The Creative Writing Center, complete with packed bookshelves and literary weathered leather sofas, seems an unlikely place for someone with an information systems degree to hang out. Yet this is where Michael Szczerban, spends much of his time. Szczerban is in his fifth year at Carnegie Mellon, not because he fell into "fifth-year slacker" status but because he is one of four students selected for the fifth-year scholars program.
To qualify, students must first complete all requirements for their majors. In addition to taking an extra year of classes, each scholar chooses a year-long project to improve a lacking element on campus. Szczerban decided to work with the career center and volunteer's office, streamlining a portfolio of internship opportunities available for students and finding student funding for unpaid internships. Few undergrads realize those resources exist, which allow them to build their résumé while earning extra money. "It's better than working at Dunkin' Donuts!" says Szczerban.
Although Szczerban enjoyed his project, it was not the most memorable part of his fifth year. He also pursued an additional degree completely different from information systems: creative writing. A few creative writing courses he took on the way to his diploma piqued his interest and convinced him to put his high-tech career on hold: "Even though it seemed like a good time to start paying bills, I felt I wasn't done with Carnegie Mellon just yet. I knew that there was more for me to reap and sow here and that hopping into a career right away would leave my goals here unfinished."
Students are selected for the fifth year program, in part, to more fully explore their interdisciplinary interests, so Szczerban was an ideal fit. He says he found his niche in the creative writing center, where the sofas felt like home and those who sat in them became good friends.
While degrees in information systems and English seem to be opposing forces, Szczerban disagrees. "They reinvigorate one another." It took five years, but he is optimistic he will draw on both disciplines now that the time has come to start paying bills.
