UBalt Graduate Speaks Out: 'The History Program Changed My Life'
May 27, 2021
Contact: Office of Advancement and External Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
In a letter to The Baltimore Sun published earlier this month, Derek Chavis, a member of The University of Baltimore's Class of 2021 and a recipient of an undergraduate degree in History, writes that UBalt's program opened up new worlds of possibility for him—and now he is becoming the teacher he dreamed of being.
"I was a graduate of University of Baltimore in 2013 from the bachelor of science program in corporate communications. I went through the motions of the next eight years in jobs I didn't really love all while wondering what life would feel like if I had just followed my heart," Chavis writes. "Thanks to one of the worst years in the last hundred, I got that shot. I lost my last job due to the COVID-19 pandemic and thought long and hard about what I wanted to do next.
"In August of 2020, I found out that I needed 30 credits in a concentrated subject matter in order to teach and when I looked into my alma mater's bachelor of arts in history program, I realized I only needed 33 to graduate. My professors, Joshua Davis, Nicole Hudgins and Boram Yi, have been the most incredible teachers of my life. They have taught me how to think about history, both here in the United States and throughout the world, from an incredibly open perspective. They have been compassionate and supportive. They have taught me how to lead the classroom with empathy and courage."
Prof. Davis says Chavis has been an outstanding student, and he and his fellow faculty members are proud to have taught him.
"Derek intuitively grasps that understanding our country and world's history is an indispensable part of being a citizen in the 21st century," Prof. Davis says. "As a History major, Derek developed the analytical, writing, and communications skill set that employers are eagerly seeking in job applicants today, and he'll be starting a full-time job teaching in Baltimore City Public Schools this summer at Walter P. Carter Middle School. Our congratulations to Derek Chavis and the Class of 2021."
Read Chavis's letter in The Baltimore Sun.
Learn more about the B.A. in History program at The University of Baltimore.