Assisting patrons at the checkout desk, shelving reference books and sitting at the children’s reference desk for an hour weekly in the evenings gave me the opportunity to become acquainted with the library system and gain valuable skills. It all started with an ad posted on the wall of the Miami Dade Kendall Campus that read: Library assistant needed to work at the Kendall Library.. 20-25 hrs a week: Monday-Thursday plus Saturdays. You may be required to work some evenings. I thought it was a good way to get my foot in the door. Considering that I had never worked before, I went to the interview and took an exam that consisted of shelving books according to their dewy decimal classification and an alphabetical order test as well. After passing the exam successfully, the branch manager interviewed me for the position. “Why do you want to work at a library,” she asked. Since I was a little girl, my mother used to drive me to the library on Saturday mornings and pick out seven story books for me to read. We would read the stories together a few times during the week, and then the following Saturday, we were at the library again picking out another set of books. From mystery novels to science fiction books, I was fascinated with books.

At the age of four, I started school. My parents wanted me to be ahead of the other students so they enrolled me at a Montessori school. I learned to identify the shapes, numbers and alphabet in just a few months. Learning the English language was not hard for me and neither was the ability to relate with other children. Adapting to the school lunch menu was very difficult for me. I did not enjoy the taste of carrots nor green beans for lunch. My mother would pack baby food in my lunch box every day, however, I was not allowed to eat it. My teacher wanted me to eat a nutritious meal. Lunch became a dilemma for me every day. I would hide in the classroom’s art closet. One of my classmates opened the door and told the teacher that I was hiding. The teacher grabbed my hand,, and asked me why I was hiding, and I said, “because I don’t want to go to eat my lunch.

In middle school and throughout high school, most students are assigned mandatory reading lists. During the summer, they are required to read a number of books. Once students return to school, they are tested on what they read. This is the only way for teachers to know who has done their reading. Therefore, as a professional and university graduate, reading has become one of my passions, an escape from stress and everyday pressures. And it all started with an ad.