Listening has defined the early years of President Valerie Sheares Ashby’s tenure at UMBC, starting with her series of Bold Conversations to hear the many diverse Retriever voices. She continues to offer office hours for students, setting an example for other campus leaders to create similar opportunities in their own spaces. Meghna Chandrasekaran, Student Government Association (SGA) president, has extended the practice in her role as a programming intern at The Mosaic via “Chai Chats,” an opportunity for South Asian Retrievers to connect over their shared heritage. The biological sciences and political science senior and Sheares Ashby talk about the discomfort that leadership can bring along with the ultimate flourishing that results in finding what you were meant to do.

Meghna Chandrasekaran: As a young SGA officer, I always thought that I would have to talk a lot to make my presence known. But over time, I realized I needed to take a step back and listen. And it wasn’t listening just to listen—but listening to understand, especially lived experiences. After STRiVE [an intensive and engaging leadership for public purpose program at UMBC] and my work with the Center for Democracy and Civic Life, I’m able to assess spaces in a way that I know when I can keep engaging and when I should just take a step back and sit with possible discomfort. I’ve learned a lot about listening with intentionality.

President Sheares Ashby: I am more and more comfortable with discomfort because I have developed a practice for myself. I have decided with intent that whenever I feel anxious, I will just sit up and lean slightly forward, because I do not want to pull back from the conversation. And that is my way of saying, “Just lean in. Everybody is okay.”

Chandrasekaran: I’ve been in this SGA space since middle school. I was always told certain steps and guidelines to follow in order to be a leader. And when I came to UMBC, I thought, again: I’ll follow the guidelines. But then I went to STRiVE, and that shook up my entire worldview, to be totally honest. I learned I needed to be myself, my unapologetic self. Previously in SGA spaces, I would never bring up cultural heritage because I saw that as unprofessional. 

At the same time, I was a Leadership Peer Facilitator, and I started to understand my own personal values. Now it’s become second nature to show up in spaces as myself. That’s where the Chai Chats started—I really wanted to do something to keep me in touch with my cultural heritage, which is extremely important to me as a Tamil American student.

There have been some times when my friends have complained that I’m being “SGA president” with them and not “Meghna,” but that’s not the case anymore. It is now a part of who I am, and I just show up this way everywhere I go.

Sheares Ashby: Leaders continue to grow every day. You have a conversation like, “Ooh, I did not realize I was thinking about it that way,” or “I did not realize I had that bias,” or “I did not realize that I was not communicating clearly.” You learn something about yourself every single day, and you are growing. You show up as yourself every day and try to be the best version you could be. That is actually all anyone is asking you to do. 

It is a beautifully calming thing [to know you] do not have to have all the answers. I do not have to know anything magical. I do not have to be right—and I am probably not going to be right. All I have to do is be me. 

What is next for you, Meghna?

Chandrasekaran: I’m applying for a master’s in public policy, with a concentration in higher ed, in part because I’ve experienced something that feels unique to UMBC, especially with regards to shared governance. I talk to my peers at different institutions, and when I tell them what our SGA does, they’re like, “Whoa, what? You have a seat at the table? You’re managing a $1.1 million budget?” And I’m like, “That’s just the norm here.” I can see how the structures of our institution are set in place to allow for student involvement, and I think the end goal is agency among the entire campus. 

Sheares Ashby: You do not know how much all of that gives me joy. It is so fun to watch you. This is why I have the best job in the world. I get to watch you all become who you were intended to be. In spite of how hard it is to be a leader, I watch you do it with joy. Everyone here is trying to figure out who they actually are and how that aligns with the life that they want. You did it. 

On a sunny October afternoon, a faint melody emerges from a stand of trees just beyond the Fine Arts Building and within hearing distance of the Performing Arts and Humanities Building. We leave the paved pathway and follow our ears up the hill to find first-year music education student Luke Heichlinger leaning into the keys of a lone piano, playing what turns out to be “Ein Heldenleben” (“A Hero’s Life”) by Richard Strauss.

“I always look for a practice room with a window, but sometimes I can’t get one,” he says, explaining that he and his friend, Hannah, originally joked that the piano in the woods might be a hallucination. Thankfully, it wasn’t—so they came back the next day prepared with sheet music. 

Installed just days before, “Piano Garden” is the latest “performance” of New Zealand-born composer Annea Lockwood’s ever-growing outdoor series of “Piano Transplants” compositions in which, since 1969, defunct pianos are burned, submerged in water, or—as is the case at UMBC— left to be taken over by trees and plant life. In the days and weeks following the installation at UMBC, the unofficial path to the piano became well-worn as students like Heichlinger brought their best tunes, additional instruments, and voices, and performed—very often—just for themselves. 

Lockwood, later, visited campus as part of the annual Livewire music festival and listened while Linehan Artist Scholar and piano performance major Ida Dierker improvised in the woods for all to enjoy.

“UMBC has all these beautiful outdoor spaces,” says Linda Dusman, Livewire director, professor, and longtime Lockwood fan. “Stumbling upon a piano in the woods…kind of wakes you up to the experience of your environment. And also helps you remember what a piano does: that music can wake you up to the moment, even if you’re not   directly hearing it.”

On the day we found Heichlinger, we learn he purposefully chose a romantic era composition that might fit in well with his surroundings. The dappled shadows flitted across the keyboard as he played.

“This is a really nice setting,” he said. “Nature and music go together so well, and this is the perfect example of that.”

Take a break with the Office of Equity & Civil Rights!

Grab your favorite sweet treats & hot beverage, de-stress, and recharge. All are welcome!

Please join us in room 932 of the Administration Building from 10:00AM - 12:00 PM on Wednesday, December 11th, 2024.