been interested in learning about the cultures of other people, studying Anthropology and Museum Studies was the perfect fit. But it was actually the television show Bones that put anthropology on Sam’s radar. When she learned it was inspired by a real life forensic anthropologist, she became interested in learning more. In Spring of 2018, she plans to complete a Senior Tutorial for her capstone experience. At the time of the interview, Sam was still pondering her options for project.

Sam began working at the LAMC her first year at St. Mary’s. Having volunteered in libraries before, she knew she like the environment and it was a perfect fit as a work study job. Her favorite things about working in the LAMC are the people she works with, interacting with the students who come in for help, and of course, all the good people watching! Due to her exceptional work these past years, Sam has now moved into the Saturday closer position. In this position she is responsible for building closing procedures on Saturday evenings, as well as supervising other LAMC student employees during her shift.

When it comes to post SMCM plans Sam doesn’t have anything concrete at the moment, and plans on taking things one day at a time.

Allison Holtzman has been working at the Library for a while now. The senior English major, with minors in Philosophy and Spanish, has been serving the SMCM community as a Circulation student employee since her sophomore year.

Originally from Parkville, Maryland, Allison came to St. Mary’s in part because her older brother was an SMCM student at the time (class of 2015). Though the family connection helped, ultimately Allison selected St. Mary’s thanks to the beautiful natural setting.

Studying abroad during her Junior year, Allison was able to work toward her goal of becoming fluent in Spanish in the picturesque surroundings of Granada, Spain. There, Allison was able to fully embrace her dual desires for a calm and relaxing natural environment and the vibrant culture that comes with city life. In Granada, she was able to enjoy the perks of city living, while also being able to explore the beautiful countryside just outside the city limits.

As someone with a variety of interests, Allison’s academic work at St. Mary’s reflects her curiosity. In addition to gaining important writing and communication skills, she enjoys learning about and discussing critical theories surrounding ethics, race, gender, feminism, and Marxism – concepts introduced through her studies in English and Philosophy. Allison plans to complete an SMP through the English department exploring how slam and spoken word poetry act as a means of resistance by interviewing feminist poets at the forefront of the movements in Baltimore, MD and Ferguson, MO.

The family connection came into play again when it was time to find a campus job. Allison’s brother was also a Circulation student employee during his time at SMCM, and recommended Allison to Linda Russell, the Daytime Circulation Supervisor. When at the Library, Allison’s favorite thing about her job is shelving the books. The meditative activity requires a focus and attention to detail that she finds very calming. On top of the relaxing aspect of shelving the books, Allison enjoys learning about the books in the Library as she puts them away.

After graduation, Allison plans on eventually going to grad school for a Masters in Social Work while working in Baltimore. Long term, she would like to live in New York City, which would be ideal for Allison, with it’s melting pot of cultures and combination of city life and culture and parks and green spaces.

The SMCM Library, Archive & Media Center Student Employee Class of 2017 had the opportunity to select a book from the collection that was meaningful to them during their time at St. Mary’s. They then posed for a portrait with that book and shared a bit about why it’s important to them.
Not pictured:
Mariam Adeyemo; Biology, major; WGSX, minor
Matthew Riedel; History & Religious Studies, major
Ian Scribner; Computer Science, major; Mathematics, minor
Gabe York; Chemistry, major

 

If you’ve spend any time in the Media Center lab on the third-floor of the Library, chances are good you already know Jazzie Gray.

Originally from Baltimore, Jazzie grew up all over the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, living in North Carolina and Virginia before moving back to Baltimore to finish high school. St. Mary’s wasn’t on Jazzie’s radar when initially looking for colleges (she was looking at her “dream schools,” like NYU), but came to SMCM after learning about it from her Aunt. She credits living in rural North Carolina as a kid with helping her acclimate to campus life here, where she has made friends in many different social groups and student clubs including BSU, Burlesque, and Latinos Unidos.

As a senior Anthropology major, Jazzie’s capstone project analyses how women of color are represented (and misrepresented) in media, through the lens of the top 25 highest rated television shows of all time. In addition, she’s working on an independent oral history project interviewing persons of color and persons of other among students, faculty, and staff on the SMCM campus. Created in reaction to the racist incidents on campus in 2016, this project will record the voices of people who are often not heard on campus and publicize their experiences, which are often overlooked. Jazzie plans to project these interviews on the side of different academic buildings around campus.

Jazzie began working at the Media Center in the summer of her first year. After seeing the Media Center on a tour as a part of the DeSousa-Brent Scholars program, got the job thanks in part to her honest resume that included items like “part-environmentalist” and “pretty good whistler” to make us for limited job experience. Her favorite thing about working at the Media Center is all the free donut Justin and Raven bring in! But on top of all the free donuts, by working at the Media Center Jazzie has gained technical software skills and honed her communication skills through working with all the different students, faculty, and staff that come to the MC. On any given shift, you can find her teaching students how to use the software and equipment, or singing and dancing.

Post-graduation, Jazzie is looking for a job where she can apply all the knowledge and skills gained in her career at St. Mary’s. An ideal job would draw not only on her Anthropology degree, but also the technical and teaching skills learned at the Media Center, and the interpersonal skills gained through her involvement with many student clubs over the years. Eventually, Jazzie would like to go to grad school and work in a cross-cultural studies field, but right now she’s focused on the post-SMCM job search.

Senior Maggie Foust is a familiar face at the SMCM Library circulation desk.

Growing up in both College Park and Annapolis (right on the water!), Maggie came to SMCM as an alternative to the large state schools too close to home. (And it didn’t hurt that she had older friends who were already St. Mary’s students.) Despite growing up on the water, the river setting wasn’t a draw for Maggie, who prefers to look at the water but doesn’t enjoy doing “water things.”

As a Film and Media Studies major, with an English minor, Maggie is currently finishing an SMP creating a podcast series that looks at female sexuality in horror, drama, and teen films, with all episodes posted on SoundCloud. Maggie was drawn to film studies not just because she likes movies, but because she believes it’s important to critically analyze what you like and understand why you enjoy it and to be more observant and understanding of the world around you.

If you’ve been to the library at all in the last three years, you’ve probably received Maggie’s enthusiastic help at the circulation desk, where she’s worked since the first semester of her sophomore year. Knowing people who already worked at the circulation desk, when she needed a job it was an easy decision where to apply. Her favorite part of working here? Getting to work with the “nicest people in the world.” Maggie also appreciates how caring her supervisor and coworkers are, how they’re there for each other and how they work together to accommodate and cover for each other when someone is sick.

Maggie will continue in the library field, having participated in a microinternship program this winter. Working with an SMCM alum at the Anne Arundel Public Library Headquarters sparked an interest in Outreach Librarianship in public libraries. Maggie enjoys the overlap between social work and librarianship when it comes to being on the ground and working in and with communities. She’ll pursue that passion in library school; after being accepted to both Simmons and Drexel, she will start a Library Science master’s program this fall at Simmons in Boston.