Why I chose an iSchool

Hello! My name is Jola Bolaji and I am a first-year MSI student here at UMSI. I came here from sunny California for one reason – to attend an iSchool – specifically UMSI.

I started my undergraduate career as a hopeful computer science major. But I did not find that completely fulfilling. I was being taught a lot of coding—but that was about it. I wanted to add more to that. I took an elective course about social issues in computing and realized that was more to computers (and technology in general!) than coding. There are design issues. There are social issues. Technology is not just new software and smartphone apps. It can also be technology in third-world countries and Maker movements for children in schools.

So when I began looking at graduate programs, I was looking for diverse programs with a wide range of opportunities. UMSI’s mission – to “create and share knowledge so that people will use information – with technology – to build a better world” resonated with me. As I found out more about UMSI, I learned that there are so many opportunities to do just that here. The interdisciplinary curriculum at UMSI encompasses many classes taught by faculty from various backgrounds – user experience; web development; psychology; and information economics – just to name a few. UMSI goes beyond schooling in the classroom and encourages community outreach, entrepreneurship, extracurricular activities, and real-world experience.

An iSchool like UMSI is more than just computer science. An iSchool like UMSI is more than just library science. An iSchool is both of those things and much more. Here at UMSI we are truly the intersection of “people, information and technology.”