We're asking some of the people you might encounter on the UMBC campus, including students, faculty, staff and alumni, to answer a few questions about themselves and their experiences. These are their responses.
Name: Jodi Kelber-Kaye
Hometown: Boston, MA
Q: How long have you been at UMBC?
A: 12 years
A: Just one? Well, I think the thing I'm most proud of recently is UMBC's new Americorps/VISTA project that came about as a result of some great work students did in my Honors seminar, Race, Poverty and Gender in Baltimore. College JUMP is a mentoring and college readiness program for high school aged refugee youth in Baltimore City and County and the program was partly designed by students in my class. Now, College JUMP is off and running, led by Sondheim/Honors alum Christie Smith in conjunction with the Refugee Youth Project, and has 18 mentees and 15 mentors. This matters because the students in my class can see the real-world impact of a class project that has the potential to positively affect so many people--the refugee youth, their families, their communities and the UMBC student mentors. Little by little, we each make a great impact in this world and I'm glad I was able to help this program happen.
Q: Complete this sentence: "I am a big fan of __________"
A: During a program for a new partnership I'm helping to create with Baltimore City, I was recently on the Library 7th floor with a group of Baltimore City public high school students and one of the students noted the view from the windows. I'm up there so often that I forget how incredible the view is, and so we stood there together for a minute and picked out some distant Baltimore landmarks together. As two people who love Baltimore so much, it was a nice way for us to connect and to look at a spectacular view. It also reminded me to look up sometimes!
Hometown: Boston, MA
Q: How long have you been at UMBC?
A: 12 years
Q: What is your current title (job or student organization position)?
A: Associate Director of the Honors College
Q: In 12 words or less, what role(s) do you play on campus?
A: Student advisor, administrator, teacher, collaborator, motivator
Q: What aspect of your UMBC role(s) do you enjoy most?
A: Hands down, working with students. I love getting to teach them and advise them and design programs for them. I would be lying, though, if I didn't say I also enjoy some of the problem-solving skills I get to use as an administrator!
Q: What is the most important or memorable thing you learned in college/have learned at UMBC?
A: Ask for help. I used to be painfully shy so I would always try to figure out how to do things on my own, even when I had no idea how to do it, and would never ask for help. At one dark point in my life, I knew that if I didn't ask for help, I might not survive. And so I was forced to ask, and I try to remember that asking for help is the greatest gift I can give myself because I then get to work with some incredible people as a result.
Q: What is one way you have worked with others to make a positive difference at UMBC or in another community?
A: Ask for help. I used to be painfully shy so I would always try to figure out how to do things on my own, even when I had no idea how to do it, and would never ask for help. At one dark point in my life, I knew that if I didn't ask for help, I might not survive. And so I was forced to ask, and I try to remember that asking for help is the greatest gift I can give myself because I then get to work with some incredible people as a result.
Q: What is one way you have worked with others to make a positive difference at UMBC or in another community?
A: Just one? Well, I think the thing I'm most proud of recently is UMBC's new Americorps/VISTA project that came about as a result of some great work students did in my Honors seminar, Race, Poverty and Gender in Baltimore. College JUMP is a mentoring and college readiness program for high school aged refugee youth in Baltimore City and County and the program was partly designed by students in my class. Now, College JUMP is off and running, led by Sondheim/Honors alum Christie Smith in conjunction with the Refugee Youth Project, and has 18 mentees and 15 mentors. This matters because the students in my class can see the real-world impact of a class project that has the potential to positively affect so many people--the refugee youth, their families, their communities and the UMBC student mentors. Little by little, we each make a great impact in this world and I'm glad I was able to help this program happen.
A: Nutella
Q: Do you have any UMBC stories, little-known facts about UMBC, favorite spots on campus, or anything else you’d like to share?
Co-Create UMBC is a blog for and about UMBC, written by David Hoffman and Craig Berger from the Office of Student Life. Join the Co-Create UMBC group on MyUMBC. Like Co-Create UMBC on Facebook. And follow David and Craig on Twitter.
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