The Dearborn Icebreaker

The Dearborn Icebreaker is a new Reporter feature designed to help us get to know our UM-Dearborn colleagues.

Name:  Joel Seewald
Position:  Science & Engineering Librarian
Years at UM-Dearborn: 11

What does a typical workday look like for you?
It’s hard to say what a typical day is like. At the beginning of a semester, I spend quite a lot of time preparing for and teaching research education class sessions. I usually start my day by answering reference questions that came in overnight. And, since we’ve been adding a lot of research databases lately, I make necessary changes to the library’s website. I also post on the library’s blog and Facebook page. Of course, I also spend time ordering books, answering reference questions, and doing work for various committees.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
Helping people find the information they are looking for. It’s especially gratifying when someone tells me that he’s been looking for something for hours and I’m able to find it, or something close enough, in a short time. They are generally very grateful for the help and I get to learn a little about a topic that often I am not familiar with.

What was your first job?
I was a paperboy when I was in middle school.

What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
While I was in the Army, I lived at The Presidio of San Francisco. I was taking my girlfriend out to dinner one evening to propose to her. As we were walking across the street to the car, we were nearly run over by Sean Connery and his driver during the filming of the movie “The Presidio.”

What do you do to relax?
I like to be active and spend time outdoors (camping, hiking, bicycling, fishing and walking around campus during my lunch time). From October through March, I enjoy curling at the Detroit Curling Club.

What’s your definition of a life well lived?
I think a life well lived must include making a difference in someone’s life. Most of the time, I don’t think we’re aware of how we’re impacting others, so it’s definitely a bonus when someone comes back, maybe years later, and tells you how you affected him or her.

What’s the proudest moment of your life?
Probably my daughter’s high school graduation. She had an impressive high school career – salutatorian, MVP for both cross country and track (as well as overall girls sports MVP) her senior year, and went to state all four years in cross country.

If we were to create a UM-Dearborn playlist, what song would you want to include?
Wolves by Mannheim Steamroller. This song will help us to remember that the athletic teams on campus used to be the Wolves. The howling in the song sounds like coyotes, which can sometimes be seen on campus, and not at all like a wolverine. The University of Michigan connection also makes the song special – Chip Davis, founder of Mannheim Steamroller, graduated from U of M.

If someone handed you a $100 bill, what would you do with it?
Take my family out to dinner.  But, I would make sure that I have enough left over to give to someone I know who is bicycling right now from San Diego to St. Augustine to raise money for La Reserva Forest Fund in Costa Rica, and another person who will be riding in Michigan’s Wish-a-Mile Bicycle Tour this summer.

What advice would you give to this year’s graduating class?
Many of the choices that graduates will make in the upcoming years will be big choices. What job offer to accept? Stay close to home after graduation or move away? Live in a big city, the suburbs, or a rural area? If my boyfriend/girlfriend moves away, will I go with him/her? Marry right away or wait? These decisions may affect them for a period of time longer than they spent in college. They should know what they want, what they don’t, and what they don’t have strong feelings about one way or the other. (If they don’t, I can help them find personality tests to help them out!)