By: Elena Kim
Photo credit: Jared Lyles
Can you share a little about yourself and a fun fact about you?
Hi, my name is Alex! I’m 30 years old and originally from Miami, FL. Fun fact about me is I’ve traveled to over 20 something countries now.
What are your dreams and aspirations?
Fortunately, I’ve gotten to accomplish a lot of my goals in life: Travel (which I plan to do more of) be financially stable, to find love (married for 8 years now) have a dog (her name is Teagan and she’s a red heeler) Now, I aspire to make a difference by giving my time and labor back to the Baltimore community, my adopted home.
Why did you choose MCS as your major?
I come from a video/photo background and wanted to enhance my critical thinking skills and learn how to better engage with the people around me both professionally and personally.
Can you share a professional experience where a skill or lesson from MCS helped you?
MCS is so essential and can translate to all fields, so it has helped me improve my writing and interviewing skills, which has helped me produce better content for the videos I’ve created.
Do you currently have an internship or have done any? If so, can you list it/them and your position(s)?
I am currently a Video Production Intern with the UMBC Alumni house. I assist the Staff producer in creating video content by documenting student events on campus where I compile footage, mix audio, use special effects and graphics to create a final product.
Are you a part of any Campus Orgs? If so, how can students get involved and be a part of it?
I am a member of the Student Veteran Organization (Retrievets) which are focused on addressing the needs of our student veterans at UMBC. I am also part of the Filmmakers Anonymous And Chew-MBC. The latter clubs are easy for anyone to join. You can start by following their discord, which is available under the myUMBC groups page.
What are you most excited about after graduation?
After graduation, I am traveling to Spain to hike the Camino De Santiago pilgrimage trail. It takes about 30 or so days, and covers nearly 500 miles. Afterwards, I plan to stay in the Baltimore area and continue producing video content. Knowing myself, I will find more reasons to keep learning more skills, so I am keeping my options open to returning to UMBC.
Any advice that you learned from college that you would like to share with other students?
My biggest advice is to network network network! Meet and follow up with everyone and attend every student event you can. College is the absolute best time to make connections and possible lifelong friends! Don’t be afraid to try new things as that can lead you to your future. Next, prioritize your mental health! College can take a toll on you and you can easily burn out quickly. I manage my mental health by regular exercise and reaching out to the important people in my life. Lastly, get an internship as early as possible!