Meeting Grace Cavanagh

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 17:25:52 -0500
mcsstudent

By: Jacey Lizer

Photo Credit: Jacey Lizer

Meeting Grace Cavanagh, she is calm and confident, she's found herself at UMBC. Now a senior, she is moving through a story of rediscovery, academics, and learning to see the world through a critical and creative lens.

Grace's life before UMBC was, as she puts it, "boring." She grew up in Maryland but her childhood was shaped by moving around frequently. Home has always been a lively, multigenerational space. Yet she still felt lost before coming to UMBC. It wasn't until she transferred that her story came to life.

Originally a hospitality management major at East Carolina University, Grace reached a point where she knew something wasn't aligning. She has always been drawn to stories, language, and the way the media frames the world around us. Growing up she loved books and the power of words, even if she didn't have the language for turning that passion into a profession. When she made the decision to transfer to UMBC, she chose MCS because it was the closest fit to what she loved. The match ended up being better than expected.

The decision to attend UMBC was rooted in practicality and legacy. Its location close to home made the transition smoother, while also having family members who attended UMBC, she created a quick connection with our community. What she didn't expect was how quickly she would find her place here. "I came to UMBC and found my forever friends, and a sense of self," she says. "I didn't really have that before."

The moment she truly fell in love came during MCS 101. The class showed her that storytelling isn't just about entertainment, it's about structure, interpretation, culture, and communication. It's about how people make meaning from the world around them. Not every class was easy though. Like most MCS majors, Grace was almost taken down by MCS 499. Her Capstone project focused on romance novels and their women readers, a subject that challenged yet pushed her to analyze an enjoying genre from a deeper perspective. The course forced her to grow.

Balancing academic work with home life isn't easy. Living at home means juggling family duties, work, class, and independence all at once. For Grace, the key to this is time management, and learning not to sacrifice her social life in the process.

The MCS major has helped her blend practicality and creativity in a natural way. While focusing on theories, frameworks, and critical thinking, there is still so much room for expression and narrative building. Both ends only fuel each other, not compete. Her academic insights lead to stronger, more thoughtful media, and the creative sides see theory as more than a concept, unit as a tool.

When it comes to the kind of storytelling that excites her the most, the answer is simple, novels. Books were her first love, and they've never stopped being her favorite form of media. Her favorite book of all time? Pride and Prejudice. It's a classic that continues to shape how she thinks about narrative, character, and communication.

A typical day for Grace follows a full and steady routine. Wake up, go to class, fit in homework, work a shift, then carve out whatever time is left for friends, sleeping, and her cats. Speaking of, Millie and Milo play a major role in her everyday joy.

One of the biggest misconceptions about MCS, she says, is the belief that media students spend all day behind a screen or buried in writing. In reality, this work requires a surprising amount of public facing interpersonal skills. You have to talk, collaborate, present, listen, and really put yourself out there. "There are a lot of personable skills people don't realize we need."

Looking forward, Grace has a clear vision for where she wants to go. Her dream job is to become an intern personal PR associate at a publishing company, merging her love of books with her passion for communication. She hopes her work will give people clear, straightforward access to information. In five years she sees herself living in a big city, working in the industry she loves, alongside her sister.

She's already working on building the skills she'll need to get there: soft skills, analytics, technology, professionalism, and a strong understanding of media theories. These aren't just academic skills, they're life skills that will carry her far beyond UMBC's campus.

What excites her the most about the future of media and communication? The people, the places, the possibilities. Media is global and constantly evolving, and she wants to see where it can take her. At the same time, she's aware of the challenges. The hardest part of studying and working in a public facing world is cancel culture. "A lot of people are afraid to speak," she says, and she understands why. But she also believes communication is essential; fear shouldn't silence the voices that need to be heard.

In the end, Grace has found her place, her people, and her purpose. What began as a "boring" start transformed into a path of ambition and identity. She came to UMBC looking for a major and she found herself.