Taking risks and trying out new ideas is a fundamental part of the creative writing program at Susquehanna—an experience that has helped Amanda Schader ’16 in her AmeriCorps position at the Rudy Gelnett Memorial Library in Selinsgrove.
“My position at the library required me to be brave enough and confident enough in my ideas to pitch them to my supervisor. It’s kind of like writing a story and bringing it to workshop,” says Schader, who majored in both creative writing and English literature at Susquehanna.
“It’s as much trial and error as writing is, but what my creative writing professors taught me was not to fear failure. Look at it as a learning process and embrace whatever the outcome maybe,” she adds.
One of her ideas was to hold a blacklight party in the library for children in third to sixth grades. It was one of the most well-attended events in the region the weekend that it was held.
“What I loved most about serving there is that my supervisor basically let me run wild with all of my crazy ideas,” says Schader.
Schader is now working toward an online master’s degree in library and information science with an emphasis in data analytics at Kent State University.
Her career plans are to become a data analyst to create online resources and help people use them to learn about the world around them.
