Ian Sillars

During my undergrad experience at UMBC I knew that moving on to graduate school was going to be an obvious next step. This, however, was a daunting task as the process of figuring out exactly what kind of program and environment I wanted to become a part of is much different in a graduate program setting compared to that of an undergraduate program.

When I decided that Industrial/Organizational Psychology was the field that I wanted to enter into, schools with this program obviously became what I focused on and UMBC’s program at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) was the first that I read about and researched. Maintaining my place in the UMBC community was extremely important to me because I had become so attached to the values and culture that UMBC instills in all of its students. Therefore, even though I wasn’t going to be around the main campus any longer, I knew the culture that I had become accustomed to would still be present which made this program very attractive. I feel comfortable knowing that I was correct in this assumption and have been able to easily transition to my new graduate program at USG.

One of the most impressive aspects of the UMBC faculty at USG has been the dedication of helping me find my passion not only in my field, but also in my life. Industrial/Organizational Psychology involves applying psychological techniques and principles to the workplace in order to create an environment that is not only conducive to the company overall, but also to the individual workers as well. Therein lies my passion and what I want to do for the rest of my life. Throughout my life I have known individuals who have had an incredibly tough time dealing with their day-to-day work for a variety of reasons. Therefore, the opportunity to research and provide data to help companies apply these principles in order to allow people to succeed instead of struggle is invaluable to me.