Student Profile: Jacob Singleton

By: Marilin Argueta-Osorio

We had the chance to learn more about Senior Jacob Singleton who is excited to graduate in the Spring of 2025! Currently, Jacob is working hard on their capstone project. Alongside their MCS major, Jacob is pursuing Computer Science as a minor. At the moment, they don’t have any solid plans after graduation but they hope to continue working in digital accessibility. Jacob’s passion for the future is to make websites and videos accessible to everyone!

Q: Why did you choose Media and Communication Studies as your major?

At first, I was majoring in Computer Science, but after I took MCS 222 for the GEP credit I found it so fascinating that I had to change majors. One part of the course I really liked was learning about the concept of time-biased and space-biased media, and how the characteristics of the medium can be as important or more important than the message it carries. I liked how different of a lens this was to my Computer Science perspective, and I loved that it could provide an understanding about the world and society that Computer Science just doesn’t.

Q: What is one skill you have gotten to learn and use through one of the MCS elective courses? (Examples: videography, social media management, curating blogs, etc)

In MCS 355 I really liked creating a social media strategic marketing plan for a local environmental group! A local interfaith center where I live has a “Green Team,” that does environmental education and advocacy, waste-reduction, and stormwater management. They are doing so many cool things, but they don't have an active social media account to bring in new volunteers and brag about their accomplishments. My plan had them expand their efforts to use social media to educate about native plants and animals, advertise upcoming events and speakers, and highlight past successes.

Q: What has been your favorite MCS course? At what moment did you realize that you really enjoyed the class? 

My favorite class was MCS 101: Media Literacy! For my final paper, I looked into the history of accessibility technology. This was the first time I made the connection between MCS and accessibility. I’d recently become interested in it when I watched a TV show with really excellent captions right after a different show with mediocre captions. I realized that these captions were something that people had put a lot of effort into and that served to help others. 

Q: Is there any particular project or skill that you learned that made you fond of the class?

Another part of the class I loved was learning to use Photoshop in the Lab section and flexing my design muscles. Prior to MCS 101, I hadn’t done any digital design, and it was super cool to unlock a new skill I enjoyed.

Q: Are you interested in traveling? If not, what is your favorite place to explore in Maryland?

Not really, I like Maryland a lot! One place in particular I like is the Patapsco Valley State Park. I’ve had a lot of fun walking and kayaking there with my family.

Q: What hobbies do you have and how did you get into them? I also remember you like coding, what do you program?

In addition to the walking and kayaking I mentioned, I still have a passion for Computer Science and coding, so I like to do programming projects in my free time. They all tend to be smaller add-ons to larger pieces of software, like web browser extensions to make certain sites easier to use.

Q: Do you have a current MCS-related internship or job, if so what is it like?

This past summer I had an internship with UMBC’s Division of Information Technology in the Office of Instructional Technology! I got to learn more about what goes into making college courses accessible, and I got to help UMBC move toward being a more accessible university. I really had a great time and I hope I can have more experiences like it in the future!

Q: How have your MCS courses helped you with your internship? 

MCS 101 helped me think about accessibility on the level of different digital mediums and their affordances toward accessibility. My knowledge of the history of captioning technology ended up serving me well during my summer internship.

Q: Can you tell us about your capstone research project, what question are you researching? Why was that subject interesting to you?

For my capstone project, I’m going to analyze and compare the community structures of music metadata crowdsourcing communities like Musicbrainz and Discogs. I find projects like these really interesting because I myself have contributed to Musicbrainz and I want to learn more about what makes it “tick” from a media and community perspective.

Q: Is there anything fun you’d like us to know about you?

I also like reading science-fiction and fantasy books! I just read Upgrade by Blake Crouch, which was a real fun read.

Q: If you could give an incoming MCS freshman advice, what would it be?

To incoming MCS students, I would say pay attention in MCS 333! It can seem a little abstract at first but it really is the foundation for the rest of the upper-level classes.