For the tenth Issue of The Hawk Eye, we sat down with Ms. Marano to ask her a few questions, 73 Questions Marano style. Here are the highlights:

 

What is your full name?

Diana Marano. 

 

What’s your favourite nickname?

Everyone calls me Di. 

 

What post-secondary institution did you attend?

So, I did my undergraduate degree in English, history, minor in French at York University, and then I did my post-graduate degree, my masters degree, at UOFT OISE which is the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. 

 

What is your favourite colour?

Purple. 

 

What type of purple? Like light purple, dark purple?

A mid-tone perfect purple. 

*points at purple chair across the room* 

Got it, okay.

 

When is your birthday?

 December 21, 1975. 

 Oh! That’s soon!  

 That's very soon! 

Yeah! That’s like Thursday (make sure to say happy birthday to Ms. Marano in the library on December 21). Happy soon-birthday.  

 Thank you.  

 

What is your favourite book and/or book series?

 Oh, that’s a tough one for a teacher, who was an English teacher, and is now a librarian. I think it depends on the genre, so if I think of something Canadian, I would say Timothy Findley's The Wars. I think the great American novel is F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby. I think if you are talking about a play, also Canadian, then Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)- very funny, very brilliant. But then I think there is merit in so many other  books, like that are kind-of rooted in where I come from the canon of literature, like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, one of my favourite novels, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, also one of my favourite novels. So I think it depends also on when you catch me, because I went through a period where I was reading all about the 1920’s, where I read The Paris Wife, I did Z, the book on Zelda Sayre, and all that- but I can't, I can't say there is just one.   

You can’t say there is just one.  

No…I could talk about that forever.  

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Umm, do you have a favourite genre of literature?  

Surprisingly, I really do like a thriller, like a crime thriller, like Gone Girl or Girl on the Train… Umm…Anything by Robert Galbraith, who is actually J.K. Rowling, that series that she did, the first one is called The Cuckoo’s Calling. I’m very surprised considering I come from the canon of literature, you know, the classics, that I like that, but I really like the fast pace of that. 

 

What is your favourite movie? 

*rolls eyes* 

I am rolling my eyes and you can put that in the script…Mean Girls. 

Mean Girls? Really?  

Yes. I know it line for line.  

Do you actually? What is your favourite line?  

‘On Wednesdays we wear pink’ … ‘Is butter a carb?’... no I think ‘is butter a carb?’ is my favourite. That line always sticks out to me… I am not sure why. 

 

What is your favourite hobby?

Do I be cheesy and say read? 

I mean, if reading is too obvious we could say something else.  

I mean… It is reading! I read just about anything, anytime. My biggest issue with my hobby is that I can’t get to my book, because you know, by the end of the night you’re exhausted… So my favourite thing to do and my biggest challenge is both reading.  

 

What is your favourite type of cookie?

Cookie…Oh gingerbread. 

Is it in theme with the holidays? Or just in general? 

Nope, in general. My best friend’s mom makes them all year round and she always sends me a batch, they are delicious.  

 

What is your favourite cafeteria item?

Maybe the rice ball. 

Good choice. 

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What is your favourite subject to teach? 

English by far… but the nice thing about the role I have now is that I get to teach lots of different things. Whereas, when I was in English, it was strictly only English, but English by far has my heart.  

 

What is your greatest professional achievement? 

Hmmm…I want to say making the transition to being a teacher librarian, because it’s scary. It’s scary to leave what you know to do something that is completely different, like I was programmed to be an English teacher, so now this opened up the whole school to me. So, I would say being able to invite and step out of my comfort zone, being able to invite people into the library that are not my discipline, and be okay with it, is actually a very big accomplishment. Because we become so compartmentalized as teachers, it’s hard to sometimes see the bigger picture.  

Yes, it is very like stepping into the unknown. 

Yes, it is easier to go into the same job you have always done, using the same texts, the same tests, but now every day it is a little different here.   

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Do you enjoy that? The difference.  

I do, I felt a little bit like I outgrew that classroom, and I wanted to do something bigger than the classroom.

  

 How long did you teach English for?  

Fifteen years.  

Wow! So when did you become a teacher-librarian?  

In 2016… yes.  

 

What is your favourite restaurant? 

Ou… 

Yes, most people say the Keg for some reason…I am unsure why. 

Yes… No, anywhere with fish. I am a fish person.  

Same. Do you have a particular one you like to go to?  

There is La Castile in Mississauga, that’s a pretty good one for fish. But I am also really good with the Captain's Boil, like where you eat it out of the bag, it's the best! 

 

What is your dream vacation?

Dubai.  

Have you ever been? 

No, one day first class to Dubai.  

You deserve it Ms.  

Thank you, I can be ready in fifteen minutes.  

 

What was your First job? 

Malibu Shoes at Pine Valley and Highway 7, and they made me clean the back room and organize all the shoes. It was owned by these two brothers, and I thought it was going to be a glamorous job- and I was filled with dust everyday.  

 Did you like it?  

I did, I did… And then after that, I was working for the city as a camp counsellor for many years.  

 

Do you have any advice for students who wanna be a teacher or teacher-librarian? 

That’s a good one. My advice would be to always be open to change, and never think there is just one path to get to what you want. I used to think that I had to go to York University, I had to graduate from York University, and then I would get a job. I ended up changing up things as I went, originally I wasn’t going to do my master’s degree, and then I did not do my master’s degree until 2010, and by then I had already been teaching for ten years at that point. I was very sequential in my thinking of getting to where I wanted to be, but there are so many different paths. So, I think, if we are open to change and opportunities that don’t seem like the best opportunities, take them- because you can learn something from them. I remember the first job I got at the school board, and the principal gave me an English class, a math class, a drama class and an E.S.L., and I thought ‘this is the worst thing for me.’ and it ended up being the best experience ever. It really opened my eyes to different things I could do, so I would say always be open to change.      

 

What are 5 words to describe yourself? 

Hmm… Loud… passionate… determined… I would say friendly, and rule follower.  

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 Rule follower?  

Yeah. I know it’s two words, but I am definitely like a rule follower, maybe a little too much.  

 

What is the theme song of your life and why? 

Harry Styles As It Was . If you listen to it, ‘not the same as it was’- everything changes, and I think if you can embrace change in your life, you are going to be okay.  

 

How do you like your steak cooked? 

Chicago Medium, it’s charred on the outside and red on the inside. 

 

Do you have a dream present? 

Anything that is an experience, I don’t want stuff. I want to do things, so a trip… 

...To Dubai… 

To Dubai… or an experience that is unique, like a concert, a show- anything like that. 

 

Would you rather eat in or eat out?

Depending on my mood, I say eat out.  

 

Favourite aspect of the holidays? 

The people. Just hanging  out with people, sometimes you don’t see your cousins for so long, so it’s nice to just catch up.  

 

What do you love about your job? 

There is so much I love about this job. I love that it is different every day, I love that I feel I can help students on a very different level than I was able to do in the classroom, because I get a lot of one-on-one time with the student. I love how the library has become a space that is the hub of the school, and everyone comes here for something. We have something for everybody. Definitely that it is a pretty open-door policy here, it makes me pretty happy.  

 

What is your favourite ice cream flavour?

Anything with chocolate.  

 

Any messages or advice to the students of  Holy Cross? 

I would say be grateful every day of your life, for everything you have, everything you have achieved, and be kind to one another. That’s it.  

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