Starbucks will be onsite to upgrade our espresso machines!  During this time we will be unable to craft any espresso beverages. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please visit Einstein's or Dunkin for any espresso needs. 

It's a busy time of the semester and year, and there's a lot happening on campus! Before you dive into studying for finals, be sure to see below for the latest Asian Studies news. 

Winter 2025 Registration Continues

As your Fall 2024 classes wind down over the next few weeks, you may want to turn your attention to the Winter session. Winter courses offer a great opportunity to catch up or get ahead of the 30 credits per year pace to maintain in order to graduate in four years. You can view the entire Winter 2025 course offering list, and learn more about how to register, on the Winter session website. 

Dr. Kim is offering ASIA 300: Topics in Asian Studies (Modern East Asia) as an online, asynchronous course this winter. This course examines China, Japan, and Korea from the mid-19th century to the present in terms of their history, politics, society, and culture. Seats are still available; check out the attached flier for more information! 

Summer Study Abroad Opportunity: Japan

Dr. Oakes is leading a study abroad trip to Japan this summer! UMBC's Faculty-Led Study Abroad is a great opportunity to add a study abroad experience to your studies without needing to worry about fitting it in with your other academic plans. 

The three week Art and Power in Japan program will visit some of Japan's most historic cities and sites, including Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, and Hiroshima. Participants will learn not only about the historic importance of these places and the art and architecture there, but will also explore their relevance to Japanese culture today. 

Learn more about Dr. Oakes's trip, and how to apply for it, on the Education Abroad portal. The deadline to apply is February 14, 2025, which will be here much sooner than you think! 

Finals are Coming!

The Fall 2024 semester is drawing to a close, and finals will take place soon. Don't miss the library's StudyCon on Reading Day, December 11! Join library staff and community partners for snacks, giveaways, tutoring information, and more, to help you relax and breathe before diving into last-minute studying and preparation! 

Check out the details on the Library's myUMBC page.

Upcoming Dates and Deadlines

As Kent Malwitz ’92, information systems, moved up through the world of technology leadership, he kept wondering if an MBA was in the cards. But what he found ultimately most useful and fulfilling, as someone already steeped in the CEO-world, was pursuing an M.F.A. in creative writing. Malwitz, who is the director of strategic partnerships at UMBC Training Centers—a nonprofit providing private workforce training in technology, cybersecurity, project management, and leadership development—nurtured this early creative emphasis as an IS student who wanted to explore the empowering and vulnerable world of writing workshops. Now, he corrals his curiosity and storyteller-instincts to become a more empathetic teammate and leader. 

While I knew from a very young age that I loved technology, it wasn’t until my junior year at UMBC that I discovered that I also love to write. Working and playing with technology was natural to me as a kid, and since personal computers, modems, and bulletin boards were all fairly new to the public in the late ’80s, I was drawn to technology for exactly that reason—it was new. There was an element of discovery and creativity in trying to figure out how to do certain things with computers, leading me to pursue a degree in information systems at UMBC and a career in technology.

While at UMBC, I worked at a co-op with IBM, which allowed me to gain technical and business experience. I would drive to Gaithersburg daily from UMBC to provide technical support to IBM’s sales teams, and at certain times, I would take night classes alongside my 40-hour-a-week job at IBM, which gave me a heavy dose of the “real world,” as I tried to balance work, school, a social life, and a lengthy commute. The grind did not leave a lot of space for creativity.

After completing the required technical writing courses for my major, I felt a creative pull in me and acknowledged that my best chance of exploring that would be through writing, as I had shown no promise in the visual arts. I took a creative writing class and fell in love. It felt amazing to be doing something creative alongside my very technical work, and what I loved the most was sharing work with my fellow students and seeing and hearing their work—their thoughts and ideas, their fears. It made me feel extremely vulnerable, as well, but hearing my peers’ feedback was empowering, and I felt inspired by their talent. 

Working to extend the university’s mission

Back then, IBM was known for having an unofficial dress code—blue suit, white shirt, red tie. I conformed. The people were very nice, and it was a great introduction into the work world, but I knew that I wanted to work in an environment with a different kind of energy.

I found myself drawn to smaller, entrepreneurial companies where you got to—and had to—do many things based on the limited resources available. I found these environments to be conducive to learning, problem solving, and creativity. Where there were many challenges, there were equal opportunities to think critically and creatively and to lead through them. I found great joy in creating elegant technical solutions to address our customers’ business needs. I loved trying to figure things out that had not yet been figured out, and as my career grew, I took on bigger and bigger projects and teams.

After 10 years of technology consulting, I learned about a non-profit that UMBC founded focused on the delivery of technical training—the UMBC Computer Certification and Training Center (UMBC CCTC—way too many Cs!). I was recruited by the president of CCTC at the time, Doug Kenzierski, my former instructor who connected me to IBM for my co-op. I got involved in 2003 to help lead business development efforts with organizations and government agencies to train their employees. We renamed UMBC CCTC to UMBC Training Centers and started winning contracts with regional businesses and key agencies in the intelligence community, the military, and civilian government.

In true grit fashion, UMBC was very early to grasp the concept of a research university that provides workforce development programs as well as having a related business entity that extends the mission of the university to new audiences. Today, UMBC Training Centers is a significant provider of workforce training in technology, cybersecurity, project management, and leadership development, serving many individuals and employers in the region through our private training programs and our robust open enrollment schedule that reaches more than 10,000 learners a year.

Nurturing curiosity

Throughout my career, I often thought about pursuing an MBA, and while I know I would have learned a lot, I already had significant hands-on experience from leading business development at UMBC Training Centers and then later becoming the CEO. Instead, I realized what I really needed was to nurture my curiosity and interest in creativity. I thought that tapping into my own personal beliefs and values and becoming a better storyteller would help me become a more empathetic and more effective teammate and leader. 

After hearing from other UMBC staff who had gone this route, including Jenny O’Grady, the editor of this magazine, I applied for the Master’s of Fine Arts creative writing program at the University of Baltimore. In many ways, I was a fish out of water in the program, but I loved it. I was much older than most of the students, and I was working full-time as the CEO of UMBC Training Centers. I was the only one who would show up in a suit on many nights, but my classmates welcomed me. I delved into writing workshop after workshop.

Just like when I was an undergrad, sharing my work with others and having their work shared with me was my favorite part of the program. I loved the feedback and the support—both giving and receiving. While I haven’t completed the M.F.A. program, I intend to and feel that I have already benefited from it greatly as a business person and as a leader. Thinking critically and creatively and being open minded and unafraid of the unknown has been a key factor in the growth of my career.

Full-circle all the way home

After 17 years at UMBC Training Centers, I was recruited to go work again for IBM, despite my concerns from my earlier experience working there as a student. I worried about how I would feel working for such a large, corporate organization after having been in a small, entrepreneurial environment for my entire career. I was there for 4 years and learned a lot—about corporate culture, about scale, and about leadership, and I was reminded about the critical nature of strategic partnerships. 

In August of this year I had the opportunity to return to my beloved UMBC and UMBC Training Centers in the capacity of director of strategic partnerships. Here, I intend to work collaboratively—and creatively—with our partners, UMBC being our most strategic partner, to scale up the impact we have on the communities we serve, including finding ways to allow UMBC students to more directly benefit from our offerings, and to make UMBC Training Centers no longer the best kept secret at UMBC.

When you walk into Kupcakes & Co. in Elkridge, Maryland, you are met with the welcoming aroma of fresh baked goods—cookies, cakes, cinnamon rolls, and, of course, cupcakes. Drawn in by the scents and scenes in front of you, you’ll soon meet the proprietor, Michelle Kupiec ’89, interdisciplinary studies. She wasn’t always an award-winning baker though. In 2007, Kupiec was a teacher and a mom, just trying to get her young son to eat food again after a series of difficult surgeries.

Without knowing it, Kupiec was traveling a well-trod path by other UMBC alumni who pivoted their careers to start their own food businesses. “The only thing stopping you is the belief that you can’t,” says Donta Henson ’13, M.P.S. ’17, Navy veteran and co-owner of Los Hermanos 1978 Tequila. This mentality led Henson out of the healthcare industry to start a tequila company with his brother in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, John Williams ’04, financial economics, owner of Good Karma Creamery, flipped his life upside down (like a good pineapple cupcake) to follow his passion.

When life gives you lemons… make cupcakes

For seven years,Kupiec taught for Howard County Public Schools while raising her twins, Adam and Allison. Her husband, Bill Kupiec ’89, interdisciplinary studies, worked as an IT manager at the Carnegie Institution for Science. Then, Adam started getting sick. He was in and out of the hospital 15 times over three years with severe pneumonia. Doctors couldn’t figure out what was going on until they noticed that Adam’s spine was curving at a rapid rate, putting pressure on his lungs. In 2007, Adam underwent spinal fusion surgery that left him with two 20-inch rods and 18 screws in his back. Then came the painful recovery.

“Adam wasn’t eating. Nothing was appealing to him,” remembers Kupiec. “So, Adam’s doctors encouraged us to watch shows involving food.”

Kupiec and Adam started watching the Food Network and Adam quickly fell in love with the bakers. As soon as he was physically able, Adam was in the kitchen experimenting, which helped keep his mind off the pain. “He was able to get off his pain meds because of his newfound passion for baking,” says Kupiec.

Throughout his recovery, Kupiec homeschooled Adam and the two continued to bake, sharing their creations with friends and family. It wasn’t long before a food truck entrepreneur approached Kupiec about baking for Curbside Cupcakes.

“I was like, ‘Wow! This could become a small business,’” says Kupiec.

For Donta Henson, a health administration and policy major, the transition from a full-time health IT professional for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to tequila purveyor took a slightly different route. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in lieu of other activities, Henson’s brother William would regularly visit with a bottle of tequila. With nowhere else to go, the brothers started trying different tequila brands to pass the time. 

“We probably tried 20 different tequila brands,” recalls Henson. “We started feeling like we were tequila experts.” Henson noticed that when his brother posted tequila recommendations online, people would regularly respond positively. The brothers not only knew what they were talking about when it came to good tequila, but they had influence.

“I told my brother, ‘You know what? We could probably start our own brand,’” says Henson. “If other people are doing it, then we can figure it out too. We’re doing this!”

The pandemic offered many people the chance to pivot, but John Williams, a vice president at T. Rowe Price, already knew that he wanted more than an office job, especially with a young family.“It was a very good job in a lot of ways,” says Williams, who worked there for 10 years, “intellectually stimulating, financially rewarding, but it was a high-pressure type of job.” Fortunately, Williams learned an important lesson during his time at UMBC. “I figured out the value of saving while I was in college,” he recalls. So he put money away, lived below his means, and put himself in a position to control his future at a very young age.

“The question really became, ‘What do I want to do with my time?’” says Williams. “Buying my time and the freedom to do what I want was more valuable to me than continuing to work at T. Rowe.”

Williams left T. Rowe Price in 2020 to spend more time with his family and figure out his next step. “I stumbled on it a lot faster than I expected,” says Williams. “I was sitting in my driveway one day thinking about ice cream and realized I was kind of getting bored with what was at the grocery store when it just hit me. I should make ice cream.”

When the pivot pays off

To start baking for Curbside Cupcakes, Kupiec and Adam needed a commercial kitchen and to get licensed. That was the easy part. From there, the dynamic duo started baking 800 cupcakes a day, seven days a week—on top of homeschooling. Then, Curbside Cupcakes added a second truck and 800 cupcakes became 1,600. Kupiec quickly realized that she needed a kitchen of her own. In 2011, she hired additional help, and Kupcakes & Co. was born.

Eventually, with her own business growing, Kupiec cut ties with the food truck and focused her attention on Kupcakes & Co. After 14 years, business is strong and Kupiec offers a rotating assortment of 110 different flavors of cupcakes, along with other baked goods. “We turned our passion into a purpose,” says Kupiec.

To prove to his brother William that they too could turn their passion into a legitimate business, Henson started cold-calling other brands to learn more about their relationships with distilleries. That’s when Henson learned that tequila had to be made in Mexico. “I didn’t know that,” says Henson. 

The brothers eventually landed on Casa Maestri, a third-generation, family-owned, full-service distillery. In November 2020, Henson and his brother traveled to Guadalajara to tour the distillery, meet with farmers, and learn what it takes to make tequila. The brothers then began working with the distiller to choose the flavor profiles for their blanco and reposado tequilas, and then it was time to design the bottles and labels. What about a name?

“I wanted a name that captured the whole familial thing,” says Henson. “That’s the whole reason we even got into tequila.” After some research to see what was already taken, Henson and William agreed on “Los Hermanos,” which means “the brothers” in Spanish.

Three years later, Los Hermanos 1978 Tequila can be found in over 300 stores across six states and has won 24 awards. “Everything hinged on the mindset that we could do it,” says Henson. “We didn’t know anything.”

Williams can relate. “I had never made ice cream in my life,” he jokes. So, he ordered a tabletop ice cream maker from Amazon and began experimenting. “While I was watching my young daughter, I was probably spending 10 to 15 hours a week making ice cream,” says Williams. After a year of experimenting, Williams upgraded to a slightly more sophisticated machine and began sharing his ice cream creations with his neighbors, along with anonymous surveys.

“I was getting brutally honest feedback,” says Williams.

Once Williams had a better understanding of what people liked, and his daughter was off to kindergarten, he was ready to churn out his ice cream hobby into a full-fledged business. 

“I make my base from scratch,” says Williams, “which is a lot more work, but allows me to do more things with the flavors.” Williams also makes every chunk and swirl that goes into his ice cream—and there’s a lot. “I really load things up,” says Williams. 

Today, Good Karma Creamery sells ice cream by the pint online, with a drop every two weeks—the pints selling out within minutes. It’s not the grind of a financial job, and he gets to taste-test a lot of delicious flavors. From Williams’ seat, he thinks he made the right decision. “I decided to take my passion for finding the best premium ice cream into my own hands,” says Williams.