Agricultural Communications and Leadership

Educational Goals

            Two years ago, while still studying and working in agriculture, I decided to take an Intro to Communications class as an elective and found out very quickly that I also have a love for working with people and for leading others. After changing my major to communications and graduating with an associate’s degree, I realized that while I loved both agriculture and communications equally, neither by itself would satisfy my intellectual goals. Upon finding the BDIC program here at UMass Amherst, I am hoping that I’ve found the solution to my problem.  Through BDIC, I want to explore agriculture more, while taking core classes in communications and also strengthen my professional skills by taking classes in leadership, entrepreneurship and education. I plan to call the degree “Agricultural Communications and Leadership”.

            Also, while taking classes in agriculture, communications and leadership, I am hoping to get myself out in the work force and get real life experiences in this field. I think that for both the agriculture and communications fields alike, it is very important to have real world experiences. In communications, It is important to have strong public speaking skills and be able to maintain control of different people and situations. No matter what you learn in a classroom, you can only gain these skills through actually doing it. For these reasons, I am hoping to either find an internship for a semester, or to go on a domestic exchange study. There are agricultural communications majors already set-up at other institutions across the country. I would love to travel to one of these schools and be able to work with students and professors who are already doing what I am hoping to accomplish. In conclusion, by taking classes in these three main departments (agriculture, communications and education[leadership]) and devoting myself to an internship or exchange program, I know that BDIC will help me to discover the agricultural leader and advocate that I want to become.

Experiential Background

            Over the past 6 years, I have been working very closely with the agriculture industry. I have a strong passion for plants and animals and it is truly the trade I want to be involved in. The first experience I had that lead me to explore agricultural communications would be my work with the FFA, or The Future Farmers of America. The FFA is a national youth organization whose purpose is to develop students’ potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. I am currently a state officer with the organization and have been for the last three years. My job is to be an advocate for agricultural education and be a leader, role model and representative of agriculture and the organizations over 500,000 members across the country. My experiences with the group have taught me to love public relations and working with people. I think that I would be great in a position that requires me to advocate on behalf of the organization or business, even better if it is an agricultural business or institution. Also, this position has given me so many leadership opportunities, like speaking in front of large groups of people and influencing members and business owners across the state and country. I think I have very strong leadership and entrepreneurial skills, again, because of my work with the FFA and being able to be the leader of an organization and of a team of leaders, so I would like to keep strengthening them and add this concentration to my proposal.

            Other experiences that I have had that have lead me to where I  am would be my other college experiences and things I am interested in. First off, I already have my associates degree in communications so I know what kind of courses I need to take and I already know that I enjoy them. I learned what kind of classes I liked and which ones I didn’t like and I’ve figured out that there are many classes in the communications field that I would like to try. There is just something so rewarding to me about working in an industry that directly supplies people with food and clothing. By combining this love with my natural abilities in the communications field, I would have the perfect major to prepare me for life beyond college.

Continuing Aims     

            I think the world today needs more people who are proficient in communications studies. Media is exponentially growing and becoming more complex. This means that people are going to be getting information in more ways than we already are. By having a strong background in communications, I’ll be better suited to find new ways to get people the information they need through whatever channel they want it through. By adding my agriculture knowledge into the mix I would be able to organize information about agricultural events and news and send it out to people so that they can be more informed about an industry that is so important to our world.

            After I receive my degree in Agricultural Communications, I would love to find a job directly related to what I am doing. I haven’t decided if I would continue with my education and go on to graduate school yet, but it is definitely an option. I think if I did continue on with graduate school, I would really like to get my masters in the arts and continue with something in communications. I would also really like to go to a graduate school far away from here so that I could experience other cultures of people and see how they do things across the country, such as in a big city or in a small rural town. Every county in ever state has different policies and different goals for agricultural practices, so I would love to experience one of them Regardless of grad school, I think the type of job that BDIC will prepare me for is one in a position of leadership. I would love to work with a Public Relations firm or do something where I would get to dictate my own work and create my own schedule. I work best in jobs where I have a goal or a deadline, but the path I take to reaching that goal is decided by me. Also, for me to be happy in a job, I would have to be working with agriculture. Just doing PR work wouldn’t be enough. In addition to this degree helping me with my future career, it would also be helping me with my hobbies. I love working with animals and I am also interested in getting into some plant hobbies, such as gardening. Currently, I love training dogs and doing agility and obedience work, as well as breeding rabbits. I am hoping that this degree will help me understand more about the business side of what I am already doing, as well as teach me more about things I would like to do.

            With this degree, I would be qualified for jobs, such as working with the United States Department of Agriculture or other government funded agriculture organizations, educating others about the agriculture field or with a company or organization that needs a public relations specialist. There is a huge calling for people in this field because with the surge in technologies in this century, agriculture has become over shadowed. People have started to not care about where their food or clothing comes from. It is all about money and getting things fast. Seeing this, many agricultural businesses are looking for people to help them keep up with the trends and keep the public educated about what they are buying or consuming. 

Artistic Direction and Management

After graduating, I volunteered with ACT NOW!  a non-profit organization in Amherst that focuses on empowering youth and building self-confidence inyoung girls through creative movie-making.

After ACT NOW!, I had my first post-college interview and was immediately hired into that position as Assistant Event Coordinator at Chamber Theatrem Productions.  I was working for a Broadway producer booking national tours. It was alright and I learned a lot, but I realized that my heart didn't lie on the administrative side of theatre, it lies on the creative/production side.

That job ended on a Friday, and by the following Monday, my dream jobs came through: I am currently a working Director/Choreographer in Boston, which is precisely what my degree from BDIC set me up to do.  I am directing Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" at Bentley University, and choreographing a production of "Singin' in the Rain" at the Arsenal Center for the Arts.  I am still pursuing photography on the side.

I think it shows that if you follow your heart, it can only lead you in positive directions. I consider myself incredibly lucky to be doing exactly what I want to be doing in this economy (or in any economy for that matter).  I believe it was a combination of the skill set BDIC gave me and my own personal drive that allows me to say how unbelievably happy and fortunate I am these days.

Artistic Entrepreneurship

Artistic Entrepreneurship

Over the past three years as a UMass student, I have struggled and lost hair over the vital decisions for my future.  I considered being a different major on campus every other week, if not daily.  Anyone who knows me can reassure that fact, especially those who reside in my little sanctuary nestled over the pillars of Goodell. 

As a freshman I came into the BDIC office for the first time, not to inquire about designing my own major but in hopes to get a job.  Fortunately enough, I landed a great opportunity with an on campus job and didn't even know it was going to become my new major.  As I became familiar with the program and the faculty and staff that make BDIC the special program it is, the more welcomed I felt into the department.

At the time I was this student in limbo trying to figure out the best course of study that would fit all of my interests.  I was a declared Mathematics and Theater double major; two completely different worlds but both very interesting to me.  My initial plan was to become a high school mathematics teacher while pursuing my appreciation of performing arts and design. 

It's funny to see that as I think about the BDIC being an interdisciplinary program, I was always subconsciously doing something in that manner.  

After taking a semester off from school, it finally grew on me enough to decide that BDIC was right for me.  I made my second entrance into the BDIC program this past spring with an Artistic Entrepreneurship concentration.  My major is intricately crafted to work along side pursuing a Theater double major.  Initially I also proposed to do a Studio Art minor but that didn't work out due to scheduling conflicts.  My concentration is combining the areas of social and behavioral sciences like Psychology and Communication, along with some business courses like Marketing and Entrepreneurship, along side different courses that focus on different artistic mediums like Film, Writing, Studio Art, and Theater.  To truly have an interdisciplinary approach, I want to continue to explore what is entrepreneurship.   Is it a business model?  Is it a way of thinking?  Can it be a process of execution?  Moreover, what makes an entrepreneur?  Whatever it is, you still have to develop your own credibility for your identity.  You do that as well as being a BDIC student.  I want to apply all of that to the artistic industries and the creative economy tying it all of my components.  I must say that I am now enjoying BDIC in more than one dimension.

Being a BDIC employee is like working for an Angels Investor company, where getting the sighs of relief and smiles of joy from our students is a daily aspect of what we do.  Being a BDIC student is like being the celebrity walking down the street chased by paparazzi.  That's how great a deal it is...well, at least for me!

Aviation and Foreign Policy

Educational Goals

When I started last fall at Purdue University, I thought aviation was the only subject I had an interest in studying further, but after two semesters of this conservatory-like education, I realized that aviation on its own was not enough for me. I needed more intellectual challenge and I needed to study something that would let me make my mark on the world; when I saw the BDIC program here at the University of Massachusetts, I knew my transfer to the University of Massachusetts was inevitable. All these factors somehow came together like a puzzle to reveal that I would combine my passion of aviation with the incredibly pertinent study of foreign policy to give me insight to some of the world’s hot topic issues and conflicts. Through my major I hope to gain an in depth knowledge of the science, law, and history of United States foreign policy. In addition, I will pursue the study of aviation through independent study courses at Northampton Airport, obtaining my Commercial Pilot – Multi Engine Land as well as Certified Flight Instructor-Instrument and Multi Engine.

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Civic Engagement + Public Policy and Social Change

Alexandra Martines

Educational Goals

            Though we seem to live in a civilized society, a first world country, America is not without its faults. Our people still go hungry, others face discrimination, and still more cannot even function in our highly educated society. According to “The Silent Epidemic,” every twenty-nine seconds, a student drops out of high school; More than one million American high school students drop out every year. It is estimated that 1 in 10 households in America goes hungry or is threatened by the possibility of hunger. Forty-four of our fifty states refuse to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. These facts may be disheartening to some, but to me they are motivating. While I know that I cannot singlehandedly fix the world, our country, or even a community, I also know that small groups of determined people have often led to great social change. However, the people that change the world are not conformists. They do not take the easy way out. They are leaders, people who seek out and synthesize the resources they need to create social justice and ease the burdens of those who go without. BDIC is where these people belong, and where I belong.          

  For my curriculum, I plan to follow the new Civ + X track. I will integrate courses from the Citizen Scholars Program, Anthropology, Sociology, Environmental Science, and Political Science. My curriculum will be based upon the above service learning model, uniting civic engagement, academic study, and practical experience. I am pulling from several different departments because the issues of public policy and social change are vast and cannot be explored in few disciplines. From the Sociology department, I will utilize courses that allow me to study social movements of the past in order to understand the diverse catalysts that lead to social change. Courses from the Anthropology department will give me a global perspective on possible solutions to our own country’s issues. The Environmental Science courses will provide me with relevant knowledge about sustainability and interconnectedness. The classes I take in the Political Science department will focus on public policy and the tools necessary to address social problems politically. The Citizen Scholars program and Grassroots Community Development and its subsequent courses will provide both theory and tools in a way that unites my diverse discipline in a cogent way.

Experiential Background

            I originally became interested in international issues of society during the “Save Nazanin” campaign that Amnesty International ran with Nazanin Afshin-Jam to free a woman in Iran who had been imprisoned for stabbing a man who attempted to sexually assault her and her cousin. That this woman was jailed for her actions and, without the intervention of several national agencies, most likely would have been hanged, astounded me. I thought I knew that nothing even resembling this incident could happen in the United States, so Nazanin’s trial seemed distant. Still, I was impassioned by her story; I signed the petition Amnesty International had created and spread the word to friends and family. However, that’s where my involvement ended. I thought that there was nothing substantial I could do about international injustice until I was much older. In my senior year of high school, I learned about the murder of Lawrence King. In the weeks prior to his murder, he had openly admitted to being gay. Another student shot him while in school and he died two days later. I had not known the extent of hate crimes in America, so I assumed this one was localized and highly unusual. As I grow older, I am becoming increasingly aware of discrimination and injustice and just how close it comes to my home, and that fact alone has motivated me to begin working within my own community, tackling the issues that exist within our country.

It was the middle of the Spring 2010 Semester when I began to ask myself what I was going to do about it. I was an English major at the time. While I loved my world of stories and grammar, my major left me feeling discontented. I sat reading books that many others had read before me, analyzing stanzas many others had already analyzed, but I wasn’t changing anything. I went in search of a more meaningful area of study. I applied to the Citizen Scholars Program, which opened my eyes to a whole word of social justice and service learning within our campus. There was a campus organization devoted solely to helping students get involved and make a difference! Still, I wanted to incorporate this learning into a major. I visited the Legal Studies office, but their approach was too legislation-focused for me and considered Political Science, but it dealt too little with actual human issues and too much with theory. I knew I wanted work within politics and social sciences. I loved the idea of majoring in community service and social issues, but I did not think a major in civic engagement existed. A few weeks later, I was looking for the Community Engagement Program office in Goodell and stumbled into the BDIC office. Shortly after, I found my major.

Continuing Aims

            Though I never have a complete picture of where I am headed, I am currently considering furthering my education as one of several possibilities. I do not have much experience with law, though I plan to pursue an internship with the on-campus Student Legal Services Office next year to learn whether law would be an apt career choice for me, as well as to gain experience in working for student’s rights. I have also become very interested in public policy as a career option in the future. I plan to immerse myself in public policy courses in the next three years and am pursuing the Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship in order to learn more about public policy positions and graduate school. The graduate level Social Justice Education Department at UMass is equally appealing, as I have been convinced for the majority of my young life that I want to teach in some way, shape, or form. Their small class sizes and emphasis on equality draw me.

            Should graduate schooling not turn out to hold my future career, I am researching positions within AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps. As of now, my whole self yearns for travel, so the Peace Corps Youth Development program may prove to be more fitting. Those are generally only programs over a few years, however, so I am also looking into positions at Amnesty International. With my focus on public policy developing, I am starting to see myself remaining within the United States to work on domestic issues rather than international affairs, so the AmeriCorps program is beginning to look incredibly interesting, as well as Teach For America. I still have a lot left to figure out, but I have three years left to do some figuring and plenty of options. 

Cognitive Science of Religion

How did the human mind come to acquire religion? Where do the ideas of a God, of invisible spirits, of lingering ancestors come from? How do the ordinary cognitive capabilities of humans produce ideas of the otherworldly, the extraordinary, and the supernatural? What are the best methodologies to employ in the study of religion? These questions arise in the field of the Cognitive Science of Religion, and are questions that have captivated me in recent years.

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Creative Innovation in Business and Human Relations

Educational Goals

    I have spent a lot of time determining what I want to do with my life and how I want my education to take me there. I envision a combination of my artistic passion, love for people, and fascination with business. My ultimate goal is to create a business of creative companions to make a difference for the elderly, intellectually disabled, sick, and emotionally disturbed. I will use my experience and expertise to educate my employees in how to use psychology and the arts to help clients. This unique BDIC major will be called Creative Innovation in Business & Human Relations.

    To give my degree that creative edge I will be combining my previous creative experiences with classes such as Self-Reflective Avant Garde Film. I will also be completing an Independent Study using the Nonsense Society website. The Nonsense Society is an international online arts gallery and community I created. Through this website I have made contacts with creative artists from all over the world. I have had vast networking opportunities through the creation of this website. Notably, I have networked with the Creative Director of one of the biggest advertising agencies in Poland. I have also interviewed famous artists such as Zoe Keating who held the #1 spot on iTunes Classical library for some time. Besides networking, I do a lot design for the site and use internet promotion to generate traffic and income. I would like to take these artistic and business experiences and apply them to my degree.

    In my vision I plan on educating employees on how to influence people using their creative talents. In order to do this I will have to have a deep understanding of education. For example, Language & Learning Disabilities, Child Psychology, and Psychology of Aging will help me in understanding clients at differing stages of development and abilities. In addition, classes like Principles of Management and BDIC’s own Entrepreneurship Initiative will  prepare me to run my own business.

Continuing Aims

    The two most important things I want in my professional life are to be my own boss and have complete creative freedom.  Following college I plan on creating a business where my creative ideas help people in need. From there I want to survive as my own boss and have the creative freedom to expand on that business, what is done there, and how it is run. BDIC is the perfect program for me. As far as I am concerned, the BDIC program is filled with the most creative people at UMass Amherst. After all, BDIC students design their own majors. What kind of student could be more creative than that? As for being my own boss, the process of creating a BDIC major involves many of the qualities successful entrepreneurs use every day.

    Upon graduating with my degree in Creative Innovation in Business & Human Relations I plan on creating the Creative Companionship Initiative. This company will provide alternative therapies for people requiring companionship. There will be a thoughtful and extensive matching process so that each client will be doing meaningful activities with a compatible companion. For example, an Occupational Therapist may meet an elderly client and determine that she needs a companion with a certain personality to do music with her. There are many elders and people with special needs who could benefit from these services. Some ideas for creative companionship are music, art, crafts, games, dancing, technology, animals, etc. It is my vision and dream to use the Creative Companionship Initiative to make a difference.

Experiential Background

    All my life I have been trying to affect people with the things I create. When I was a child I would constantly make art and music for people to appreciate. Since then I have tried very hard to improve and share my talents in order to influence people. I attended Music School, performed across Europe, made a film, acted in musicals, started writing a novel, drew many portraits, and learned graphic design in Photoshop. I breathe creativity. Typically, I give all my creations away to people I care about. I want to make people feel something from what I do. I want to change lives whenever I can. I get so passionate about what I do that I tell everyone I can about it. I love to network like a businessman and teach friends and family everything I have learned. All this has lead me to BDIC. If accepted, I plan on using BDIC to focus and hone all my life experiences and education into a future where I can help people and influence the world. Creative Innovation in Business & Human Relations is the perfect combination of disciplines in helping me design my dream business, the Creative Companionship Initiative.

Methods and Procedures

    Creative Innovation in Business & Human Relations will draw from five different departments: Creative Arts, Business, Education, Psychology, and Communication Disorders. Creative Arts will include a diverse insight into Fine Art. More specifically, I will learn about Avant-Garde film techniques and complete an Independent Study in the Creative Arts. This experience in the arts will be vital for when I create a business that incorporates the Creative Arts. I will be looking to the School of Management for classes to educate me as a businessman. Entrepreneurship classes and an Internship with successful entrepreneur, Bruce Warila, will provide perspective on owning and running a business. Classes from the Psychology department will help me to understand the needs of my clients. Meanwhile, Education classes will allow me to convey this knowledge to my employees. Finally, courses from the department of Communication Disorders will give me insight into the types of speech and language disabilities I am likely to encounter when dealing with the elderly and those with special needs.

Culture, Brain, and Medicine

Educational Goals
As the standard of living has increased significantly, health and social disparities have widened between cultures. Stress-related ailments become the new plague. (I'm particularly interested in anxiety and depression.) I see that health and social issues are interlocking, so I turned to BDIC, which allows cross-pollination of disciplines.  

I am drawing classes from Psychology, Biochemistry, Sociology, and Anthropology Departments in order to have a holistic understanding of mental health in social contexts, and to understand them in contemporary cultures. This tailored curriculum is to prepare me for further psychological anthropology research as well as mental-health related social entrepreneurship.

Continuing Aims

Among post-graduate programs, I find psychological anthropology very appealing. If I do not pursue graduate study following graduation, I will work for a NGO with cross-cultural health issues on its agenda.

Experiential Background

I have been wondering about music’s impact on the brain since I started playing the piano at the age of eleven. Since then, my subjective experiences of the world are significantly enriched. In high school, I picked up Daniel J. Levitin’s This is Your Brain on Music, a delightful book that depicts the intriguing relationships between music, the brain, and human development. It was Levitin who sparked my interests in these areas and encouraged me to integrate different perspectives.

During my first year at UMass, I took courses in music, brain and human development. One of them is a seminar  called “What are Emotions,” through which I gained insights in human mind. Philosophical debates fed me well, but I wish I knew neuroscience better so that I can get a holistic picture of what is going on. I was under a psychology major but find the course offerings inadequate for further psycho-cultural studies. Thus, I started exploring and encountered “Culture, Brain, and Development (CBD) Program” @ University of California-Los Angeles as well as Hampshire College. Then, I created this bio-anthropology flavored BDIC study.

Last but not least......

I am spending three years with BDIC, during which I will be a Research Assistant in an Anthropology lab. Revisions to my BDIC curriculum may happen, as the best part is tailoring the concentration to adapt any change that comes along! 

Now, I can better answer these questions posed by others and myself: where I am from, who I am... Thanks to BDIC, I can engage myself in things I truly care and want to explore. 

Cheers for the day.

Design of Adaptive Equipment and Wheelchairs

 The idea behind my major is simple: to challenge. I plan to design adaptive equipment and wheelchairs for people with physical disabilities. These chairs will integrate movement and rehab in a new way. Individuals will integrate their capabilities and potential with their every day mobility. There are many wheelchair bound individuals who have movement that does not translate into wheeling themselves in a chair. Most of these individuals  are now in expensive electric chairs or are dependent on outside assistance for their mobility. I want to design wheelchairs and equipment to allow these individuals to use the movement they are capable of to move towards their locomotion. I plan to do this through the integration of simple machines with the chair. These will be adapted to the individuals needs and abilities. Potentially, this has large social and environmental benefits. Users will be better integrated in society, more physically fit, and have a lower energy use footprint.Jake with Larry Perry of "How's Your News?" in New York. Photo by Michelle Moore

I am choosing BDIC to pursue this idea because it involves so many fields. I plan to take classes in the school of management; to deal with the business and management side of my future business. I plan to take courses in design; to better integrate the form and function of my product ideas. I plan to take courses in Kinesiology; to better my understanding of physical therapy, the human body, it's movement, and body mechanics. I plan to study engineering; to be able to understand building materials, design technology, building techniques, and manufacturing.

My idea covers so many fields that a traditional major could not fit all of my needs. While working in one of them could be very educational and interesting in of itself I would be missing out on so much else. BDIC is the place for me

Digital Media and Marketing

Eugene Mont (Class of 2010)

I have always had an interest in computers, film and technology in general.  I enrolled at UMass as an Undeclared major and after taking several classes from multiple departments, I was not able to find a program that fit my interests.  The BDIC Department gave me an opportunity to create my own curriculum and combine courses from different areas of study.  

I formed my Digital Media and Marketing concentration with classes from the BDIC, Communication, Marketing, Legal, English, Education and Journalism departments at UMass.  BDIC allowed me to create an individualized program that took advantage of my strengths as a fan of technology.  In addition to being a BDIC Major, I'm also pursuing an Information Technology Minor and a Film Studies Certificate.  I think the combination of my major with the minor and certificate displays a very personal and customized course of study that will help me with employment and furthering my education in the future!