Hometown: Potomac, MD

A:Assistant Professor, Faculty Advisor to the Bioethics Student Association.
 
Q: In 12 words or less, what role(s) do you play on campus? 

Q: What is the most important or memorable thing you learned in college/have learned at UMBC?

A: It took me a while to reconcile, but I've found out you can't make a change in this world with just witty comments and timely punchlines. You've got to be willing to put in the hours and brain juice to really make an impact on your environment.

Q: Complete this sentence: "I am a big fan of __________"

A: Back flips. I know it's getting pretty cliché, but there's something magical about back flips. It's like you're an astronaut swimming through hyperspace towards the sunrise for a brief moment.

Also, cake. I freakin love cake.

Q: Do you have any UMBC stories, little-known facts about UMBC, favorite spots on campus, or anything else you’d like to share?

A: Before I came to UMBC, my high school, middle school, and even elementary school all had dress codes. So when I started here, it was a small culture-shock getting used to not putting on a tie and slacks every morning. It's funny though, I'd been dressing up for school for so many years I still feel like I learn better in the tie. Three years out, you can still find me wearing a tie and button-up shirt whenever I have a test.

An undergraduate position has opened up on the UMBC Student Activity Fee Review Board (SAFRB).  The Student Activity Fee paid to UMBC by every undergraduate funds student organization events and operations, the Student Events Board, SGA and The Retriever Weekly.  SGA decides how to allocate the fee, and SAFRB, which consists of both students and non-students, provides oversight for this process.  SAFRB members' role is to ask good questions, make helpful suggestions and provide guidance to student leaders as they make decisions about the budget.

SAFRB meets roughly five times between February and April each year.  You'll find additional information the application form, which is available here.  If you think you might want to serve as an undergraduate representative, complete the form and submit it to Joe Regier at regier@umbc.edu by Monday, November 29th at 5:00 p.m..

A: I loved the feeling of possibility that SGA meetings and the energy in the Student Orgs held.  The fact that we could discuss an idea in an SGA meeting and then bring that idea into being was incredible.  I felt like nothing was impossible and more often than not nothing was.  My time in SGA taught me to look for possibility not obstacles. 

Q: What is the most important or memorable thing you learned in college?

A: It isn’t always where you are going but how you get there that matters.  I am a planner, but after graduating I wasn’t sure what my plan was.  The funny thing is that when I started thinking about the things I enjoyed or learned the most from, they have almost never been in my “plan”.  If you focus too much on your destination you miss all the wonderful things along the way.

Q: Complete this sentence: "I am a big fan of __________"

A: Libraries!  I love everything about libraries; it is an amazing feeling to have so much knowledge at your fingertips!
 
Q: Do you have any UMBC stories, little-known facts about UMBC, favorite spots on campus, or anything else you’d like to share?

A: I have lots of UMBC stories, but I think my favorite memory from my time at UMBC was the 40^th Anniversary fireworks, which I watched from the roof of the Commons.  I can’t disclose how I got up there, but it felt the perfect beginning of the end of my time at UMBC.  I had given a Convocation speech that September welcoming the new students home, I had been inspired to write the speech by a number of different things that happened while I was a student but perhaps the foundation of the speech came from the feeling of home I always felt at the end of a long day when I would walk from my office in the student orgs space back to my Walker Ave apartment.  I always felt like the campus was mine and mine alone when I would walk up the hill at sunset or after dark, I would almost always stop at the top of the hill before going into my apartment to look at the campus for a few seconds.  The feeling I had in those few seconds everyday was in large part why I wrote that speech, which in all likelihood few students would remember now, but the idea of home grew into not just a welcome to our campus, but a reminder that success is self defined, that our value is not determined by our GPAs or titles on campus.  For me being at home at UMBC was about being authentic and idea that grew out of my few seconds at the top of the hill everyday.

A:Assistant Director of Finance and Operations in Student Government and Secretary of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Q: In 12 words or less, what role(s) do you play on campus? 

A: I play baseball and am involved in many departments at UMBC. 

A: My favorite role at UMBC is being a student-athlete. I enjoy competing against other schools and representing UMBC. I really enjoy working with student government and their finance and operations department. The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has given me many opportunities to work with students from other colleges and universities. I get the most satisfaction out of mentoring an elementary school child from Baltimore City.

Q: What is the most important or memorable thing you learned in college/have learned at UMBC?

A: The most important things that I’ve learned in college are to not regret your decisions, don’t let fear of embarrassment or failure stop you from achieving something, and lend a hand to someone in need of help or guidance.

Q: Complete this sentence: "I am a big fan of __________"

A: UMBC Athletics.

Q: Do you have any UMBC stories, little-known facts about UMBC, favorite spots on campus, or anything else you’d like to share?

A: One of my favorite moments at UMBC happened during my freshman year. My friends and I woke up early the day of a huge snowstorm on campus. We went sledding on every hill on campus before the rest of campus woke up. It’s spontaneous moments and activities that make the best college memories.