Ebonie Gadson

I am a student at the University Maryland, College Park at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) majoring in Information Science. I transferred from Montgomery College (MC) with an associates in Information Systems. I first heard about USG through my Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (ACES) program. The ACES program starts in high school and helps guide students through the process of attaining a bachelor’s degree. I did extensive academic planning and learned more about USG’s transfer pathways through my Career Experience Opportunities (CEO) coach. The CEO program helps with career planning and career development.

I chose to attend my classes on the USG campus because of the smaller class sizes and the diverse campus community. At USG, my professors know me by name and I am able to work in a collaborative environment with my colleagues. Since the Information Science program at USG is a cohort, I am able to create a strong bond with my classmates. Also, my courses and degree at MC transferred easily into the program. The resources and personalized support at USG has helped me grow and be successful in my academic and career pursuits.

At USG, I participate in the ACES program, Student Ambassador program, and CEO program. I started my own club with help from friends called Ladies in Tech (L.i.T). The club aims to create a collaborative and communicative environment for women interested in computer, computational, and engineering fields such as Data Science, Cybersecurity, and Biotechnology. In addition to participating in clubs and organizations, I am also a student employee at USG’s IT Service Desk.

After I earn my bachelors, my main goal is to work as a Systems and/or Data Analysts for a government agency or tech company. Another career goal of mine is to start a nonprofit that will help female prison inmates learn technical skills, like programming languages. It will serve as a boot camp while they are in prison that intensively teaches them how to apply these skills in the workforce. Once they are out of prison, they will receive a certificate of completion of the boot camp. The skills they learn at the boot camp will hopefully translate into jobs allowing these women the chance to start over. Lastly, I hope to enroll in a graduate program majoring in Information Systems Management (ISM), Human Computer Interaction (HCI), or Data Science.