Are you a graduating member of our Black, Latine/x, and/or Asian Pacific Islander Desi communities? We want to celebrate you and your achievements!
Undergraduate and graduate students can pick up cords to honor their community as part of their Winter 2025 Commencement celebrations.
Cord Pick-Up Details:
• When: December 8 - December 16, 2025 (during mosaic hours)
• Where: The Mosaic, Commons 2B23
The 2026 Asian Cultural Celebration & Awards will take place on Thursday, May 14, and the 2026 Black & Latine/x Celebration & Awards will take place on Monday, May 18, 2026. More information on these events to come!
For questions, please contact:
Carolina Silva (she/her)
Graduate Assistant for the Mosaic Center
This event is open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the university's nondiscrimination policy.
Due to inclement weather and UMBC campus delay, GMC will began in Sports Zone at 9:30 am!
Join The Mosaic Center & The Gathering Space as we read and highlight Spiritual & Religious stories through children's literature.
Children's literature will be on display centering the stories and experiences of the people as they connect with spiritual and religious identities. Grab a comfy seat and dive on in!
Thursday, December 4th, 2025
11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Commons Mainstreet
(in front of the Bookstore)
Story time will begin at 12 p.m.!
Interested in connecting with The Mosaic or The Gathering Space? Check out our myUMBC pages for future events and opportunities.
The Mosaic Center and The Gathering Space events are open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.
In a collaboration with The Mosaic: Center for Cultural Diversity and Campus Engagement, "The Multicultural Leadership Experience (MLE)" seeks to:
Engage participants in a multicultural development and leadership learning program.
Enhance participants' understanding of their social identities, leadership identity, as well as their capacity to lead while navigating systems of power, privilege, and oppression.
Enable participants' development through authenticity, self-awareness, relationships, and capitalizing on differences.
The sessions are as follows:
***All sessions will take place in The Commons (room location will be specified in a Google calendar invite)***
Participants will be exploring the concept of Authentic Leadership, Legacy Building, and Breaking Barriers of White Supremacy within Leadership. We will do this in a leadership learning cohort by:
Enhancing participants' leader identity and leadership capacity using an identity-conscious lens and student development theories;
Increasing participants' awareness of their personal abilities, identity development, and intersections that shape their story through authenticity, self-reflection, and cultural humility;
Exploring the role they play in developing relationships while building intra/intercultural connections;
And capitalizing on their differences, specifically in relation to their racial, ethnic, national, and other salient identity social groups
The purpose of all MLE programs is to provide a space for students and student leaders who identify within diverse or marginalized backgrounds to discover their own capacity to lead, while also promoting a better understanding of their experiences, issues, strengths, and outcomes in navigating their own collegiate careers. However, ALL students are welcome to apply!
Registration is due Friday, January 30th, 2026 at 12:00 pm (NOON). Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to participate. In order to be accepted into the program you must commit to all sessions. Please answer all of the questions before submitting your registration. Any questions can be sent to themosaic@umbc.edu
Name: Dharani Kousalya Penta
Pronouns: She/Her
Semester of Internship: Spring 2025
Major: Data Science
Current Class Level: Master's Student
This semester I completed a(n)...: Internship
Internship, Co-op, or Research Site (Company/Organization Name): Trulogik
Location of the Organization (City, State): Baltimore,Maryland
Title of position: Data Engineer Intern
Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities:
During my Data Engineer internship at Trulogik, I supported the development of automated data workflows that improved operational visibility and reduced manual effort across the organization. My day-to-day responsibilities included writing SQL queries, cleaning and structuring data, and building Power BI dashboards that tracked real-time recruitment and operational KPIs. Early in the internship, I encountered challenges with inconsistent applicant-tracking data as we used different formats and naming conventions, which caused inaccuracies in the dashboards. I resolved this by creating standardized data models, implementing validation rules, and automating the entire pipeline so reports refreshed reliably without manual intervention. I also performed cohort analysis on sourcing channels to identify bottlenecks in the hiring funnel which helped leadership reallocate resources and improve conversion efficiency. Whenever pipelines broke due to schema changes or missing fields, I collaborated with team to debug the issue, adjust the logic, and ensure that dashboards reflected accurate, version-controlled data. Overall, this experience strengthened my skills in pipeline development, troubleshooting, and stakeholder communication and also foundational skills that directly prepare me for a full-time Data Engineer role.
Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?
I first learned about the internship opportunity at Trulogik during a career fair, where I visited them and explored the open positions they had posted for interns. After speaking with the team and gaining a better understanding of the role and the type of projects they were working on, I felt it aligned well with my interests. Shortly after the event, I reviewed the job description in detail and submitted my application along with my resume. This process allowed me to connect directly with the team, understand their expectations, and apply for the position in a timely manner.
What resources did you use to find your current experience?
UMBC Career Center, Career Fairs, Alumni Networking, Handshake, LinkedIn or other social media
What have you enjoyed the most about your position and organization?
What I enjoyed most about my position at Trulogik was the supportive and collaborative team environment. Everyone was willing to guide me, answer questions, and involve me in meaningful discussions about real-world data problems. This gave me the confidence to explore, experiment, and learn without hesitation. I also appreciated that I was trusted with real-time work rather than just observing. I was able to build dashboards, analyze data, and contribute to actual business decisions, which made the experience extremely rewarding. The combination of hands-on learning, mentorship, and exposure to real operational challenges not only strengthened my technical skills but also helped me understand how data engineering impacts day-to-day business operations.
How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?
I believe I made a meaningful impact through my work by improving the accuracy, efficiency, and clarity of the data that different teams relied on. My analysis of recruitment and sourcing channels gave leadership clearer visibility into where candidates were coming from and where bottlenecks existed, helping them make more informed decisions. I also helped resolve data inconsistencies and improve data quality, which directly strengthened reporting and decision-making across the organization. Overall, my contributions helped the team with better data, and with fewer errors creating value that continued even after my internship ended.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
My biggest advice would be to actively build real, hands-on project experience whether through personal projects, class assignments, or open-source work. Being able to showcase practical skills makes a huge difference when applying. I would also recommend attending career fairs and networking events, because they provide direct access to employers and opportunities you might not find online. Additionally, connecting with UMBC alumni on LinkedIn or through campus events can be extremely valuable.Overall, stay proactive, keep learning independently, and don't hesitate to reach out to people.
Please provide a short reflection or quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / working with the Career Center.
What I enjoyed most about my position was the opportunity to work on real-world data problems with a team that was incredibly supportive and encouraging. The Career Center and especially Christine Routzahn played a major role in my journey. Her guidance, confidence-building, and advice were invaluable in helping me navigate the process and secure the internship.
]]>Enjoy breakfast with other UMBC commuters and get connected with on-campus resources! There isn't a better way to start your day!
GMC will be hosted every Tuesday morning from 8:30am to 11:00am. It is complimentary with your Commuter Gold Card.
Gold Cards are a one-time per academic year purchase and are available to be purchased at every GMC with cash only.
Gold Cards at $5 for Commuters
$10 for Residential & Graduate Students