By: Rithik Kavanakudy
When Dan Truckenbrodt began his time at UMBC, he started off on an engineering track. However, like many students just starting college, he discovered it wasn’t the right path for him. He soon found the MCS program and decided to give it a shot, as it piqued his interest and seemed to be the best fit from the other majors he had looked at.
“I went into my freshman year on an engineering track but very quickly realized that it was not for me,” Dan recalls. He “eventually attended an intro-level MCS class – if I’m remembering correctly, Dr. Snyder was my professor – I really enjoyed the topics that we covered and the discussions we had in class.” This class would serve as the catalyst for Dan’s MCS career.
Dan would go on to graduate in Winter 2015 with his major in MCS and a minor in English/Writing. Though he wasn’t entirely sure where MCS would lead him when he decided on the major, he didn’t let that stop him from immersing himself and taking away key skills that would one day prove to be useful. One of his favorites was learning to create and do voiceover for stop-motion videos, which he did for an MCS assignment.
“The assignment was to create a presentation discussing one of your favorite pieces of technology, but I decided I wanted to take it further than just a PowerPoint presentation. It was a lot of work for just a 1-2 minute video, but I was super happy with how it turned out.” He explains that he had fun going through the process of compiling photos and putting them together and putting a voice over to create a finished product.
Today, Dan is working as a project manager at a web agency in Baltimore that specializes in building websites for high-end clients, as well as museums, cultural institutions, and some multinational corporations. Recently, they won a Webby for one of the sites they had produced. Before this position, he was working as a marketing manager at a publishing company for 5 years here in Baltimore.
For Dan, career goals can be defined in two ways: where one looks at job titles/positions and the money they earn, and the other looks at what one gets out of their career. He goes on to note that “a solid work-life balance, finding satisfaction in the work you do, and having great coworkers that make your days enjoyable are all things that I find myself placing greater importance on. I still want to make money! But, I also want to have an enjoyable time doing it, too.”
Going back to skills, Dan recommends that students focus on gaining skills in communication and personability. “So much of media, comms, marketing, and management jobs are people-facing, and being able to effectively communicate is extraordinarily important.” He goes on to note how many other technical and job-specific skills can be picked up along the way, but that being able to communicate effectively is one of the most important.
For new MCS students, Dan notes that one of his regrets was not doing more internships when he had the chance. “Internships can really open the door to so many more opportunities and connections post-graduation that you otherwise will have to work 10x harder for.” He adds that they are a great way to see the working world and potential fields of interest to work towards. One of Dan’s bigger regrets was not planning to do study abroad earlier in his academic career before it became too late. Studying abroad can allow students to explore and experience the world outside of their home countries.
Despite these regrets, UMBC still helped to shape Dan’s career in tangible ways. He was able to make connections with some of the hiring managers at some of the jobs he’s worked at after he noticed they were UMBC alumni, and thus mentioned that in his cover letters to them. He also notes that he got his first office job through a friend he had met at UMBC.
The process to Dan’s current role was, as he describes as “Unusual?”. He continued working at his restaurant job for several months until he got the aforementioned job from his friend, with which he started to build up his resume. He goes on saying, “After leaving that job and taking a bit of time off to do some post-education soul searching, I found my way into the marketing and publishing world by happenstance.”
Outside of work, Dan enjoys a multitude of hobbies. “I’ve always been into photography, that’s a bit of a mainstay in my life. Last year, I bought a super-telephoto lens, so I’ve been getting more into bird photography recently.” Dan also loves to travel, for which he has a few trips planned for this year, as well as partake in pottery classes, which he's done for 2 years now.
Dan does not forget about his time at UMBC. When asked about his favorite memory, he jokes, “Graduation day? No only (half) kidding. Honestly, just walking around campus, especially on nice spring days,” He explains how it wasn’t something he truly appreciated until after he had graduated.
Dan most often consumes media through social media, “though I don’t love that that's the case.” A fun fact about Dan is that he has officiated a friend’s wedding and recommends it to those who have the opportunity.
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Curated and designed by CADVC Exhibitions Designer and Coordinator Andrew Liang, with curatorial assistance from IMDA MFA student Mariia Usova, this exhibition presents the broad and dynamic scope of senior undergraduate student work within the UMBC Visual Arts Department. The exhibition is open May 13-25.