I was first introduced to the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) campus during my time at Montgomery College (MC). I was initially driven to apply to my program, Information Science, offered by the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) at USG because of the shorter commute time to campus. After going on my very first tour of USG, I was happy to learn of the small class sizes, similar to my community college experience, and I continued to keep this in mind as I prepared to transfer.

I later applied to the Information Science program through UMCP and got accepted to both campuses, but ultimately chose USG. I realized that both campuses offered a quality education, but attending USG had the added benefit of convenience. I was able to keep my current job and attend school with no additional commute time, further setting myself up for success and allowing me the ability to pay my way through school. I also found the academic advisors and staff members at USG to be extremely helpful in guiding me through the transfer process, which absolutely helped solidify my decision.

I selected my program because I wanted a degree that was highly involved in both humanities and technology. The Information Science program at UMCP had both the flexibility and hands-on approach that I was looking for.

I was involved in the UMD Data Competition last semester, where my team and I analyzed a COVID-19 behavior changes dataset captured from a nationwide survey conducted from April to July of 2020. After presenting our findings, we went on to win an “Outstanding Undergraduate Project” award. I hope to participate in more data competitions in future semesters.

I am currently working at Navy Federal Credit Union as a Business Operations Analyst intern. In this role, I am getting hands-on experience with Power BI and systems functionality. Previously, in the summer of 2021, I completed an internship with Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory where I programmed a Selenium web driver using Python to automate search queries for grant and contract opportunities on multiple government clearing houses.

I plan to graduate in the spring of 2022 with a B.S. in Information Science and a minor in Geographic Information Science, and will be the first in my family to graduate with my bachelor’s degree. In the future, I want to become a Data Analyst and complete a master’s degree in data science.

I was able to keep my current job and attend school with no additional commute time, further setting myself up for success and allowing me the ability to pay my way through school. I also found the academic advisors and staff members at USG to be extremely helpful in guiding me through the transfer process, which absolutely helped solidify my decision.
Rachel Macairan