600_edited.png)
Balancing Full Time Work and a Professional Master’s Degree: Renee on Librarianship, Learning Design, and Student Support
- Another Degree
- Mar 24
- 12 min read
Updated: Mar 26
Librarians are essential to the research and instructional enterprise. They are stewards of information, media, and artifacts. They support students, faculty, and researchers, and they strengthen learning and knowledge creation through thoughtful information systems design, sourcing primary and secondary materials, teaching, and consulting. (In my dissertating days I was always impressed by a librarian’s ability to quickly locate and scan obscure eighteenth and nineteenth century materials that were not listed in common databases and were not even in English!) I have no doubt that their role will only become more important as artificial intelligence gives us powerful tools for creating, organizing, and synthesizing information, while demanding strong and up to date skills in information literacy and educational technologies.
This is why I am thrilled to have librarians as part of Another Degree, supporting graduate school applicants, researchers, and anyone exploring the MLIS or a career in librarianship. It is a field that offers a meaningful path for people with wide ranging academic interests, just like Renee.
You may already know Renee from her popular Another Degree blog post and YouTube video on soft skills and the deeper qualities that shape success in graduate school and early careers. Her own path reflects that same blend of resilience and adaptability. After a heartbreaking administrative error cost her a fully-funded spot studying biology at Cal Poly Pomona, she rebuilt her academic trajectory through community college, transferred to UCLA for English and Digital Humanities, and later completed her MLIS (Master of Library & Information Science) while working full time.
With more than a decade of experience at UCLA Library spanning instructional design, science librarianship, and student centered program development, Renee brings deep expertise and genuine empathy to her mentoring. She is also the co creator of WI+RE, a "a learner-led community focused on helping everyone succeed in their writing and research projects." I encourage any researcher or instructor to explore WI+RE's free online workshops and tutorials and have used them regularly with my students and mentees. In this interview, Renee shares what she learned from graduate school, how she balanced full time work with an MLIS program, and why librarianship can be such a powerful fit for people with diverse academic passions.
Through Another Degree, Renee supports individuals with personalized graduate school admissions guidance, she provides structured thesis and dissertation coaching for undergraduate and graduate students, and she offers professional editing services and career guidance.
She is also available to support institutional partnerships and program development with customized courses, workshops, and student support. Read more about our offerings for institutional partners here: https://www.anotherdegree.com/vision-and-partnerships.
You can explore Renee's availability for booking or join her waitlist, and learn more on her biography page.
Q1: Did you always know post-graduate studies and your career path were in your future - or did your path unfold differently?
Renee: My path to graduate school was linear in many ways, while also still having some unexpected twists and turns. I first became interested in post-graduate studies due to my admiration for my parents. Both my mom and dad overcame significant life challenges to become first generation college students, and they both went on to get master’s degrees in their respective fields. Despite their extensive education, we rarely spoke in depth about higher education beyond stories of how they met and different social experiences they had. They never pressured me to follow in their footsteps, but rather encouraged me to forge my own path in life. Therefore, while attending graduate school was planted in my mind as a possibility at a young age, the idea did not grow into a true goal until later in life.
After high school I was accepted to Cal Poly Pomona to study biology on a full scholarship from the Kellogg Honors College. I was nervous and excited to start my undergraduate degree, and remember being full of jitters at orientation. However, my excitement was short-lived. I did not submit my final transcript in time due to a miscommunication that I had with my high school guidance counselor’s office, and my admission to Cal Poly was withdrawn the week before classes started. Needless to say, I was devastated.
After a time of deep sadness, I took the opportunity to really think about my life - where I was now, where I wanted to go, and what it would take for me to get there. After a lot of thought and some identity re-formation, I enrolled in community college. I loved community college and how I developed as a person and a learner. I became a better communicator and was able to explore more of the subjects I was interested in, joining the school’s literary magazine as the Poetry Editor and becoming a Psychology Tutor. While I have an interest in a variety of subjects, my three main academic loves are biology, english, and psychology. Of the three, pursuing an English degree offered me the most flexibility in career options that supported my life goals. I transferred to UCLA to obtain my B.A. in English with a Minor in Digital Humanities after obtaining my associate degrees.
By this time I had already realized that librarianship might be for me, and was surprised to find that most librarian positions required a master’s degree. I was delighted to have a practical reason to make post-graduate studies a true goal. During my undergraduate studies I interned in the Center for Primary Research and Training (a UCLA Library Special Collections program) to get real-world experience in a library setting. My internship helped me cement my decision to pursue librarianship, whether as a first career or a second career. After graduating with my B.A., I started working at UCLA Library as a Library Assistant. About one and a half years later, I became an Instructional Design and Technology Consultant in the same library. I liked working there so much that I decided to enroll in UCLA’s Master’s in Library and Information Science (MLIS) program and take advantage of the tuition assistance offered to UCLA employees who attend a UC school. I briefly considered the Ph.D. in Information Studies as I enjoy doing research, but ultimately decided against it as I did not require a Ph.D. for the professional positions I was most interested in pursuing. It took me a little longer to get my MLIS while working full-time (three years rather than two years), but it was worth it to gain practical experience alongside the theoretical curriculum of my program.
After graduating with my MLIS, I became a Science Librarian at UCLA, and worked in that position for several years. In total, I worked in the UCLA Library for over 10 years. Working in the library was an incredible experience, and developed my skill in editing, marketing, teaching, research, mentoring, outreach, and more. Sometimes I laugh at how UCLA-centric my early school and career life turned out, but I am grateful to not only have taken something from the school but also given something back. I now work as a mentor and freelance librarian and am excited to share all that I have learned from grad school and my career with mentees.
Q2: What’s something you loved about your graduate school experience?
Renee: My ultimate goal in going to graduate school was to obtain the credentialing that was required to be a librarian. However, I also had personal goals to learn more about the profession as a whole, deepen my knowledge of specialized areas of librarianship, and gain practical experience working in different library settings. I love that I was able to complete all of my personal goals in grad school.
My personal goal to learn more about the profession as a whole was satisfied by the core courses of my curriculum. These classes focused on a foundational understanding of the core tenets of librarianship, including fundamental values, skills, and ethics needed for information professionals. I was able to deepen my knowledge of specialized areas of librarianship by focusing the majority of my remaining classes on Informatics and Library Studies. My Informatics courses centered on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and user-centered approaches to information system design, while my Library Studies courses focused on collection development, intellectual freedom, and Reader’s Advisory. I chose these specializations for their potential to help me branch out into different areas of librarianship in the future, while also complementing the skills and knowledge I needed if I chose to stay in an academic library.
I was able to gain practical experience working in different library settings through the robust internship program at my school. I did one internship at Los Angeles City College that focused on staffing the reference desk, and another at Santa Monica Public Library that focused on programming and collection development for youth services. While I approached my internships from a practical perspective, I also really enjoyed them. One fun memory is from my first day at the public library. My supervisor asked me to come in for the evening shift to support an overnight program, but did not tell me any other details. When I arrived, she handed me an adult owl onesie to put on because we were doing a stuffed animal sleepover! Library roles and responsibilities can vary greatly by position, and I was pleased to broaden my experience working with different users.
It can be easy to focus on the overarching goal of obtaining your degree and allow your curiosity and intellectual exploration to fall by the wayside. I feel very fortunate that this was not the case with my graduate program.
Q3: What’s one insight or piece of advice you wish you had before starting grad school?
Renee: Although I can look back at my time in grad school with fond memories now, during my program I was constantly exhausted and at times even approaching burnout. It was very difficult for me to balance working full time with classes and internships, not to mention life outside of my career. After reflecting on my experience, I wish I had more insight into the fact that not every graduate program is designed for students who have full-time jobs. Rather, many programs are designed for students who can devote the majority of their time to their graduate studies.
While I knew my graduate program of choice would be less flexible than my undergraduate program, I had not realized to what degree that would be true. I went into the program with a plan to complete it in three years, unaware that there was a fairly strict expectation to complete the program in two years. Most of the graduate degrees I was familiar with had some flexibility in the time to degree even if there was an ideal timeline laid out. In my program, completing the degree in three years meant I was considered behind in my studies by the school, and I had to petition to stay an extra year when I was about a year into the program. Thankfully, the school was supportive of my adjusted timeline after my petition was approved. Another component of the program that was not conducive to full-time work was the class schedule. My original plan was to take the majority of my classes in the evening, but the classes I needed were often only offered once in the middle of the day. Luckily, I was blessed to have a supportive work environment that offered flexibility with my work schedule
There were several other challenges that arose due to my school and work schedule conflicting. Although I don’t think I would have chosen a different school even if I had been more aware of the less flexible design of the program, I wish I had had more insight before starting classes so I could have been better prepared for the challenges.
Q4: What are you working on right now that excites you - whether in research, work, or creative projects?
Renee: I am currently working on an edited collection with two librarians from UCLA. Our book will present case studies from librarians and other student-focused centralized campus groups. Chapters will explore methods and approaches to centering the student voice and experience in the discourse, policies, resources, and services related to the use of generative artificial intelligence tools in higher education settings. While I have written book chapters and articles before, this is my first edited collection. I am pretty excited!
Q5: What’s an accomplishment you’re proud of that wouldn’t show up on your resume or CV?
Renee: I have been an extremely shy person for most of my life. Despite having big dreams, I was not sure how I would accomplish them and lived a lot of my early life through reading and imagination. While attending higher education and growing in my career, I have had to face many situations that would have left my younger self wanting to hide under the covers. The mental and emotional growth I have gone through over the years is not obvious when you look at my CV.
For example, when you look at my CV you will see that I have experience with in-person and virtual teaching. You won’t see me shaking as I stand in front of over 300 students talking to them about how to critically reflect on what it means to be resilient. You won’t hear my heart pounding with nerves as I talk to engineering grad students about how to use citation management software. My CV also states that I co-founded the UCLA Library student design team, WI+RE. It doesn’t show the apprehension I felt when
I created the name WI+RE and presented it to our stakeholders after we had already cycled through a few trial names. It doesn’t show the numerous times I felt hesitant about giving students and peers constructive feedback on their design work.
Behind each skill and accomplishment listed on my CV lies a trail of intimidating moments and experiences where I had to believe in myself and my abilities to succeed, even when I was not sure that I would. These moments do not show up on my CV when you look at it. However, I see them. And I am proud of myself for facing my fears and allowing myself to grow.
*While I created the name WIRE, my amazing co-founder (and all things learner-centered design expert!) Doug Worsham had the idea to add the + in the middle to make our WI+RE logo. As with most things in life, things are better when done in collaboration.
Q6: What do you hope mentees take away from working with you?
Renee: The mentorship I experienced throughout my graduate program (both official and unofficial) was a huge support to me, and I hope to provide that same benefit to others in two primary ways. First, I hope mentees leave our sessions confident in their ability to succeed in their goals. Being willing to give things a chance often requires you to believe that they can be done and that you can be the one to do them. Additionally, I hope mentees also leave with some practical ideas and application strategies to apply to our discussion topics. Having concrete steps to take can help a situation seem more manageable and less overwhelming.
Ideally, mentees would leave each session with both increased self-confidence and practical steps to take to move toward their goals. However, I would be happy if they take at least one of these things out of each session!
Q7: What’s a book, podcast, or resource you often recommend to mentees?
Renee: I often recommend the library as a whole as a resource to mentees, whether that be a public library or academic library (some academic libraries are open for public use of physical materials). Libraries have free resources that can help you on your personal and academic research or professional journey. In addition, libraries often have free programs and events that support mental health and wellness. Libraries are also often great places to study, write, or gather with collaborators.
You should always see what your nearby library offers if you can’t find something you need. Even if they cannot directly provide what you are looking for, library staff are usually willing to help you find where you can go to get what you need. Many libraries also offer services online, making them even more convenient when you need help!
Q8: What changes do you hope to see in graduate and professional education over the next decade?
Renee: I would like to see graduate and professional education more intentionally consider the whole person in their degree programs. I have several friends who also completed post-graduate studies, and it was a struggle for all of us due to our personal lives clashing with the expectations of our programs. Graduate and professional institutions sometimes tout their programs as having a focus on diversity and inclusion, however this often applies to coursework rather than services and resources specifically designed to support a more diverse student body. Some institutions do provide services such as childcare centers on campus, lactation rooms, family leave from programs, flexible and remote class offerings, accommodations for students with disabilities, etc. However, there is often limited availability of these services, or several hoops to jump through in order to be considered for the services.
It would be wonderful if graduate and professional education prioritized building programs that supported the whole person rather than prioritizing those that can devote the majority of their time to just being a student. Graduate programs are often augmented by students introducing new ideas and novel ways of approaching problems to the field based on their lived experiences, but that creativity and potential for innovation can be stifled by the struggle to survive in the program.
Q9: What’s your favorite way to relax or recharge?
Renee: My favorite way to relax and recharge is to read. My favorite book series is the Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate. It is a children’s book series about a group of kids
who fight aliens invading earth by morphing into different animals. It explores themes of love, war, and morality and has continued to be a great read from childhood through adulthood.
If I am not reading, you can find me hula hooping, going to church, hanging out with my husband and cats, and attempting to pick-up new hobbies.
Is Renee the right mentor for your academic or professional journey? Request to book below!
Comments