By: Sofia Brouse

Photo Credit: Sydney Ashton

Recently I had the honor of asking current UMBC student and MCS major Sydney Ashton some questions about her experiences in college so far, specifically as an Honors College student here at UMBC.

What is your name, your major, and when do you expect to graduate?

“My name is Sydney, I’m a MCS Major and a Sociology Minor from New York City. I’m in my senior year here at UMBC and will be graduating this Spring.”

After switching your major twice, why did you choose MCS as your major? Did anything stand out about MCS specifically?

“I chose MCS as a major because I found the curriculum really engaging and relevant considering we are living in the digital age. I also was really interested in media literacy, crisis communications, and public relations, so MCS seemed like the perfect major for me.”

How has your experience been in the Honors College as an MCS major? 

“My experience in the Honors College has been great! It’s nice being a part of a smaller community within a larger one especially since I came from a really small high school. One thing I love most about the honors college and taking honors classes is that I’m surrounded by people with different ideas and different majors. A lot of the topics we discuss in honors seminars intersect social sciences with STEM.”

Do you have any advice for future MCS majors looking to be a part of the Honors program?

“Being in the honors college has allowed me to take interesting electives that I normally wouldn’t have taken, and I’ve enjoyed all of them! I encourage people entering the honors college to take classes outside of their comfort zone/ classes that cover topics that you have no prior knowledge in, you never know what you’ll gain from it. I got my Capstone topic idea from a conversation I had in my understanding HIV/AIDS honors seminar!”

How would you describe your experience at UMBC as both a transfer student and an out-of-state student?

“It was definitely difficult to adjust to moving to a new state, especially since I had moved from New York to Virginia and then to Maryland within one year. It took a while, but I found my group of people on campus and I love living in Maryland! Joining club volleyball and being in the honors college definitely helped make the transition smoother.”

Tell me a bit about what you do outside of coursework. How do you balance your hobbies as an Honors college student?

“I love to cook and bake during my free time. Volleyball is also another one of my hobbies and I’m in the club volleyball team here at UMBC. Some weekends I take the train back to New York to spend time with my family. Oh! I also work at my boyfriend’s family’s seasonal farmers market on weekends. It’s called Jenny’s Market and it’s in west Friendship Md.

I’m a firm believer in having a good (school) work-life balance, being in the honors college means you take additional courses outside of your major and many of those classes are writing, reading, and research intensive. I recommend taking classes that sound interesting to you or taking something you genuinely want to learn more about so the extra reading and writing doesn’t feel too overwhelming.”

What would you like to do after graduation with your MCS degree?

“Post-graduation I’d like to pursue a career in Public Relations.”

By: Stephanie Marceron

Meet Lindsey Gonzalez! She is a MCS senior graduating in the spring semester of 2024. I met up with Lindsey to ask her a few questions about what it is like to be an MCS senior and what her internship at the RAC has been like this semester? She also gave more insight on what she wants to do after she graduates as well as her capstone project. We finished off the interview with a piece of advice she would give to juniors who are about to start their senior year and wish to succeed with as little stress as possible! 

What is your major and minor?

 “I am majoring in Media and Communication Studies and Minoring in Psychology.”

What is the internship that you are doing on campus?

 “My internship is at the UMBC Recreation and I help assist in marketing and promotion of all the UMBC Recreation programs and services such as the fitness and wellness, club sports, intramural sports, open recreation and physical education. I also collaborate with campus recreations professionals and student employees to assist in executing a marketing plan.”

What have you done so far in your internship?

“What I have done so far in my internship is interview students and record and post FitDawg of the week every week on instagram and instagram reels on the @umbcrec instagram account and also polls. I photographed and took videos for the PAC the RAC Event, the fitness and wellness classes such as Core Yoga with Erica, Zumba with Ashley B., and Cycling with Joella. The other things I have done so far in my internship is the Intramural sports such as the Outdoor Soccer (7v7) Playoffs on the 19th of October, Laps with Chip on October 4th, The Grad Student Fest on October 11th, and the tabling events at the commons terrace on September 13th.”

What have you learned from it?

“What I have learned so far from my internship is creating print publications such as posters, fliers, and social media posts and making content for the UMBC Recreation. Getting out of my comfort zone with talking to people for interviews for FitDawg of the week, attending events such as the PAC the RAC event and Outdoor Soccer talking with students and staff and taking photographs for future content, learning much more about editing instagram reels, video content, managing and updating photos and videos from the events throughout the year. I also learned how to edit videos and make unique social media posts which made me realize that I love editing videos, making social media posts, promoting and marketing as well during my time through this internship.”

How do you think it has helped you figure out what you want to do after graduation?

“I think this internship did actually help me figure out what I want to do after graduation because I really love making content for social media, make a marketing plan, a pre-event, and post-event plan for any future projects and attending special events.”

What career you wish to pursue and how will you utilize the skills you have learned from MCS in these future endeavors? 

“The career I wish to pursue is a graphic designer or a events and social media coordinator. How I will utilize the skills I have learned from MCS for my future ventures is by being proficient on Adobe Photoshop, IIIustrator, InDesign, Adobe Express, and Canva. Communicate and collaborate effectively, sharing feedback, accepting constructive criticism, always managing your own time, prioritizing tasks, and meeting deadlines. Having strong copywriting and copy editing skills, oral and verbal communication skills, time management skills with the ability to multitask as well.”

What is your capstone project about?

“My Capstone is about the negative tourism of Chernobyl because I’m interested in how social media representation affects the rise of popularity of historical issues such as the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and the possible dangers for the tourists through visiting the exclusion zone in Pripyat, Ukraine throughout the years.”

If you had a piece of advice for juniors as they move into their senior year, what would it be?

“My piece of advice for juniors as they move into their senior year is to stay connected and network with MCS professors, and students in your major because once you graduate you will never know if you are going to see any MCS alumni in the career you want to be in and may need a letter of recommendation as well from your MCS Professors. Another thing is to take internships in the specific career field you are interested in, make a portfolio based on past projects throughout your time at UMBC and have a professional resume and cover letter as well. Congrats for the upcoming seniors & your senior year is going to be fun but time is going to fly fast but enjoy every minute of it.”

In November 2023, Tess McRae '22, coordinator for civic design with the Center for Democracy and Civic Life, joined Honors College Director Simon Stacey, Associate Director Jodi Kelber-Kaye, and Assistant Directors Julie Oakes and Kendyl Walker in representing UMBC at the 58th annual National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) conference, in Chicago. The conference theme was "Revolutionary Honors: Liberty. Equality. Humanity."

During the conference, McRae and Stacey led "Recognizing our shared humanity and learning how to talk about it: Two civics courses grounded in students' everyday experiences." The session highlighted courses that McRae, Stacey, and Center for Democracy and Civic Life Director David Hoffman, Ph.D. '13, design and co-teach through the Honors College: HONR 200 Talking Democracy and HONR 300 Be Your Best Self in Real Life. 

Talking Democracy is designed to help students become critically aware of the interplay among communication styles and techniques, democratic values, and the civic health of communities. Be Your Best Self in Real Life investigates how human beings can collectively and individually thrive in some institutions, and how they must sometimes change institutions in order to do so. In both courses, McRae, Stacey, and Hoffman support students in engaging in deep learning about their civic roles and contributions by closely examining their lived experiences both beyond and within the classroom. 

During their session, McRae and Stacey provided an overview of the pedagogy and teaching approach they infuse into both courses and led participants through an activity about social norms that students in the courses experience. McRae, who took Talking Democracy and Be Your Best Self in Real Life when she was an undergraduate at UMBC, personally attested to their perspective-altering impact.

Kelber-Kaye and Walker led the roundtable conversation, "Pipeline to Honors: High School and Community College Partnerships with University Honors Colleges," during which they described UMBC's relationships with local high schools and community colleges and how those relationships and partnerships are important methods for recruiting students to honors colleges. This roundtable provided a robust conversation where other institutions shared how their partnerships serve as a method of recruitment and provided inspiration for other institutions as they seek to create similar pathways.

Walker presented the session, "A Self-Authorship Approach to Developing Your Role as an Honors Advisor." She described the components of self-authorship and talked about the ways that academic advisors can use self-authorship practices such as an advising philosophy to both support the students they advise and enhance their own professional development.

Oakes and Kelber-Kaye co-led the roundtable discussion, "Honors College Abroad: Thinking Through Internalizing Honors Education." They told the story of how UMBC's Honors College has created opportunities for international learning and engagement by developing faculty-led study abroad experiences, and shared some insights and reflections about the lessons Honors College staff and faculty have learned from the process. The roundtable provided the opportunity for the attendees to share their experiences and insights as well.