Liz Gotauco graduated in 2000 with a bachelors degree in Theatre; she graduated in 2010 with a master’s in Library and Information Studies. She is now the Teen Services librarian at the Cumberland Public Library.

Q. How did your URI degree best prepare you for your career path?

A. I am fully convinced my theatre degree has put me above other candidates in my field as a librarian, especially as a candidate for youth services positions. As a librarian for children and teens, I have utilized creativity and play in creating community programming for youth; I’ve been a great team player from working in the many areas of a URI theatrical production; I am inventive with my small budget as I learned to be when costuming student plays; I am comfortable public speaking and presenting for both students and colleagues; and I am able to think on my feet and improvise when working with the public. Plus I got my masters in URI’s library program, so the school has done very well by me.

In your opinion, what is the value of the arts both academically and in the community?

Art works hand-in-hand with every discipline. An ecologist needs a designer to create the photographs and infographics that will catch a donor’s eye. Mathematicians, engineers, and other STEM pioneers advance us forward technologically and through the arts we are connected to their stories in films, plays, and literature. The arts teach us life skills and inter-personal skills that we use everyday. It has held us aloft and connected us to each other through these long days of staying home and will continue to expand our worlds and our minds when we can go out and about again.

What advice would you give to current students or to young people thinking of pursuing a Fine Arts degree?

You may have adults in your life telling you an arts degree is a bad choice. It’s not at all! The life of an artist may be a harder road, but even if it goes in a different direction than you hoped, the arts will provide a great map towards your destination.