CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR TRIVIA CONTEST WINNERS:Reina M., Francisco V., Melissa W., Emerald W. & Stephanie Z.
The Fulbright Program is considered the largest and most prestigious educational exchange program, providing recent college graduates, graduate students and young professionals the opportunity to continue their education or professional development through research and study in a foreign country.
Mimi Yaldram '20, B.A. History, has earned a place in the Fulbright Scholarship program and will work in Taiwan as a teacher assistant. She credits her time studying history at UMBC at the Universities at Shady Grove with preparing her to embark on this prestigious journey.
Listen to her story here:
Here is more of Mimi's story!
What made you choose History as a major? And why UMBC?
I choose history as a major because I have always been passionate about history ever since I arrived in this country from Pakistan. My two favorite subjects growing up were social studies and reading. But then in high school, I realized that I was missing something in my history classes. When I was a student at Montgomery College, I took a course on World History and my professor, a world historian at Montgomery College, taught me that history was a lacuna. A lacuna is defined as a space, a void, or something that is hidden, and in the history context, history is hidden from us sometimes. My love for history grew as I learned more, and I ended up becoming the President of the History club at Montgomery College. During this time, current professors and advisors from UMBC at USG's history program visited classrooms. I met Dr. Blair who is the current Public History program director at UMBC. Her speech about the history program and the public history program furthered my interest in UMBC at the Universities at Shady Grove. I already knew that I wanted to attend the Universities at Shady Grove campus because my older brother had attended there. I just needed to know that USG had a history program, which it did!
What have you been doing since graduating?
Since graduation, I have been working as an autism support technician and receptionist at an assisted living facility. Additionally, I've been interning at a local museum and teaching classes at night to adult Hispanic Learners as an assistant teacher.
How did UMBC prepare you for this next stage of your life?
UMBC has prepared me for the next stage in life by helping me to be open minded, to be flexible, and to be an effective writer. For example, as a history student, I took classes that were diverse in history from Byzantine History to Russian and Islamic Histories. Here, I learned to write like a historian and to think critically and how to problem solve. I looked at the world from a global perspective and wanted to know how I can make a difference as a global citizen. History taught me to write in terms of citing properly, to understand peer-reviewed materials, and to have strong organizational skills. I became flexible in terms of having leadership roles with UMBC such as being a Peer Advisory team member and as a student council representative for USG. In those roles, I worked on orienting myself to other people's personalities and delegating in terms of solving specific challenges to the needs of the students and campus.
Can you talk about your new opportunity with the Fulbright acceptance and what that process entailed and what it may offer you?
This was my second time applying for the Fulbright. The process of applying the second time was a lot easier than the first time for sure. I knew the process which made it easier to go through the process of writing the grant purpose statement and the personal statement. Plus, I was given examples of how to write better statements which really helped me to hone in on my writing skills. I also had a wonderful advisor named Dr. Brian Souders who was instrumental in helping me edit my work and giving me support and encouragement in my application. The process overall takes about 4 months, writing draft after draft and completing the application itself. I think what this program will offer me is various opportunities, especially in the teaching field. Since I applied for the ETA position and I have my TESOL certification, I will be able to find more opportunities in the education route to my career which is to teach about history.
How has studying history changed or enlightened your perspective on the world?
History has changed and enlightened my perspective on the world because I am able to think critically, problem solve, and be more empathetic. History is about studying the changes in society and how the past has shaped and continues to shape the world in which we live today. When delving into history, you examine the competing sources. You analyze and explain the problems in the past in order to see the patterns that might otherwise be invisible in the present, thus providing a perspective for understanding and solving future and current problems. Furthermore, history allows me to be empathetic because it allows me to appreciate the diverse human experience, culture, ideas, and traditions that are not my own. History allows me to see the differences and similarities of my ancestors and where I came from. As my world history professor told me, all history is connected and we are a human web.
What was your biggest takeaway from the program?
My biggest take away from the program are the professors who have taught me the knowledge I need and tools to use to be a better human being.
What will you never forget about UMBC?
The wonderful staff and professors and the history program for giving me the chance to be a writer and to be a historian.
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Dear UMBC Community,
We are excited to share that UMBC is featured in this season of "The College Tour." This television series--hosted by Alex Boylan of "The Amazing Race" and a team of award-winning producers--tells the story of what life is like on college campuses across the United States.
Through a series of student interviews in each episode, viewers have the opportunity to explore the academic, social, cultural, and campus life of a featured college or university. Over the past three seasons, top universities like the University of Oregon, Baylor University, the University of Connecticut, Arizona State University, and the University of Miami have participated in the series. "The College Tour" is available on IMDb TV, Amazon Prime, and "The College Tour" app and website, making campus tours accessible to prospective students around the world.
This past fall, "The College Tour" visited UMBC's campus and interviewed 20 undergraduate and graduate students about a variety of subjects including mentorship, co-creating our campus, research, entrepreneurship, student support, leadership development, athletics, and community. Through our students' stories, viewers will learn about life at UMBC and explore what makes us a unique and thriving university.
We are so grateful to the students who participated in "The College Tour." It is because of their generosity in sharing their time and stories that this opportunity is possible. We would like to thank:
Thomas Azari
Nailah-Bena Chambers
Courtney Coppersmith
Mohamed Galal
Logan Hawker
Gabby Khan
Levi Lewis
Zion Murphy
Lauren Norwood
Tchuissi Mbu Nyamsi
Katelyn O'Connor
Sandra Pinto
Colby Rood
Hannah Sadollah '19
Kara Seidel '18
Aarsh Shah
Maggie Taylan
Sarah Turner
Cindy Um
Giuliana Weiss
In addition to our core cast, we are also thankful to the more than 230 UMBC students, faculty, staff, and community members who supported the creation of our episode.
Please tune in and share! UMBC's episode is available to watch now on many platforms, and will be streaming on Amazon on May 10, 2022.
Dear UMBC Community,
We are excited to share that UMBC is featured in this season of "The College Tour." This television series--hosted by Alex Boylan of "The Amazing Race" and a team of award-winning producers--tells the story of what life is like on college campuses across the United States.
Through a series of student interviews in each episode, viewers have the opportunity to explore the academic, social, cultural, and campus life of a featured college or university. Over the past three seasons, top universities like the University of Oregon, Baylor University, the University of Connecticut, Arizona State University, and the University of Miami have participated in the series. "The College Tour" is available on IMDb TV, Amazon Prime, and "The College Tour" app and website, making campus tours accessible to prospective students around the world.
This past fall, "The College Tour" visited UMBC's campus and interviewed 20 undergraduate and graduate students about a variety of subjects including mentorship, co-creating our campus, research, entrepreneurship, student support, leadership development, athletics, and community. Through our students' stories, viewers will learn about life at UMBC and explore what makes us a unique and thriving university.
We are so grateful to the students who participated in "The College Tour." It is because of their generosity in sharing their time and stories that this opportunity is possible. We would like to thank:
Thomas Azari
Nailah-Bena Chambers
Courtney Coppersmith
Mohamed Galal
Logan Hawker
Gabby Khan
Levi Lewis
Zion Murphy
Lauren Norwood
Tchuissi Mbu Nyamsi
Katelyn O'Connor
Sandra Pinto
Colby Rood
Hannah Sadollah '19
Kara Seidel '18
Aarsh Shah
Maggie Taylan
Sarah Turner
Cindy Um
Giuliana Weiss
In addition to our core cast, we are also thankful to the more than 230 UMBC students, faculty, staff, and community members who supported the creation of our episode.
Please tune in and share! UMBC's episode is available to watch now on many platforms, and will be streaming on Amazon on May 10, 2022.
Dear Colleagues,
As the Spring 2022 commencement ceremonies near, we are looking forward to celebrating our graduates together as a community. Last week, we released tickets to graduates and shared our COVID-19 Safety Plan.
We hope that you will consider joining us as a volunteer for the ceremony. Volunteers are integral in helping ensure that the commencement ceremonies are a success for UMBC, our graduates, and their friends and families.
If you are interested, please complete our volunteer form no later than May 11. We will provide training and no prior experience is necessary. The form allows you to select specific ceremonies that accommodate your schedule.
If you cannot join us in person, we hope that you will plan to join us online, you will be able to stream the ceremonies at commencement.umbc.edu. We look forward to celebrating with you in May!
The Commencement Executive Committee
Graduate School Ceremony
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
10:00 am
Undergraduate Ceremonies
Thursday, May 26, 2022
10:00 am - College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, The Erickson School, and The School of Social Work
3:00 pm - College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, College of Engineering and Information Technology, and The Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs
The new cohort of the program will kick off in July 2022 and run through June 2023. New exempt staff members (at UMBC less than 3 years) are encouraged to apply to be mentees, and all exempt staff members (at UMBC for 3 years or longer) are encouraged to apply to be mentors! Contact Laila Shishineh (lailams@umbc.edu) directly with questions.
Dr. Shuyan Sun is an Associate Professor of Quantitative Methods in the Department of Psychology. Her leadership and service focus on promoting minoritized/marginalized faculty on campus and across the University System of Maryland. As a member of the Faculty Senate Honors and Awards Committee since Fall 2017, Shuyan proactively advocates for faculty from groups that are underrepresented in honors and awards nominations. As an executive board at-large member of AAAFSC since its inception in 2015, Shuyan actively assists in programming and aids in recruitment of new members by regularly meeting with job candidates who identify with AAAFSC. Shuyan is interested in the AAAFSC chair position because she deeply cares about our community and believes in the power of advocacy and action we have as a group. As the chair, Shuyan will work with the executive board to (1) develop sustainable and accessible programming to enhance member engagement and sense of community, (2) cultivate connection, communication, and collaboration among members, (3) identify shared interests and priorities of our community, (4) develop short-term and long-term action plans to increase the visibility, recognition, and impact of our community.
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR TRIVIA CONTEST WINNERS:Reina M., Francisco V., Melissa W., Emerald W. & Stephanie Z.