Smith Undergrads Celebrate End-of-Year Festivities

Claudia Donnelly, a program manager in the undergraduate program at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, writes about how undergraduate students are getting through the final weeks of the academic year.

Meeting new students and professors, preparing for finals, celebrating an academic landmark and getting ready to enter the “real world” after graduation all were made a little easier in the final weeks of the academic year for students at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. Smith's Undergraduate Program hosted several events to help students mark these milestone occasions.

The end-of-year festivities began on April 18, 2018, when over 300 students gathered in Frank Auditorium for a Fellows Welcome and Orientation meeting. Faculty champions from each of the 12 unique programs provided a brief introduction to themselves and to their course’s expectations and opportunities. Each student, from rising sophomores to rising seniors, had recently applied to and been selected by the faculty champions to be in the 2018-2019 fellows cohort and begin required coursework in the fall. Before moving to smaller classrooms to have program-specific meetings, everyone was treated to an “M” shaped frosted cookie. At this year’s commencement, 234 students are eligible to wear the red, black and gold cord with their graduation gowns, marking the successful completion of a Smith fellows program during their four-year journey.

“Halfway to Graduation” is an annual event held on the last day of classes for sophomores to mark the half-way point in their four-year journey through Smith. “Wow” and “scary” were the words most often spoken on May 10 when the rising juniors realized the significance of the day. Chocolate and vanilla cookies served with an ice tea and lemonade drink helped calm the anxiety expressed by many that time was flying by.

The following day was Reading Day and “Smith Shakes” was the perfect event to break up the intensity of exam preparations. Approximately 250 vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry milkshakes were consumed within less than 90 minutes on the afternoon of May 11, as students found their way to Van Munching Hall’s front desk for a delicious study break. Student members of the undergraduate program board helped with the event and urged their colleagues to fill out thank you notes to favorite faculty and staff as part of the University’s Happy Thank A Teacher Week!

Learn more about the Smith Undergraduate Program.