Today ends one week that Joanna and I have been working at the UBC Learning Exchange!
Today went by fast as everyone is busy preparing for the conference. My time at the LE generally splits between working the back-end (operation side) of the conference in the morning, and visiting and helping the patrons in the afternoon.
During the day, I was working with Kathleen on writing emails ready to be sent to organizations and individuals about the upcoming conference. The email has gone through a lot of revisions and editing before we send it. It was a collaborative effort as Kathleen and Angela were kind to help with the revising process. I was also helping Janina with creating poster headings for the conference afterwards.
After lunch is our usual drop-in sessions. I was able to help quite a few patrons with technologies, mostly software use on computers, such as how to use Microsoft Access or Word, while some needed help with web browsers. I have also met a few new (but returning) patrons and chatted with them for a bit, which was nice. And now that I have done my boundary training, I am particularly aware of what I say and how I act in front of them. For instance, as I was interacting with the patrons, there were times when they asked me where I am from, what I study, what I do. My answers were generally kept to a minimal whenever I felt it was unnecessary to reveal too much information. I have also tried to divert the conversation into me asking them questions. All in all, I did have a good time chatting with the patrons and helping them whenever they needed help. I have made myself busy by providing support in the drop-ins, but also working with colleagues on the conference.
On Friday, I was also helping with sewing the button blanket at the Sewing Club! There, we met our wonderful Musqueam artist Elder Doris Fox as she was assisting us with button blanket and the graphic paper designs for the upcoming conference – “Threading Our Stories”.
Fridays will also be our brief meeting with Katie so we can let her know how our week went, and what to prep for the upcoming week, which is wonderful.
One more day to prep for the conference! Hope to see a lot of familiar and new faces!