By Lena Geraghty, on August 6, 2014

Last week, I had my PWE check-in with MPA@UNC career services guru Elisabeth Enloe Zimowski. It was a great opportunity to reflect on my PWE. It’s really easy for me to get caught up working on a project and sometimes I forget to evaluate how it’s going and make changes to improve the process along the way. Elisabeth’s questions about my PWE made me realize that there are a few steps I can take to reach a fulfilling conclusion to my PWE at the library.

1. Discuss the end result of the research with my supervisor. Do I need to write up a detailed report or will a short memo describing the results do the trick?
2. Make a plan about how to handle a lack of response from the surrounding libraries I’ve asked to complete a website survey. After ten days and several follow-up calls and emails, I’ve only heard back from one of the six libraries I contacted.
3. Even if it means a busy couple of weeks now, work on completing my PWE project. Taking time to relax between this semester and my PWE and the fall semester will help renew my motivation after a hectic summer.

My project has been mostly of my own making so it was really helpful to bounce ideas off of Elisabeth and hear her impressions of my work experience.