Meet Thalia Anora

Degree Mentors 

• M Valle Pease | Pre-Licensed Clinician; PhD Candidate in Counseling Psychology, UMD; MS Counseling Psychology, UMD; Director of Research and Assessment at Trans Maryland; American Psychological Association’s Advocacy Coordinating Committee; 2025 Vice Chair of the Mary- land Commission for LGBTQIA+ Affairs
• Jose Arenas Gómez | Assistant Teaching Professor, Individualized Study at UMBC
• Steven McAlpine | Assistant Teaching Professor, Individualized Study

Why did you choose to major in INDS?

INDS offered the opportunity for me to curate and claim my education, blending my passions for creativity, social change, and entrepreneurship. Now, as a creative director, artist, and leader, INDS represented a stable platform to prepare me for a career in creative entrepreneurship, aligning my education with cultivating community. 

What are your plans for after graduation, and how do you see using your INDS degree?

My vision, informed by my INDS journey, is to design and contribute towards systems of care that empower emerging voices while reimagining how arts infrastructure can serve the cultivation of communities. Following graduation, I'm looking to continue working on my non-profit organization that aims to facilitate and advocate for participatory action through creativity and the arts. 

Were you involved in any clubs or organizations? Did you hold any leadership positions? URCAD? URA? Off-campus internships? On-campus research experiences?

• Founder & Presenter, Retriever's Gallery

• Academic Peer Advocate, ASC
• Researcher, Undergraduate Research & Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) 
• Qualitative Researcher, Pedagogy Study Hall, led by Tomashi Jackson & Nia Evans, "Trans People in Maryland and Social Connection," led by M Valle Pease, and my own capstone "Thinking Thru the Lens: Investigating Community With Artistic Practice."
• Vice President, UMBC Photographer Org. 
• Workshop Leader, College Choice Night, Choice Program at UMBC
• Ambassador, UMBC Education Abroad Ambassador 

• Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation-Awardee November 2024
• Idea and Innovation Competition — Awardee, November 2024
• College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) Dean's Scholarship— January 2025
• UMBC Affinity Award: Asian Excellence Graduate— May 2025

• Prove It! Grant Competition — Finalist, May 2025
• UMBC Arts+ Grant — Awardee, June 2025
• Zainab Damji Memorial Scholarship Endowment— September 2025
• La Noue Memorial Award for Research and Travel— October 2025