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The following passages were written by CWIT and SITE scholars to share their thoughts and experiences with the community. We hope that this page will help you learn more about student life at UMBC and the CWIT/SITE scholar programs. Welcome to the family SITE! - (November 3, 2008) Starbucks & Housing - Thomas Davis (November 7, 2008) What I like best about CWIT - Sabrina Bates (November 18, 2008) Where's CMD Gone?? - Denise Van (November 26, 2008) No more Computer Mania Day at UMBC? - Kevin Lee (December 2, 2008) Top Welcome to the family SITE! (November 3, 2008) The Center for Women & Information Technology has expanded its family! In 2007, CWIT introduced a new scholar program called SITE, and they have been inseparable ever since. And why not!? CWIT and SITE scholars share similar schedules, classes, and interests. And since they are both run by the same staff, they see more of each other than they can bear. Of course there's the occassional friendly competition between the two groups, but they wouldn't have it any other way. Welcome to the family SITE! Top Starbucks & Housing Thomas Davis (November 7, 2008) Hey everyone! So, the semester is slowly starting to wind down (though some of you may not feel like it is), and there are a couple things I just wanted to talk about. First off, Starbucks. I know how most STEM majors are attracted by their daily dose(es) of caffeine, which makes me wonder what you all think of the new Starbucks coming to campus during the summer of 09. Personally, I'm excited to get my daily frappucino, but I'm not excited about the amount of flex dollars I already know will be sucked away through a straw. Another thing - housing. I know at least a few of us live on-campus, and I also know a few of us live outside of the traffic-frenzied loop. I often wonder what some of the perks of off-campus housing are, because all I can think of are higher utility bills, monthly rent payments, and an increased risk of theft or other bad things happening. I personally like on-campus housing (maybe because it is free for me), because it's nice to wake up not having to worry about beltway blunders, interstate incidents, and other commuting concerns. Maybe commuting has its perks, but I prefer living on campus. Top What I like best about CWIT Sabrina Bates (November 18, 2008) What I like best about CWIT is the amount of networking opportunities it provides for scholars. We are able to shape ourselves for socializing and networking in the business world, and CWIT polishes our communication skills. Also, it is more than just an organization or a scholarship program to its scholars; CWIT provides a family of support for academic as well as personal struggles and successes. CWIT has been one of the reasons my college experience has been so well rounded and fulfilling. Top Where's CMD Gone?? Denise Van (November 26, 2008) As a previous CSEMS and now SITE scholar who's volunteered for every Computer Mania Day even since she's been here at UMBC, every year since spring of 2006, it saddens me to hear that there might be no more CMD at UMBC anymore. Since the founder of the program, Claudia Morrell, has left for bigger and better things, it seems that the program might have left with her as well. I truly enjoyed every moment spent preparing for this fantastic event that promotes interest in STEM activities in middle schoolers as well as their parents. Every moment of the event is geared towards showing young boys and girls how much fun technology can be and what you can take away from it. I've been an advocate for it since I heard about it when I first started working in the CWIT office. I really wonder what will become of Computer Mania Day and I'm hoping for the best because it would be quite a shame to have such a great program slip through our fingers. Top No more Computer Mania Day at UMBC? Kevin Lee (December 2, 2008) Computer Mania Day was an inspirational day long event that I personally looked forward volunteering for. I remember helping Lockheed Martin for 2 years with an interactive demonstration of a modified iRobot vacuum cleaner and a Lego Mindstorm robot used in the high school BotBall competitions. I truly will miss Computer Mania Day as I got so much joy teaching aspiring middle school female scientists and engineers the basics of programming and the functionality of robots in everyday life. Seeing the smiles on the kids faces when they understood how logical operators functioned was more than enough to win my approval of this program. Computer Mania Day was such a unique event as not only did it expose middle school students from all around Maryland to the many fields of science, but it also opened up their eyes showing successful women in the IT, engineering, and scientific fields who truly enjoyed what they were doing. Top |
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