Laura McDonald

Role at the UMBC Career Center: I help students identify their passions, strengths, and career interests. I also help them prepare to achieve their long term academic and career goals.

Q: Where have you earned your college degrees?

A:Loyola University MD University of MD, University College University of MD, Baltimore County (Go Retrievers!)

Q: What program(s) did you study? How did you choose your major?

A: M.A. in Education/School Counseling (Loyola). I wanted to pursue a second career in counseling. I realized that I had a passion for helping others realize their natural gifts and pursue their dreams. M.S. in Computer Systems Management (UMUC). My goal was to stay cutting edge in the technology field, and increase my career opportunities. B.S. in Information Systems Management (UMBC). The area of IT was a fast growing field. I had strong technical and analytical skills and enjoyed the combined focus of business and IT that the program offered.

Q: Tell me about the job and internship process when you were in college. Were you able to find job/internship positions that were related to your major or your career interests?

A: Yes, I was able as an undergrad to find lots of Co-op opportunities! That is what excited me about going to UMBC. The school was "cutting edge" in this area in the mid '80's. I was able to get a co-op position in IT at NASA, and only delayed my graduation by 1 semester. As a result of having impressive work experience on top of a strong academic background, I got a job as a systems consultant with a Big 8 Accounting firm immediately upon graduation. I owe tremendous thanks to UMBC, and Dr. John Martello for making those opportunities possible. Internship opportunities were incorporated into the School Counseling Masters' program at Loyola. It was a great opportunity to work in a variety of school settings, so that I could get a feel for what was the best fit for me once I graduated.

Q: What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

A: "Wherever you go, go with all your heart." -Confucious

Q: Why should students visit the Career Center?

A: AS SOON AS THEY GET TO UMBC, they should meet with us to learn about important steps they should take to discover their interests and strengths, and plan their career. This process begins immediately, and continues throughout their time at UMBC.

Q: What is your favorite aspect about UMBC?

A: It is a high quality institution that emphasizes the importance of obtaining valuable work and academic experiences. It's also a great value!

Q: What is one item on your bucket list?

A: To return to Switzerland and Austria with my husband and 3 kids and "re-do" our honeymoon.

Q: What is one aspect of the DC/Baltimore area that you often explore?

A: I love to go to the Baltimore harbor with my yellow lab, and anyone else who wants to join me, and walk along the water from Harbor East to Canton.

Want to connect with Laura or any of our great Career Center team? Call our office at 410-455-2216 or check out our contact us page here: http://careers.umbc.edu/aboutus/

Explore the culture and history of East Baltimore!  See a slice of urban life from the 70’s!  Has much changed?  Take a look and see for yourself – now available online:  Elinor Cahn photographs.

UMBC students, faculty, and staff now have access to this digital collection of renowned Baltimore photographer Elinor B. Cahn (born 1925). Over eighty of Cahn’s photographic prints from the East Baltimore Documentary Photography Project are currently available in UMBC's Digital Collections.  The digitized prints available online demonstrate Cahn’s thoughtful views of religious and secular ceremonial processions, residents in multigenerational family homes, and other aspects of daily life.

The East Baltimore Photography Project began as part of MICA Professor Linda Rich’s social documentary course in 1976 and expanded as a four-year grant endeavor among Rich, Cahn, and Cahn’s classmate Joan Netherwood. The photographers documented neighborhoods in transition, capturing East Baltimoreans’ pride and proactive measures to improve basic services.  The images provide insightful perspectives into East Baltimoreans’ diverse houses of worship, commemorative parades, family-owned establishments, row homes, and private lives.  The East Baltimore Photography Project produced over ten thousand images, many of which were exhibited throughout the region and published in the book, Neighborhood: A State of Mind, available in our Arnold Collection of Maryland history and in the general  Library stacks.  

In addition to the Cahn’s East Baltimore Documentary Photography project, Special Collections holds Cahn’s full archives. Cahn’s collection includes images of Baltimore’s Greek community, Asklipios, Greece, the Vietnam memorial, cemeteries, a Baltimore soup kitchen, and photographs of Maine.

UMBC's Special Collections is open to the public from Monday through Friday 1-4 pm, with extended Thursday evening hours until 8 pm. We are also open by appointment. Access the digital collection of Cahn images here.

This post was written by Jen Wachtel

First-generation and underrepresented minority students can face unique challenges in applying to college and completing their degrees. In an article in College Express, Eric Ford, director of operations for the Shriver Center’s Choice Program, writes about his conversations with four college graduates about the support systems that helped them succeed.

Ford identifies several common factors that helped the students graduate, including high parental expectations, dedicated guidance counselors, and supportive university programs. Ford also discussed UMBC’s Choice Program as providing new opportunities for students who might not otherwise see college as a realistic possibility. He shared, “The Choice Program is just one component of a multifaceted partnership seeking to remove some of the many barriers faced by first-generation college students, and it has shown positive outcomes…exemplifying the shared responsibility between universities, public [K-12] schools, and individuals in breaking down barriers to higher education.”

Click here to read “Common Denominators: College Success Factors Among Minority and First-Generation Students” in College Express.

This guest post was written by Women’s Center student staff member Ty Philip. 

In celebrating LGBTQ History Month, it’s important to remember those who don’t fit into the mainstream representation of the LGBTQ community. As the LGBTQ community has made gains in society, it is important to recognize that the face of the movement is increasingly white, cis, male, gay, upper class, able-bodied, and heteronormative. When arguments for marriage equality are made, our leaders look back to Stonewall as a way to validate their arguments. Stonewall, after all, sparked the beginning of the LGBTQ rights movement in America. So it’s only right for us to assume that because the face of the LGBTQ movement today is one that is predominantly white, cis, male, gay, upper class, able-bodied, and heteronormative, it has historically been the face of the movement. We know that this is not true.

When we think of LGBTQ rights and Stonewall, we don’t think of all of the trans women of color who have both presently and historically risked their safety and continuously had their lives threatened in order to try to claim a right to navigate in our society. What we think of is people like Harvey Milk whose politics are catered towards those of a privileged LGBTQ identity. We think of Neil Patrick Harris, who is a living representation of the effects and benefits of those privileges. We don’t think of people like Sylvia Rivera, who was present on the actual night of the Stonewall riots. We don’t think of Reina Gossett, either, a trans woman of color who is representative of the same kinds of intersectional oppression faced by Sylvia and all of the others present at Stonewall. It is important to remember that what is the face of the community is not representative of the community itself, that there is marginalization within the community that leaves certain narratives untold. 

As a trans woman of color, Reina Gossett’s narrative is one that is largely untold. Mainstream trans women of color such as Laverne Cox and Janet Mock do an excellent job at bringing widespread attention to unheard narratives, but Gossett delivers this narrative from an activist perspective. Gossett’s emphasis on social change and social action are things that I strongly identify with. With Gossett coming to UMBC, I find myself able to see how social justice can be practiced through social programming. I see how people like Reina Gossett, people like me with marginalized identities and generally untold stories, can find platforms through which we can have our voices heard and inspire change.

I commend Critical Social Justice, the Women’s Center, and Student Life’s Mosaic: Cultural & Diversity Center for choosing Reina Gossett as the keynote speaker for LGBTQ History Month. I am appreciative that untold narratives are being given a space to exist and thrive when they are not given such opportunities by mainstream media. It is important to remember that the while the L and G are the most prominently seen part of the LGBTQ community, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are representative of the community. Trans people of color exist now, and have existed since even before the Stonewall riots. Our stories will not be erased or eradicated.