Meet Ava Fredrickson! (MCS Alum)

By: Sydney Ashton

Photo Credit: Gigi Fredrickson

An Elkridge, MD native who recently earned her alumni status having graduated from UMBC in May of 2023 with a B.A. in Media and Communications Studies and a minor in Spanish. Post graduation, Ava has embarked on a new and exciting academic journey at the prestigious Georgetown University where she is pursuing a Masters Degree in Communications, Culture, and Technology.

Q. Can you tell me about the program that you’re in?

My masters is in Communication, Culture, and Technology at Georgetown University. The program is an interdisciplinary program that combines communications, culture, and technology. At Georgetown, masters students have the ability to focus on whatever they would like within that realm, whether it be artificial intelligence, law and policy, education, mental health and social media, or health care.

Q. How did the MCS program at UMBC prepare you for grad school? Any takeaways or projects/work you’d like to share?

I think that the MCS program greatly prepared me for this type of program. With understanding of media studies and communications, I feel like I have an understanding of a lot of different topics. Because the program has people focused on many different things, MCS generally prepared me to know a little bit about a lot, while also having something that I also know a lot about. The methods and theory focused classes were absolutely necessary for me to have taken and actually understand, as I use both of those foundations in all my classes.

My capstone was on technological determinism and early childhood education, and I have chose to stay in a similar area of study at Georgetown. My capstone focused on the harmful affects of technological determinist approaches to integrating technology into education, especially after Covid-19.

Q. What do you hope to do with your degree? What are your career goals?

 In the future, I want to go into educational technology production and work for a tech company in their communications or marketing department. I think that attending graduate school now was the right move for me.

Q. Any advice for MCS students who are interested in pursuing a graduate degree?

I would definitely recommend being involved in class, forming relationships with professors, and researching a program that best fits you. There are so many masters programs with different focuses and it is important to start looking earlier. I decided on a whim after looking at the post-undergraduate career situation, that it would be better for me to continue my education. I think that MCS prepares students very well for future research opportunities, so use the resources that are there.