The Competition Arm of the CyberDawgs:
Introduction, Overview, and Upcoming Tryouts

Kei-Won-Tia von Wrex
UMBC CSEE Department

12-1pm, Friday, May 12, 2023, online via WebEx

Tim Edwards

Degree: B.A., Music Education and Jazz Studies
Hometown: Severn, MD
Post-grad plans: Music educator

Tim Edwards is a student leader who serves his community through music, making an impact one note at a time. In addition to performing in UMBC’s Jazz Ensemble, Musical Theatre Club pit orchestra, and Wind Ensemble—including leading the arrangement, rehearsal, and conducting of an original composition last fall—he has focused his energy on music education.

Edwards has served as both president and vice president for UMBC’s chapter of the National Association for Music Education. He has supported music students in Baltimore city through a two-year internship with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids program, working with students at Booker T. Washington Middle School. He took the lessons he learned from that experience with him to the Maryland Music Educators Association conference, where he co-presented with James Dorsey, affiliate artist, and Brian Kaufman, associate professor of music. Their talk was part of a professional development program for music teachers on employing equity-focused and student-centered approaches in their classrooms.

Through all of these experiences, Edwards has remembered his home community in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. While at UMBC he returned to his high school pit orchestra to direct the group and he plans to return to the area longer-term after graduation to teach and perform music as a woodwind specialist.

Has there been a mentor or fellow student who influenced your time at UMBC?

“Matt Belzer and Brian Kaufman were my two most influential mentors at UMBC. Matt Belzer instilled in me a level of discipline and professionalism that I could not have led without. Brian Kaufman sought to give me many opportunities for leadership and community-building, which has, in a big way, jump-started my career. Also, Patrick Smolen, a fellow UMBC student and friend who is graduating with me, has been more than crucial in my development as an educator. We have always sought ways to collaborate in our lessons and in building community.”

What has been the best part of your UMBC experience?

“The community has been the best part of my time at UMBC, plain and simple. Throughout my years at UMBC, the people I have met have had a huge impact on my growth as a person. I have made social and professional connections that I am determined to hold onto throughout my life.”

Clair Volkening 

Degree: B.A., English
Hometown: Boonsboro, MD
Post-grad plans: Technical editor, Defense Intelligence Agency

Humanities Scholar Clair Volkening has used her voice as a writer, editor, and facilitator to help UMBC community members build connections with one another and to inspire social change. 

Volkening, who is also a member of the Honors College, was a participant and a coach in UMBC’s Center for Democracy and Civic Life’s (CDCL) STRiVE program, where she developed her leadership and civic engagement skills. Because of her contributions to STRiVE, Volkening was recruited to participate in CDCL’s first cohort of the ConnectionCorps program, a year-long facilitator training program for students. As a ConnectionCorps facilitator, Volkening facilitated community conversations involving students, faculty, staff, alumni, and local and state leaders on various issues. She also facilitated workshops for students involving reflection, storytelling, and discussion.

Volkening extended her coaching and leadership work further by helping students along their academic journeys. She was a tutor in UMBC’s Writing Center, assisting fellow Retrievers with strengthening their writing skills. This experience inspired her to join the editorial team for UMBC Review, the university’s student-organized, peer-reviewed undergraduate research journal. That work, she says, was an “incredible learning experience” that informed her burgeoning career pursuits as an editor. 

Has there been a mentor or fellow student who influenced your time at UMBC?

“David Hoffman, who earned his Ph.D. at UMBC and is director of the CDCL, and Elaine MacDougall, lecturer in English and the director of the Writing Center, influenced me the most during my time at UMBC. Working with Hoffman at CDCL events and learning from him has changed my outlook on life in all areas, not just school. MacDougall is a role model and someone who has taught me so much. She helped me find myself as a tutor and leader.

“There have been so many mentors and students who have made a huge impact on my time here, including many of my fellow Humanities Scholars who have made UMBC feel like home. Sally Shivnan, principal lecturer in English, and Lia Purpura, UMBC’s writer in residence, have helped me grow in my creative writing and have shown me what it is to live like a writer.”

What has been the best part of your UMBC experience?

“The people, by far, have been the best part of my time at UMBC. From my professors to my friends to the teachers in classes at the Retriever Activities Center, the people at UMBC make the university what it is. So many of the conversations that I’ve had with people on campus—whether they were serious and introspective, or silly and fun—have taught me about how community is formed and how we can all exist as people in our world.”