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Kristen Thorp

Kristen Thorp

Robert E. Kennedy Library, Cal Poly SLO

Career Roadmap

Kristen's work combines: Technology, Education, and Helping People

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Day In The Life

Outreach services

I connect people with information and advocate the free exchange of ideas.

Skills & Education

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Chapman University

  • Graduate Degree

    Social Sciences, General

    Chapman University

Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Librarians & Media Collections Specialists:

High School

Bachelor's Degree

Graduate Degree: Library and Information Science

Learn more about different paths to this career

Life & Career Milestones

My path in life took a while to figure out

  • 1.

    At 19 I realized that my life-long dream of being a film maker was no longer my dream.

  • 2.

    Took a silly part-time job at a library to pass time until I figured out what was next.

  • 3.

    Celebrated Banned Books Week and my love of libraries and information sharing started to grow.

  • 4.

    I got promoted. Twice. I was now the highest position I could be without having a masters degree.

  • 5.

    A librarian I respected encouraged me to pursue the degree because I would make an awesome librarian.

  • 6.

    After 7 years of working in a library, it was now my mission to get that degree.

  • 7.

    I moved. Started school full time, and found another wonderful library job.

  • 8.

    June 2013 I graduated with my Masters. Looking forward to my next adventure.

Defining Moments

How I responded to discouragement

  • THE NOISE

    Messages from Society in general:

    You should go for it. I was very fortunate to have an amazing support system of friends and family. Even when I had self doubt, I had a cheering section to build me back up.

  • How I responded:

    Find your people. Whom ever they may be. Even the hard times will be manageable when you have your people around that will have your back. Be someone else's person.

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

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  • Be ready to sacrifice. Finishing school was the most important thing, so I worked full time to help pay for school & the rest of the time I focused on school. I missed weddings, birthdays & births. It was hard, but everyone understood.

  • I had to leave college when I was 18 because of family troubles. I had a 7 year gap between starting my BA & finishing it in order to get the Master's degree. I knew I wanted to go back, I just needed the timing to be right. When it was I went for it