Can Humanities majors succeed at UMSI?

One of the questions that I often hear from people who are considering the MSI program at the University of Michigan is: "I was a Humanities major in college. How can I succeed at UMSI?" I laugh a little whenever I hear this question, because it's exactly the question I asked before I arrived here. I majored in English and Religion in college, and my comfort zone included text analysis, learning languages, and writing papers. Computer programming was not in my repertoire of skills, and (let's be honest) neither was group work.

I started the program at UMSI more than a little terrified that I just wouldn't be able to hack it. But Humanities majors come to UMSI with their own set of skills. Learning to program was not unlike learning a language and considering the qualitative features of a library or collection has never been a challenge for me. The whole purpose of group work, I have discovered, is to make use of each members' strengths in order to produce the best possible product.

Before coming to Ann Arbor, I felt that working toward a degree in Information was far enough outside of my wheelhouse to be a genuine challenge. But the program here is designed to help anyone from any background succeed. The foundations courses provide a general background of the information field and potential applications; they include work and perspectives from the social sciences and humanities as well as from more quantitative and technical areas. From there, students can chart their own path through the degree by selecting courses in their chosen specialization as well as related cognate courses in other U-M departments. I was never expected to become the best programmer or to know everything about User Experience. But learning a little about those areas has helped me to be better at the work I actually want to do.

Potential students from non-technical backgrounds may feel overwhelmed by the seemingly technical MSI program. However, keep in mind that students here represent more than 100 different undergraduate majors--you will certainly not be alone. I came to UMSI dedicated to expanding my comfort zone and challenging myself in an area with which I was unfamiliar. Instead of letting the technical components scare me, I found that my personal strengths and hard work led to success I did not always expect. UMSI was a great opportunity for me to develop my skills and work with people with very different strengths and aspirations. It made no difference that my past experience was in the Humanities and not Computer Science--everyone comes to the MSI program with their own strengths and hopes to develop confidence in their areas of weakness.