Real People Profiles: Brian Souders
We're asking some of the people you might encounter on the UMBC campus, including students, faculty, staff and alumni, to answer a few questions about themselves and their experiences. These are their responses.
Name: Brian Souders
Hometown: Carlisle, Pennsylvania
A: My favorite spot on campus is the hill on the residential side of campus. Hill repeats (running up a hill, turning around and running down, and then repeating it a few more times) make for a great, challenging training run. The outer loop of Hilltop Circle between Center Road and Walker Avenue is the perfect distance for hill repeats. It's long and steep enough to be tough, but it's wooded and (mostly) quiet. It's fun to run into students wondering if the study abroad guy got lost that he's running up and down that hill over and over again.
Hometown: Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Q: How long have you been at UMBC?
A: Celebrated my 14 year work-a-versary in July.
Q: What is your current title (job or student organization position)?
A: Associate Director, International Education Services
Q: In 12 words or less, what role(s) do you play on campus?
A: I direct UMBC's Study Abroad Office and the US Student Fulbright Program.
Q: What aspect of your UMBC role(s) do you enjoy most?
A: One of the best parts of my job is that I get to change lives, seeing the amazing international people our students become after their time overseas. Our students return from their international experiences as different, more mature, more globally minded, and more critically thinking men and women. But come to my office on a day we find a student has been awarded a Fulbright grant to do a year of research or teach English after they graduate. When you've spent hours working one-on-one with a student, watching them find the right way to express their ideas, you realize on that day that your hard work is going to have a life-long impact.
Q: What is the most important or memorable thing you learned in college/have learned at UMBC?
A: The sense of community - among staff, faculty and students - truly makes UMBC an amazing place to work. It truly is a place where we care about each other. It's not just something you hear from Dr. Hrabowski; it's something we live and breathe every day here.
Q: What is one way you have worked with others to make a positive difference at UMBC or in another community?
A: Years ago a friend from college thought I should try running a marathon. I thought he was insane, but was up for the challenge. Twelve years and 28 marathons later, I'd argue he was right.
Marathoning is generally seen as a solitary activity; I couldn't disagree more. On weekends I coach novice runners and walkers with Team in Training. We gather Saturday mornings to get our miles in, and we raise funds to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Together all of us with TNT have raised more than $1.2 billion over the past two decades for patient support and research. Solitary activity? Nope, a family trying to beat blood cancer. I can't imagine a better way to spend a Saturday.
Q: Complete this sentence: "I am a big fan of __________"
A: Years ago a friend from college thought I should try running a marathon. I thought he was insane, but was up for the challenge. Twelve years and 28 marathons later, I'd argue he was right.
Marathoning is generally seen as a solitary activity; I couldn't disagree more. On weekends I coach novice runners and walkers with Team in Training. We gather Saturday mornings to get our miles in, and we raise funds to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Together all of us with TNT have raised more than $1.2 billion over the past two decades for patient support and research. Solitary activity? Nope, a family trying to beat blood cancer. I can't imagine a better way to spend a Saturday.
A: Running, cooking (mostly southern Indian), swimming, hiking, and planning my next trip out of the country.
Q: Do you have any UMBC stories, little-known facts about UMBC, favorite spots on campus, or anything else you’d like to share?
Co-Create UMBC is a blog for and about UMBC, written by David Hoffman and Craig Berger from UMBC Student Life. Join the Co-Create UMBC group on MyUMBC. Like Co-Create UMBC on Facebook. And follow David and Craig on Twitter.
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Posted: September 4, 2014, 4:34 PM