Stanley
Thomas
STUDENT AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
Hello,
I am a freshman at the University of Maryland in the Public Leadership scholars program studying Computer Science. The Public Leadership program at UMD has taught me how to become a leader in my own community and how to address many of the issues people face in our day to day lives. Learning how to utilize my computer science skills coupled with learning about leadership has given me a foothold to be able to better solve problems in the future. I love to solve problems and to be creative wherever I can.
During college, I plan on taking advantage of all of the opportunities that I can and to pursue research jobs and internships to better learn about the world and how I can make an impact. My main goal is to work on a project that will have an impact on the communities in which I interact with the most. I hope to able to use the lessons of leadership I have learned in the PL program, to lead a project in which I am able to serve others. I have many side hobbies including painting and playing sports like soccer and volleyball. I my free time I like to volunteer at my local senior center and to go on road trips. Lastly, I hope to be able to study abroad and to meet many new people while I am in college.
Public Leadership:
3 Semester Review
1. Public Leadership has taught me a lot about leadership and what it means to be a leader. Over the span of 3 semesters I took 3 different courses to engage in discussions about leadership and learn what it means to be a leader. Coming in to PL I thought leadership was reserved for those solely in places of authority and being a leader meant being aggressive and assertive. Now I understand there are many different styles of leaderships and that everyone can be a leader in their own way.
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2. Personally I find myself to be a more collaborative leader as opposed to a directive one. I like to listen to the opinions of the group and collectively come up with the best solution so that everyone has a stake in the results. I think the best forms of leadership happen when the group is united behind a vision or idea. When individual members of a group become leaders in their own community, a movement can really take off.
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3. I personally enjoyed taking CPPL200 as it helped me learn a lot about how to apply leadership in groups and in communities. In the class we also explored our own personal philosophies on leadership. Writing this paper made me really think about Leadership and what it means to me. I chose to include this paper as it helped me come to a coherent understanding of what I think effective leadership is about:
You can read this paper by clicking here
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4. In CPPL 200 we learned about leadership in group interactions and a lot about groupthink and the dynamics of a group. I think this information has been useful in a lot of my other classes especially when working in groups. Understanding common group dynamics and the stages of a groups interactions has helped me work better in group projects and be a leader.
Practicum Review
1. For my practicum I worked at the Adele H. Stamp Student Union in the IT Services Office as an IT Technician. In my role I worked in three main areas Event Support, Helpdesk, and Web Development. In Event Support I worked to help set up the Audio Visual system for a lot of events in STAMP such as movies, conferences, shows, and outdoor movies. In the Helpdesk area I worked doing computer and network repairs and other more traditional IT work. Lastly, in the web development area I helped maintain the UMD Stamp website as they moved platforms.
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2. I have learned a lot from my practicum in all of the three areas I worked with. In terms of AV, I learned a lot about setups and how audio and sound systems are set up. On the Helpdesk side I learned about how large computer networks are structured, as well as how to troubleshoot problems effectively. Lastly, I learned how to use a new programming framework while working in Web Development.
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3. Through my practicum I learned a lot about AV, IT, and Web Development. Once of the small projects I worked on was helping move platforms and build the new STAMP website. I helped write up a portion of the web pages as well as write a custom Chrome extension to scrape the website for broken links that could be fixed later. I chose this project because it represents a portion of the work I did while working at STAMP as well as allowed me to be creative and make a meaningful contribution to the website. The website can be found here: https://stamp.umd.edu/
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4. My practicum has taught me a lot about working in IT in general. This knowledge will surely be useful in my future as I pursue a career in Computer Science related fields. General problem solving skills will also be very useful no matter what I decide to pursue in the future.
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5. I plan to finish my time at UMD and earn a Bachelors in Computer Science. At the moment I don't plan on graduate school work and plan on going into the work field after. I plan on working in something Computer Science related, most probably as a Software Engineer.
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6. My updated Resume after completing my practicum can be found on the Resume tab, linked here
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7. Elevator Pitch: Public Leadership has given me the opportunity to learn what it really means to be a leader. Not just about the traditional forms of leadership, but about everyday leaders and how all of us can become leaders in our own communities. Leadership is applicable to all fields of life, since every career path needs leaders. Being strong in this area has made me better suited for my future career. Through PL I have learned about different styles of leadership, read papers on leadership, and been able to participate in discussions about leadership. This newfound understanding has helped me in my internship and will continue to help me in my future career.
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