Conventure ’25: The Preppening

I thought this was going to be an easy semester, at least until things started ramping up towards May. Turns out I miscalculated.

It hit this week, starting with a Zoom meeting I hadn’t even known was scheduled. This university loves its Zoom meetings (part of that “new normal” privileged people feared during the pandemic while retail grunts like myself just saw ourselves wearing masks and washing our hands more often). That meeting brought some unwelcome news: I might need to plan for a possible summer internship, which means rearranging future courses and extending my stay in this program for another semester. Not exactly what I wanted to hear… but at least it pushes back when I have to start paying on those student loans, so there’s that…

I’m not quitting this blog, but I’ll probably be scaling back on some online activities—either going into hard lurk mode or skipping out on most days—to focus more on the LIS world. Because all the coursework in the world won’t land me a career, I need to build a strong portfolio and take networking *full body chills* seriously.

With my newfound interest in game dev and Minecraft, maybe there’s something I can contribute to in the GameRT space. But right now, I’ve been psyching myself up for a library conference in October. Yes, I need that long to prepare because I’m *that* much of an introverted homebody. I’ve accepted that this career may involve occasional travel, and the idea of meeting other introverted homebodies reluctantly doing the same thing is comforting.

Oddly enough, so is prepping for this trip. Should I put more miles on my car or risk sitting next to a creeper on a train? What shoes will help me survive? As much as I love my Sorel wedges, I’m not clomping around in them for three days straight. And though I wouldn’t call myself a fashionista, I have an excuse to buy a professional work tote—perhaps one of the Kate Spade variety (and nobody has to know it came from an outlet).

Oh, and I need an online presence for this too, don’t I? Branding, business cards, and a blog where I can’t be cantankerous. Fucking hell.

But maybe this is what it means to be a normal, functioning adult—and I prefer feeling slightly frazzled yet confident and accomplished to how I’ve been feeling in my usual online space lately: fatigued, angry, and disappointed. That’s a longer post for another time, but I earnestly hope that parasocial chatters get their wish and are suffocated with a load of uncomfortably real details about their streamer “besties”.

And with that impromptu mini rant off my chest, it’s back to a paper and researching collapsible carry-on luggage.