Hi I’m Kiana Watkins! I’m majoring in applied linguistics. I love Stardew Valley, Good Omens, and theatre. I’m excited for the freedom of college and the opportunity to meet like-minded students.
Hi! My name is Madison Lam (Maddie). I am double majoring in Global Studies and Business Technology Administration. For my future career, I hope to travel around the world and meet people from different cultures using the skills I will learn from my four years at UMBC.
Hello! My name is Zen Fontanilla and I am from Baltimore County, Maryland. I’m an upcoming English major with a Writing, Rhetoric & Technology concentration, and I may also be double majoring in either American Studies or Sociology. I’m honored to be able to study and learn alongside amazing people–students and faculty–from within the Humanities Scholars Program and I’m more than excited to be living and sharing the next 4 years of my life with them. I am passionate about the arts, and I believe art–be it paintings and illustrations, sculpture and 3-D modeling, fashion and design, music and dance, or film and literature–are what makes humans Humans. I believe in a world where so many people are divided, art will always find its way in the ways we express ourselves, the experiences we’ve been through and the beliefs we hold, and throughout history art has served as a reminder of the perseverance of all these things. It is mind-boggling how little appreciation art has received, especially today where A.I, both algorithmic and generative, has undercut so much of our ability to critically think and discuss about the impact of ongoing events. In the future, I hope to find a path where I’ll be able to advocate for those whose lives have been affected by our system’s injustices. Until then, I hope to do the same during my time in UMBC.
Hello! My name is Severin Abbey, I’m from Cecil County, Maryland, and I’m so excited to join the Hum Scholars this fall. In my free time I love all types of crafts from sewing and embroidery to painting. I swam on my high school’s swim team and plan to continue swimming on umbc’s club team. I’m majoring in English and Environmental Sciences so if you ever get the urge to talk about books or writing hit me up because I always love to chat about that. With my degree, I plan on becoming a lawyer in environmental law. I’m looking forward to meeting new people and making new friends!
My name is Sid Burns and I am majoring in Media & Communications and minoring in Creative Writing. I’m super excited to join the UMBC Humanities Scholars and the wider UMBC community in general. I like reading, writing and watching old movies in my spare time and I want to go into radio as a career.
Hi! My name is Rowen Green and I’m an incoming freshman coming from Saint Vincent Pallotti High School. Despite having spent the past four years in my schools basement being rather unproductive with 3D printers, I find myself in the Humanities Program. This is presumably due to my decision to major in Japanese, my futile attempt to do something not Engineering related. I’m excited to be a part of Humanities, which wasn’t something that I had considered a possibility until I got the offer to apply and was accepted. I look forward to learning more about it and spending time with everyone. I plan to pair my Japanese Major with another, at the time of writing, undecided major (It’s going to be Engineering related, but let me live in denial a bit longer). I’ve studied Japanese for a few years now as a Duel Enrollment Student and have taken one of UMBC’s summer courses on it as well. I am excited to finally study it full time! In my free time enjoy reading books, drawing, and playing video games. I look forward to being a part of this community and seeing what other peoples interests are!
Hi there! My name is Bo Riordan, though I usually go by Bo or Bo Grace! I’m an on-campus freshman at UMBC studying Modern Languages and Linguistics with a concentration in Korean language and culture. I’m also pursuing double minors in Asian Studies and Global Studies, with hopes of studying abroad in South Korea someday. Essentially, I’m your go-to person to bring along to Korean BBQ~ Outside of academics, I’m passionate about a wide variety of music, Nintendo games, and collecting magical items like crystals and herbs. I’d describe myself as adventurous and always excited to try something new, whether that means picking up a new hobby, exploring somewhere new, or embarking on a spontaneous side quest together. I’m so excited to be part of the Humanities program community and to meet new people, make memories, and learn and grow together!💕
My name is Clara Ekeagwu, and I’m from PG County, Maryland. I’m majoring in English on a Pre Law track, with the goal of eventually pursuing a career in property law. I have a strong love for books and writing, and also enjoy creating art. I spend most of my time at the gym and I’m very excited to make the most of this year with the program.
Hi! My name is Claudia Fernandez-Deardurff, and I’m a freshman at UMBC! I’m currently studying Media & Communications, with a hope to go into sports presenting one day. Outside of academics, I am also a part of UMBC’s Swim & Dive team, go dawgs! I typically compete in the backstroke events, and I really enjoy a good race! I’m originally from Dayton, Ohio, the birthplace of aviation, and my club team was the Dayton Raiders. I’ll always be so thankful for the family and community swimming has given me. In my free time, I love to read and watch movies. My favorite genre is horror, and it’s no surprise that my favorite holiday is Halloween. If you ever need any horror recommendations, I’m your person! Fun fact: Scream (1996) is my favorite movie, and I will always recommend it as a good beginner horror movie. When I’m not obsessing over horror, I’m busy obsessing over motorsports. I’m a huge Formula 1, MotoGP, and IndyCar fan. My favorite drivers/riders are George Russell (F1), Marc Marquez (MotoGP), and Pato O’Ward (IndyCar) (though I’m hopeful for Mick Schumacher to make an appearance in my favorites here). If it’s a race weekend, you’ll probably find me glued to a screen somewhere, I just have to know what’s going on! I’m very excited and grateful to be apart of this program. If you see me on campus, feel free to say hello, I love meeting new people!
Deeptangsu Rauniar is a first-year undergraduate student at UMBC pursuing majors in Global Studies and Psychology. Originally from Nepal, she spent several years studying in India before moving to the United States. Her interests include international relations, global affairs, psychology, law, and the ways in which societies can create more equitable and sustainable futures. Outside the classroom, she enjoys meeting new people, writing, and exploring ideas at the intersection of global affairs and human behavior.
Hi!! My name is Jiana Taylor. I’m from Crofton, MD. I’m an Interdisciplinary Studies major with plans to focus on both Pre-Law and the humanities. I want to be a family law attorney, so it’s very important to me that I know how people and society work. I think we’d all benefit from mixing a bit of the humanities in when we study. It’s important to know how the world works, both the past and present. Not just your surrounding community, but your country, other countries, societies, and cultures. It’s important that we know about ourselves, our peers, and even people hours away. I believe that the humanities can be useful in more deeply understanding your academic field, and highly recommend even just one humanities class to any academic. Personally, I want to use the humanities to help me when I’m (hopefully!) practicing law in the future, because it’ll help me understand the actions, emotions and context/background of the people around me. I’m really excited to get to know my cohort and the previous ones as well, and I’m excited for a great year!
Hey! My name is Skye Njoroge, and I am majoring in History going on the pre-law track. This is my first year at UMBC. I originally got interested in history during my 8th grade American History class. The enthusiastic personality of my teacher, mixed with the communicative, Socratic Seminar teaching style and nuances of history, sparked my interests to continue pursuing it. In high school, I continued to study history by taking AP World History: Modern, AP US History, and AP African American Studies. I also happened to take AP US Government & Politics in my freshmen year of high school, which interested me in politics and pursuing law. Non-academically, I enjoy crocheting, walking/running, cooking something up in the kitchen, reading, or hanging out. The shows I love to watch are comedic sitcoms or dramas. I love to listen to RnB, pop, or any music you can dance to. While at UMBC, I hope to gain the skills and knowledge to better prepare myself for working in my professional career while also making the most memorable college experience. Glad to be here!
