My name is Ashley Glass, I live in Seattle and work for Marriott. This is my final semester at UCF as an IDS major. My minor is in Hospitality Management and my focuses are Behavioral and Social Sciences and Public Affairs. I typically describe IDS as “create your own degree,” I have come to realize it is a lot more than that. It is combining different disciplines to make a better-rounded major. My original plan was to solely be a Hospitality Major, but when I decided to move to Seattle I had to change to a degree major that would allow me to take classes online. To my surprise I have become very fond of the Interdisciplinary Studies Major and I am very glad that I did change. I am very excited to get to know all of you and work with you this semester! Best of Luck!
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Hey guys my name is Leo Holtzman and I live in Orlando. I am in my final semester here at UCF. I work two jobs: one as a bartender at the MOAT and another as a magician (I mostly do private and corporate parties). One of those is the reason I chose IDS as my major, take a guess... As a result I explain IDS through my potential career as a magician. I say that it is the only degree that allows you to tailor which classes you want to and think you need to take. I have a minor in hospitality event management which helps and will help me with the business side of magic. My two areas of study help with my magic more directly. Psychology has allowed me to learn how to trick the human mind and Theatre has taught me how to present my magic. Anyway I look forward to mentoring you all this semester. Let me know if you have any questions.
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My name is Jennifer Hickel and I am excited to be in the last semester of my senior year here at UCF! It has been quite an academic journey for me. In very general terms, I have changed majors, universities, career paths and even cities. However, I will graduate proudly in May with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. My areas of focus are Behavioral Sciences and Education with a minor in Hospitality Management. I loved the option of creating a degree that allowed me to combine multiple disciplines and areas of interests. My original intention with this major was to become a Child Life Specialist. Now, I am using my degree as a stepping stone to further my education. I plan to complete my doctorate degree in Natural Medicine and become a Naturopathic Physician. I currently work as a Resident Assistant on the Rosen campus in Orlando and own my own mobile massage business called In Good Hands Mobile Massage. I am thrilled to be a mentor and look forward to learning about all of you this semester!
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Hi, everyone! My name is Cassandra Perez (but most just call me Cassie) and this will be my final semester here at UCF (yay!). I have been on the six year college plan but that's okay because I will be walking away with a lot more knowledge and a great degree. My degree is comprised of Humanities and Behavioral/Social Sciences with a minor in Hospitality Management. To be honest, I still am not 100% sure on what EXACTLY I want to do with my life but having a bachelor's degree in IDS is a good place to start, I think. I know I want to help people and use all of my concentrations together to do so. I really feel that being an IDS major gives me (and you) the upper-hand when measured up to those who only have a degree in one area of study. IDS is a major that lets you study three different subjects at once and let's you walk away with endless options for what your future may hold. Having knowledge in more areas than one will give you the chance to be able to access so many other opportunities and let your mind wander. The only disadvantage I can think of in having an IDS degree is having to defend it when people question what exactly it entails and if it really is as solid as any other degrees offered. Besides that I can't see anything else that would discourage me from completing my bachelors in Interdisciplinary Studies. I look forward to a great semester as one of your mentors and good luck! :)
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Now it’s your turn to tell us a little about yourself. Who are you and what year are you? What are your focuses and minors and what do you hope to do with it? How do you explain IDS to others and what advantages/disadvantages do you see in your IDS education?
Hey everyone! My name is Leah Masson. This is only my second year with UCF, but I think that my credits qualify me as a junior right now. My focus areas for IDS are Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. My minor is Health Sciences, which I very recently switched from Nonprofit Organization Management. After I graduate next year, I intend to go on to get my Masters Degree in Nonprofit Management here at UCF. I explain IDS to people by just saying that it is a major which is lenient with what classes you can take, and instead of having one focus area you have two and a minor. I feel like there's a ton of advantages with having IDS as my major. Since I want to start up my own nonprofit organization some day, I think that my focus areas will only show to people that I have the necessary knowledge to run an organization. Truthfully, I think that I will have a better opportunity to achieve my goal through having an IDS major since I have a vast education instead of a very focused and limited one. I do not see any disadvantages at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure IDS will help me get into grad school, and then once I graduate, I will have a very strong educational background for a person who intends to open a nonprofit.
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Hey y'all my name is Charles Cowart, this is my last year at UCF (graduating at end of summer), joined this program due to my previous major becoming too much of a hassle. My major is Humanities and Letters & Modern Languages, with my minor being in Digital Media. After graduation, intend to work for a solid year to year-and-a-half before applying to graduate school in order to get some work experience. I would like to get a job in the video game industry or media industry. When I try to tell people about IDS, it confuses them usually, so I now sum it up by saying: "It's a combination of majors and a minor." That usually takes the confused look off of their face. I believe that having knowledge in my major would help me in terms of giving creative input in terms of structure and plot. To be realistic, the only real disadvantage I see is not being able to always find the specific job I'm looking for, so seeking it out would be a big challenge.
ReplyDeleteHi my name is Allie Jest and I am from Stone Mountain, Georgia. This is my third school in three years. I play softball for UCF. I am a junior. My focuses are Communications and Education and my minor is Sports Business management. The advantages of IDS are I get to study things I want to learn about. One of the disadvantages are people have no idea what IDS and when I try to explain they give me a weird confused look.
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My name is Deb Tanner and I'm probably one of the older students at UCF. I live in Osteen and work in Orlando. I've lived in Florida since I was 5 and I'm getting close to 60. I established my career, raised 3 children and then decided to complete my degree. IDS is a perfect fit. I had enough Chemistry and Engineering Technology (my profession) to fill the major requirements and chose Cultural Anthropology as a minor. I will graduate in August with a BS and will probably pursue a Master's in something to do with Florida Studies. When I retire in a few years I would like to volunteer for mentoring young people, helping make them aware of the fragility of the environment in our beautiful state and the importance of balancing growth against harmful development. My 3 fields of study have delivered me to the doorstep of something I love. My life has not been well planned, but it couldn't have worked out better, thanks to IDS.
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My name is Robin Murray and this is my 2nd semester here at UCF. I am what the college classifies as a “non-traditional” student as I am over 40, have 3 children (ages 20, 16 and 2 ½) and a lot of college credits. My two areas of concentration is Behavioral/Social science and Public Affairs (I am working on a certificate in Behavioral Forensics) and my minor is in Leadership studies. I am still not sure at this point what I’m going to do; but something perhaps in helping juveniles. I wasn’t sure at first how to really explain IDS; but now after reading some of the information in the book I think it will much easier. I see it, like I posted elsewhere, that IDS is like a painting. There are many single colors (disciplines) in college or the world; but to paint a complete picture you need to blend colors to make a new one.
ReplyDeleteThe advantage is that you can look at a problem from different areas and come up with a complete solution. The only disadvantage I can think of is that employers may not be aware of what IDS is and may not take it for a serious degree. I think more education is needed generally.
Hello, My name is Pat Sebastian and I am in my junior year. This is only my second semester at UCF and first in the IDS program. My areas of study are Humanities and Letters and Modern Languages with a minor in Anthropology. I chose humanities because I enjoy art and history and chose letters because I could use some brushing up on my vocabulary and literature. Anthropology is really my first academic love. I enjoy learning about the peoples of the world and all of our differences and similarities. For me IDS is the reason I am still in school. Without IDS I wouldn't feel that there was a major that was a good fit for me and wouldn't see the point in an education. It's great to hear from you all. Have an awesome semester!
ReplyDeleteHello everyone!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the introductions. It is very interesting to learn about the unique journeys you have taken to get you where you are today.
Leah,
What type of non-profit organization do you want to establish? I would like to establish a non-profit in the future. The goal would be to create an organization that uses the performing/visual arts to assist young girls/women in overcoming various obstacles in their lives - be it physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual issues. I wish you the best!
Debra and Robin,
Congratulations on all of your accomplishments thus far, raising a family, maintaining a career, etc. It's great to see that you are finishing your degrees and have wonderful plans to help our youth in the future!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Hickel
Hello, everyone! It was great getting to know a little bit more about each one of you. I look forward to a great semester!
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Hey everyone! My name is Josh Ember. I am currently in my junior year, but this is my first year at UCF and the third college that I have attended. I previously went to FAU and Valencia. My two focuses are biological sciences and psychology and my minor is health science. I am not exactly sure of what I want to do after college, but I am leaning towards medical school or law school. I explain interdisciplinary studies to other people by telling them that it's made up of a few different disciplines. I tell them that you get to chose two areas of concentration and a minor. Most of the time when I tell people that IDS is my major, I have to explain it. I see IDS as an advantage to me because before this major I could not think of anything else that I wanted to be my major. I kept switching between different majors and this major allowed me to pick more than one area of study. I do not see any disadvantages to having IDS as my major.
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Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI'm not exactly sure of the type of nonprofit organization that I would like to start up. There's so many causes that it's hard for me to just settle on one. I think you're idea is amazing. I love art in all shapes and forms, so maybe my organization will have to do with that. I feel like every day I change my mind about what cause I could handle the best.
-Leah Masson
Response 1
Hey Everyone, my name is Jazmin Peralta and I'm a Senior. I'm graduating in the summer, woot woot! My focuses are in Biomedical Sciences and Behavioral Studies, my minor is in Health Science. I am planning to get my Masters in Occupational Therapy. I tell others that IDS is a major in which I can pick three areas that best suit my career goals. The main advantage about being an IDS major is that it allows me to pick the classes that I want and need for graduate school. A disadvantage is that I might not be able to register for certain classes that interest me.
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Hi everyone! My name is Heidi Simons and I'm in my senior year at UCF! (finally!) :) I'm about a year behind on graduating because I switched my major a couple of times. I found out about the IS degree and love it! It allows me to combine my interests and study more than one discipline. My majors are education and humanities. My minor is business. The combination is a little unusual, I know. I was originally studying business when I decided that I did not want to do that as a career. I switched my major to elementary education because I thought I might like teaching. I was almost done with that degree when I got hired on with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It's always been a dream job of mine, but I never pursued any related degrees because I honestly never thought I would get a job like this and didn't want to be stuck with a useless degree. :) Now I'm doing what I love, and because of the IS degree I'm able to put all those credits to use that I earned in my previous years here at UCF. I would like to furthur my education by getting my masters degree in either criminal justice or wildlife conservation ecology.
ReplyDeleteI explain IDS to others basically the same as everyone else who is an IDS major...it allows you to combine different areas of study and create your own degree instead of just focusing on one course of study. I think the IDS degree is full of advantages. For example, IDS allows the student to pick areas of interest to focus on to really create a personalized degree according to what the student in interested in studying. The only disadvantage I can see about IDS is I've noticed people view it as kind of a broad degree, and I'm not really sure how that will be beneficial in the job market. Will employers view the IDS degree as a good thing, or a bad thing? I'm not sure.
-Heidi Simons
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ReplyDeletePat S., I think you will find your areas of study integrate perfectly. Languages are one of the branches of anthropology, so you can't go wrong there. Also, Humanities and Anthropology are closely related; all cultures have art and history in common. I think you'll be able to use all three areas of study in your career someday. Be patient and it will all come together in time.
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Hey Alexandria, this is also my third school in three years. I agree with you that almost no one understands what I mean when I tell them that my major is interdisciplinary studies.
ReplyDeleteHeidi, I'm probably gonna graduate a year late as well because I've switched my major around a lot. I also find that this major best suits be because I can combine different areas I'm interested in, rather than just focusing on one.
-Josh Ember
@ DebTanner - Thanks a lot. So far I am really happy with my choices of majors. I am kind of sad that I will have completed my Anthro minor after this semester but am excited to expand my knowledge in other fields, especially Lit.
ReplyDelete@RobinMurray- Keep it up, it's never too late. I took six years off from school and finally got it together and got back at it. Best decision I ever made. I feel that I have much more respect for education now that when I was younger, especially since I am paying for it. =) Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteHi I'm Robyn Srednicki and I'm 23 and finally trying to finish my degree. I had a few bumps in the road during what was supposed to be my last semester at UCF back in 09 (a domestic violence incident and the murder of my best friend) but I wouldn't let any of it deter me living out my aspiration to reside in NYC. I fought through my last semester in Orlando and landed an internship at a record company, decided to take the plunge and take the rest of my courses online. With the economic downturn and the rest of the stress, school became last on my priority list as I needed to find ways to stay sane and pay the bills. Now that those things are stable, finishing up is back in the foreground and I'm eager to go out with a bang. Having interdisciplinary studies as a major allows me the versatility to put my strengths on display and truly conquer all the major fields of study I'm interested in which include communications, specifically public relations, marketing and of course writing. I plan on using this degree to somehow change the way music marketing is conducted in the entertainment realm of things, specifically with real musicians (like my friend Esperanza Spalding.) I really enjoy connecting with people and helping them communicate who they really are to the rest of the world, so I hope my degree will assist me in this endeavor as well as get me into an NY grad school ;-)
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ReplyDeleteMy name is Guy Michan and I am in my senior year at UCF. I am an Interdisciplinary Studies major and my focuses are Education, Behavioral Social Science and a minor in Mass Communication. I explain the IDS degree how it was explained to me by an academic adviser at UCF. I explained to the adviser that I wanted to focus on more than one subject and she suggested the IDS degree. I was extremely pleased to know that my education will be focused on an array of courses. The advantage of an IDS degree is a vast, more diverse education. The disadvantage might occur in the job field as I do not have one specific, narrow focus. I plan on using my IDS degree to help me one day start my own company and understand people better. I have switched my major many of times and I am glad something like this is offered for me. I love everything about my three areas of focus and I could not part with one of them. This gives me a lot of options to eventually do what I am destined to. Whether I want to start my company immediately following graduation or go to law school, I feel this degree has fully prepared me to think interdisciplinary.
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