Leveraging Information for a Career of Service
For first-year Master of Information Management (MIM) student Michael Sapp, running to be the MIM student representative to the iSchool Assembly was a natural progression. As a member of the Army for nearly twelve years, Sapp is used to taking initiative to serve.
The decision to come to Maryland, however, wasn’t a straightforward one for Sapp. He first began considering graduate school while working as a staff member at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. With an undergraduate background in computer science, German and Spanish, and his current interests in national security and intelligence, there was no single obvious direction. “The interdisciplinary aspects of the MIM program allow me to combine my interests in several areas. The core courses have just confirmed my enthusiasm for the program by opening my eyes to how relevant the study of information is to every field.”
Running for MIM student representative was an easy decision for Sapp. “I was so enthusiastic about the program that I wanted to get as involved as I could right away. After many years at West Point, I think it would have been difficult to go back to having a less active role in decision making,” he says. “Given the fact that so many MIM students are juggling their degree program with full-time jobs or other obligations, I thought it was important for me to be willing to serve on behalf of other students for whom it was not an option.”
Upon graduation from the iSchool next year, Sapp hopes to leverage his newly-acquired information management skills and knowledge directly into the next step of his military career as an operations officer. In this capacity, he would be responsible for planning training for 200-300 Army personnel to ensure optimal military readiness at all times—a task that requires massive data collection and management skills to coordinate complex logistics and equipment requirements.
Despite where his Army career takes him, Sapp doesn’t intend on forgetting the iSchool. “Even though my time here will be relatively short, I am doing what I can to create a commitment to Maryland and the iSchool,” he says. “I anticipate being a proud alumnus and supporter of the iSchool for many years to come.”