Page 7 - MGA Today: Middle Georgia State University

Colin Penndorf, left, and Xaviea Brown work on their documentaries about Middle Georgia participants in the civil rights movement.
Their projects came about through a partnership between the University and the Tubman Museum. Brown wants to become a
professional film producer while Penndorf, who has passions for history and art, is considering various career options. JESSICA WHITLEY

three students and others have traveled around “I get to see how the process works in different
the state collecting samples from fresh water situations, like dealing with customers who have
sources and salt marshes to analyze. issues,” said Kuzminski, who is originally from
Kennesaw. (Interesting aside: Her identical twin
According to a project proposal Davis wrote, sister is also an Accounting major but she attends
research on MTB and their magnetosomes can be Kennesaw State University.) “It’s great to get this
applied to many fields like material science, kind of experience.”
biology, pharmacy, electronics, optics, magnetism
and electrochemistry. Kuzminski wants to work in other accounting
environments, such as auditing and forensics,
“This is largely a self-directed project, so we before settling on a specific career path.
really are learning by doing,” said Davis, a senior
from Brunswick whose career goal is to become a “One of the things that is so great about
regenerative scientist. “If we have questions, that’s experiential learning is that it helps students
when we go back to the professor.” figure out if what they’ve chosen as a field is
what they really want to do,” Tsavatewa said.
During the same semester that Davis and his “If they decide they do want to go in that
fellow Biology majors were scooping water direction, they’re better prepared because they
samples from ponds and salt marshes, Rebecca have real experience.”
Kuzminski was crunching numbers, assembling
tax returns, handling some payroll duties and Formal Recognition
creating invoices at the accounting firm of M L
Carroll & Associates in Macon. As a key part of Experiential Learning@MGA, Middle
Georgia State formally will recognize students
A senior working on her bachelor’s degree in who successfully complete courses that include
Business & IT with a major in Accounting, the 23- specific types of internships, undergraduate
year-old Kuzminski said her day-to-day research and service learning. They will have
interactions at the firm are valuable experiences
not duplicable in classrooms. Article continues on page 8

t

Fall 2015 MIDDLE GEORGIA STATE TODAY 7