Students come to UMBC with a variety
of experiences and in different stages of life. The unique perspectives
of transfer students enrich the University, particularly as students
connect with and support each other. Here, three students earning their
degrees this week share how they found community, and built community,
at UMBC.
Supporting each other
When CJ Jude ‘19, history, met Andrew Nolan,
he knew that UMBC at the Universities at Shady Grove was a place where
he would succeed. Jude transferred from Montgomery College to UMBC-Shady
Grove seeking a challenging and supportive learning community near his
home and work. Meeting Nolan, a senior lecturer and director of UMBC’s
history program at Shady Grove, gave Jude a sense of the team of faculty
and staff dedicated to his learning and growth.
CJ Jude. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
“I just realized that you’re not
going it alone, and that you can share your successes with people but
you can also commiserate with them, too,” Jude shares. “When you realize
that you’re part of a group like that, it makes your successes [even
better].”
The Universities at Shady Grove. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
Reflecting on how much community
support meant to him, Jude quickly developed a passion for helping other
students have positive experiences transferring from community college.
He connected with Chelsea Moyer, a director at Shady Grove, and became a part of the UMBC-Shady Grove Peer Advisory Team.
“We do a multitude of things,
including a lot of open houses and orientations, and we give tours. We
walk new students around campus, and help them through registration and
verification and transferability forms,” Jude explains. “We try to put
students at ease. If there’s a way we can make their transition less
jarring, that’s what we do.”
CJ Jude, left, with some friends at Shady Grove. Photo courtesy of CJ Jude.
Jude particularly recalls the moments
when students he has led through orientation have thanked him for
making their experience so positive. “I’ve actually had some of the
students whom I took the lead for come up to me and say, ‘Hey, you were
really helpful to me, and I’m doing okay this semester because you gave
me a good heads up,’” he says. “It was one of those moments where I kind
of realized how much power my voice had.”
Building a network
Like Jude, Bianca Monge
‘19, information systems, transferred to UMBC from Montgomery College.
Monge knew that she was interested in pursuing a career in
cybersecurity, specifically focused on computer networking. She was
drawn to UMBC’s Cyber Scholars program, run through the Center for Women
in Technology (CWIT) and the Center for Cybersecurity. The program has
provided her with meaningful and transformative opportunities, and Cindy Greenwood, assistant director of CWIT, has served as a mentor for Monge during her time at UMBC.
Transitioning to life as a UMBC
student “was a lot easier and smoother than I thought,” she shares,
thanks to her newfound support network. A weekend orientation
specifically for Cyber Scholars helped her to become familiar with the
campus and make connections with other students. “It was an introduction
to how my semester would be as a Cyber Scholar,” she explains. “By the
time I came back in the fall to take classes, I already had a network of
classmates, friends, and contacts.”
Bianca
Monge, second from the left, and student leaders from the UMBC chapter
of the Information System Security Association. Photo courtesy of Bianca
Monge.
CWIT networking opportunities and
special events have proved beneficial to Monge’s academic and
professional growth as she advanced in the Cyber Scholars program, Monge
was paired with an incoming Cyber Scholar, whom she has mentored
throughout the year. “I didn’t think that I had much to offer,” she
shared, but that changed when she found she was able to answer her
mentee’s questions based on her own UMBC experience. “I am more than
happy to tell her all that I knew, and all that I have learned over the
years.”
Outside of CWIT, Monge has been an
active member of the UMBC chapter of the Information System Security
Association (ISSA), a student organization that helps students pursuing
degrees in information systems with career networking and connecting
with industry experts. She says that having facetime and interactions
with professionals helped her become more confident as a student, and
prepare her for her career.
Bianca Monge, second from right in back row, with her Cyber Scholars cohort. Photo courtesy of Cindy Greenwood.
Monge had an opportunity to intern
for Leidos over the summer, and plans to begin working full-time with
the company as a cyber intelligence analyst after graduation.
Creating a community
Josie Aquino ‘19, mechanical
engineering, came to UMBC after transferring from Harford Community
College. When she arrived on campus for a tour, she says, “I immediately
felt so at home and not just the physical environment, but the people
around me. I knew I could make this my home, and that I could learn a
lot here.”
Josie
Aquino, second from left in second row, and mechanical engineering
faculty and S-STEM Scholars. Photo courtesy of Josie Aquino.
Aquino was eager to get connected on
campus, exploring new interests and building new relationships. “I’m a
returning student, a first-generation student, and also a transfer
student, and I really felt like now is my time to dig in and try all
these different things.”
Aquino has been able to challenge
herself while also accessing community support as a Returning Women’s
Scholar through the UMBC Women’s Center, and a member of the S-STEM
program through the mechanical engineering department. These groups, she
says, helped her feel part of something larger. As a commuting student,
Aquino found that the Women’s Center in particular provided a peaceful
and welcoming space for her to use between classes.
Aquino also began conducting research alongside Jamie Gurganus,
associate director of engineering education initiatives, on transfer
students in STEM. She has focused on transfer students’ beliefs about
engineering, and their sense of identity as engineers, which can impact
degree attainment and career trajectory.
Josie
Aquino and classmates make a bike accessible for a person with
disabilities through Volunteers for Medical Engineering. Photo courtesy
of Josie Aquino.
As she settled in to life at UMBC,
Aquino became passionate about helping incoming students have the kind
of positive experience that she has enjoyed. Recalling how helpful she
found a transfer student seminar in her first semester on campus, Aquino
was connected with Laila Shishineh,
director of academic engagement and transition programs, by Gurganus to
learn how she could get involved on the teaching side. Aquino became a
peer facilitator and has now supported transfer students in seminar
classes over multiple semesters.
Combined, these experiences have
helped Aquino feel confident and prepared for her future career, and
energized to support new transfer students in reaching for their goals.
“We need people just like you, with your experiences and your
perspectives, represented here,” she shares with incoming students. “The
community is just really incredible to be a part of.”
Banner image: Josie Aquino, right, in the Women’s Center at UMBC. Photo courtesy of Josie Aquino.
; she conjures her musical muses—think Stevie Nicks or the Wilson sisters from Heart—leaning into the lyrics while shredding her guitar. Her hair glows purple in the spotlight.
Portrait of Rahne Alexander in her Baltimore studio by Marlayna Demond ’11.
Still from “Dude Descending a Staircase” courtesy of Rahhe Alexander.
(L-R): Jack Pinder, Skizz Cyzyk, Rahne Alexander, Mickey Dehn, Sarah Michaels, and Joseph Mulhollen
