Library ambassadors: written by Dennie Park

Hi everyone! My name is Dennie and I’m one of the senior ambassadors for Spring 2018. I’m in my 4A term of Joint Honours Psychology and Science and I’ve been a part of the library ambassador program since the very beginning! I wanted to share why I love this program so much and what it’s done to help me and other students.

When I started this job back in Spring 2016, I was pretty nervous since I felt I didn’t have a lot of experience in certain areas that the job required. I was a part of outreach programs through my volunteer work and had some experience in customer service, but it was actually my first job experience in a more professional setting. I’d never done things like developing projects from the ground up or talking in front of staff at meetings, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

This job allows for so much personal growth and development, and I feel that everyone who has worked here experienced a positive change because of it. The job constantly pushes you out of your comfort zone and challenges you to work on your skills. In fact, we write down the goals we’d like to accomplish at the beginning of every term and have follow up meetings to see how we did or work on them further. For example, I was not very confident in my leadership abilities and couldn’t really see myself in that sort of position. I saw myself as someone who would let someone else take the lead and provide support in the background. During my first end of term meeting, Mary Lynne (our supervisor and lead for the program) pointed out my reluctance to take on leadership roles and worked with me to make it my goal for the next term. To be honest, I was a little worried - I wasn’t sure I’d do a very good job at it! Fast forward a couple terms later and I’ve found that I’m happy mentoring and training new ambassadors and taking charge in various projects. I’m far more comfortable in this position and I don’t think I would have found this out about myself until I was pushed into it. Even now I am always learning new things.

Though we are encouraged to go out of our comfort zone, we aren’t thrown into the deep end with no preparation whatsoever. Ambassadors are given various opportunities to work towards their goals and can build on them through subsequent terms. In addition, all of the Ambassadors have the opportunity to get one-on-one mentoring sessions to work on skills and gain advice or new perspectives. Even if you make a mistake, it isn’t the end of the world. They are a part of learning. The most important part is learning from them and keeping that drive to improve.

I’ve honestly seen so many people come out of their shell and become more prepared for future jobs and opportunities through this program. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who is interested.

-Dennie