Jessica Baccin was finishing her associate degree at Anne Arundel Community College when she started looking at four-year programs.
An international student from Italy, she wanted to stay in America longer but was struggling to find a more affordable option than the less costly opportunities at home.
Then she met Amadou Bah and Sarah Creighton, two admission counselors and alumni from The University of Baltimore, who laid out a pathway she hadn’t known existed.
At community college, Jessica joined the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) honor society. That became her invitation to a seamless and affordable transition to a bachelor’s program at UBalt. The University offers a limited number of full scholarships for out-of-state tuition to outstanding PTK members, an unmatched break for students like Jessica.
“When you're an international student, the cost of admission are way higher than some of the students who live in the area,” she said. “I was like, I would love to continue my journey and study a little bit more and get my bachelor’s, but also, I have this boundary financially. It would have not been an option for me to pay the next two years out of pocket.”
Jessica earned the tuition coverage she needed to start pursuing a B.A. in Digital Communication in fall 2024.
Jessica focused on marketing and advertising for her associate degree because of a growing interest in the intersection of communication and technology. She decided to keep pursuing that direction at UBalt.
“I do like marketing, I love talking with people, and I love to see how people interact with social media in a sales environment,” she said. “I like to see how people are persuaded, what triggered them, and I think that digital communication was a great balance between business and sales and psychology.”
Jessica would love to have a broadcast career and dreams of hosting a show.
She had a taste of what her future could look like when she found an internship through the Schaefer Center of Public Policy’s NextGen Leaders for Public Service program. The program, part of one of UBalt College of Public Affairs’ centers, helps students explore careers in public service through paid internships.
Jessica earned an internship at WYPR, Baltimore’s public radio station, working on the live Midday program.
“I ended up extending it because I met great people, and it was actually a lot of fun and I was able to stay up to date with what was happening,” she said. “It was a lot, and it was actually very interesting to see how much work there is behind the spread of news.”
As part of her internship, she helped with planning for each day’s segment, booking and pre-interviewing guests, and updating the website as news and stories updated.
Jessica had a chance to create her own show, which she dedicated to international students. She was able to merge what she learned on the show with what she’s experienced personally. She invited Kara Kauffman, UBalt’s international services coordinator, to share a local perspective.
“I felt very thankful, honestly. I felt like it was a great opportunity,” Jessica said. “Midday is an important show. There are a lot of people listening, so it was a pretty important show to organize, and I was a little bit nervous.”
She felt support all around her and that gave her confidence and further motivated her to keep working toward her goals.
Since starting at UBalt, Jessica has fallen for its close-knit community and continually looks for ways to deepen her connections here.
She appreciates the University’s unique diversity, including students not only from different backgrounds but also of different ages. That helped her fit in more effortlessly.
“I really feel welcome everywhere,” Jessica said. “I do like that it's a little bit small. Although for me, it's big, but I still love how people interact with one another, because there's no judgment. It's a very supportive environment.”