Hello everyone!

My name is Shelby, but I also go by Shel, so whichever is easier for you is fine by me! I use she/her pronouns.

I am a History major with a minor in Classical Studies, and I am a transfer from Bristol Community College. I am excited to continue my studies here at UMB, this is technically my “junior” year of college. I am 32 (33 in a few weeks, yikes!), and am a “late” student – I dropped out of college in my first attempt in 2013 flunking out pretty badly and in 2025 decided to try again when I learned about the MA reconnect program. I currently work as a lesson coordinator for a music academy that has two locations, one in Fall River, where I am from and still live, and one in New Bedford. I am currently taking mostly online courses to balance with my work schedule (I work the first half of the week, 12-8pm which is wildly inconvenient for school, but excellent for my hobby of conventions), with this class being my only in person class. 

Outside of school and work I am an avid reader, particularly of fantasy and science fiction novels! I have had a library card since I was four and the public librarians in Fall River all know me by name (and my family!). The first book I read as a child that really unlocked my love for reading was Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. I was 7 and it was the biggest book I had seen at a time where I was reading mostly American Girl, the Boxcar Children and Goosebump chapter books. I absolutely loved it and my great Aunt who gave it to me that Christmas started bringing me books for every gift-giving occasion including things like The Chronicles of Narnia and The Series of Unfortunate Events, and the first Eragon book. That same Aunt was the person who brought me my all time favorite book series, The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien as a massive omnibus edition that included all the appendices and multiple maps. I was obsessed, but also 9 so my dad insisted that it wasn’t “age appropriate” and would be too hard. I read all 1200 or so pages in two weeks, and every summer I sit down and reread it as a treat. This is my favorite book, and to me, it is a true “hero’s journey”. I love this story and have tried my hardest to stand by the message that stood out the most to me over the years of reading it again and again. 

“There is always hope.”

Currently, one of the best books I have read is The Raven Scholar  by Antonia Hodgson and I really loved Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix and First Time Caller by B.K Borison! While reading The Raven Scholar I have been annotating and flagging scenes that strike me as important, only to end up screaming about something else forty-five pages later.

It’s been incredible so far!

Outside of reading, I play a lot of video games and watch anime, which really lead to my next biggest hobby: As I mentioned earlier, I attend conventions all over the east coast as far down as Washington DC and present panels on various topics stemming from my love of reading, history and the romance genre. (If you’ve ever been to Anime Boston at the Hynes or PAX East I’ve presented panels there for the last three years straight!) 

Additionally, I play tabletop games, like Dungeons & Dragons, Cyberpunk RED and Pathfinder.  I’ve had a steady table that I have played with for over 5 years and I know that might be the biggest flex on the planet. 

Oh, most importantly, I have a 4 year old chorkie (chihuahua / yorkie / monstrosity) named Trixie. I have affectionately referred to her as “my little creature” because man she is a WEIRD looking dog. She has SUCH an underbite and her vet said she is the most dramatic dog he has ever seen. Lucky me!

Cheers everyone.
Shelby