Taylor McCaslin

I work at New Knowledge as a Senior Product Manager. New Knowledge is an information integrity company. We help detect and mitigate disinformation and inauthentic behavior online. As a Product Manager, I help shape our solution and work with data scientists and engineers to shape our detection algorithms.

Location: Austin, TX

Discuss your general career path since graduating from UT.

Ivy Mestrovic

Finding a Major
I started taking classes in whatever I was interested in, and one day I came across an anthropology class on European folklore and I was in love. I kept reading more than I had to because it was so cool. I realized that this was the first time I’ve ever put so much effort into a class, so I figured this must be my major. From there, I went to an Anthropology Society meeting and thought, “I love these people. This is for me.”

Road Bumps & Strategic Advising Support
The only road bumps I faced happened when I would take a class a quickly realize, “This is not going to be my major.” All of these classes would have interesting aspects, but I found I had other interests. My advisor, David Spight, was really positive and supportive, though. He would say, “If you want to do it, go for it. Just try it.”

Being an Anthropology Major
As an anthropology major, you get to have the weirdest conversations! When I came to my first Anthropology Society meeting, we ended up discussing cannibalism and I thought it was so cool that it was okay to have that discussion.

The biggest surprise about being an anthropology major was how much I had to know about monkeys. The sheer amount of monkey knowledge I had to retain for physical anthropology was overwhelming—everything from evolutionary charts to bone structures. I wasn’t prepared for that!

Student Organizations
In addition to being co-president and treasurer of Anthropology Society, I am also a part of SURGE (Science Undergraduate Research Group) and the UT Steel Pan Ensemble, both of which have been wonderful experiences.

Post Graduation Plans
I have been accepted into graduate school and will be going to pursue my master’s degree in social anthropology this fall.

Advice for UGS Students
After getting into UT as a UGS student, I realized what a boon it was. I had time to experiment during my first two years.

My advice is trust your instincts. If you find yourself liking a class but can’t explain why, just keep looking into it. Trust yourself; your heart will know even if your heart doesn’t even fully realize it yet. Everything felt open to me [in UGS] and it’s stayed that way even now. I now feel free to experiment with classes, and I don’t limit myself to classes in my major at all. If I like the sound of a class, I will justify the relevance to myself in some way and take it.

Caleb Ingels

Finding a Major
I began UT interested in architectural engineering, but the calculus classes were really hard, so I turned to writing. I love to tell stories, and that’s what journalists do.

Strategic Advising Support
My advisor, Alexia, was able to answer all my questions and helped guide me toward journalism. The information she provided was critical in me making my decisions. UGS gave me time to figure out what I wanted to study before I declared a major.

Being a Broadcast Journalism Major
I love that my homework assignments—journalism stories in written, audio (radio) or visual (both photo and video) format—allow me to explore my curiosities, get to know strangers, and tell their stories to the public. The broadcast journalism sequence at UT offers students the chance to operate very high-end broadcasting equipment, the kind of thing you would find in a real news studio. It’s great how well they prepare students for the realities of the job.

Student Organizations
I am involved in Air Force ROTC. Formerly, I was on the co-ed cheer squad for two years.

Most Rewarding Class
Honestly, it’s been the Business Foundation Program coursework series. This program has helped me gain an understanding for they way companies operate in business.

Favorite Study Spot
Currently, it’s the student lounge in the School of Social Work. Sometimes I sneak into the library in the business school.

Post Graduation Plans
I will be an air liaison officer in the Air Force. Basically, I’ll be the guy who calls in air strikes for the Army, to protect their infantry units on the front lines.

Advice for UGS Students
My advice for undecided students is to take a variety of classes that fulfill your core requirements, all the while keeping your eyes open for something you love doing. Pay attention to what makes you lean forward when you talk, and find a way to study that.

Andrew Cavazos

Finding a Major
Coming to UT was probably the best decision I could have made—I could have stayed home. Another blessing that I didn’t know at the time was that I did get into the School of Undergraduate Studies. It gave me the time to actually find a major that fit what I wanted to, instead of coming into UT as a certain major, going through that curriculum and realizing, I don’t really like this. Instead, I took a more broad curriculum my first two semesters and kind of realized, ok, I like this, I don’t like that. Especially in my first semester, I realized I really didn’t like math, so architecture [my first choice major] would have been horrible.

I looked at a lot of majors—geology, kinesiology—man, there were like five or six, but I realized that I wanted to go to law school eventually. I asked Rose about it, and she said, ok, you could do government or you could do something else. But I really thought government was the way to go for me—and a business minor (through the Business Foundations Program).

Road Bumps and Strategic Advising Support
I had originally applied to be in architecture, but I didn’t get accepted, and [admissions] put me in the School of Undergraduate Studies. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at the time. I had a really bad first semester here and was put on academic probation. That’s when I realized how good the School of Undergraduate Studies is. My advisor Rose, specifically, she took me under her wing and helped me get out of it in one semester. It was really 80% Rose, to be honest.

I realized that some of my difficulty my first semester had to do with the education I received before I got to UT. I’ve felt like I had to catch up. I had to sacrifice being in organizations for spending a Friday or Saturday night at the library.

Being a Government Major
Being in liberal arts in general, you get an experience that’s more well rounded. I had a lot of government classes, but you have to take so much more than that—you have to get your humanities, your ethics in, etc. I also had the opportunity to take classes within liberal arts that had to do with law—like business law. Being a liberal arts major also gave me the flexibility to pursue something else I was passionate about—the Business Foundations Certificate —that I might not have gotten to do if I was a student in a different major.

Internships
I’ve had three years of internships. My first two years, I was an intern at the court system in McAllen. I did basic work and viewed a lot of court sessions—everything from traffic tickets to murder cases. Last summer I was the lead intern. I was in charge of anywhere from two to four other interns—getting their work in, training them, etc.

I learned I like business law and union law, where you negotiate labor contracts and stuff. I want to stay away from criminal law, because, after interning for three years, you realize it’s more stress than you need. It’s kind of like gambling all the time, with the courts and the jury.

Most Rewarding Class
I think the most rewarding class I took would be the business law class I took for the Business Foundations Certificate. It gave me a glimpse into what I was looking forward to as a career, and it reinforced my decision to pursue law. And it challenged me intellectually—it wasn’t just some class you could blow off.

Post Graduation Plans
I’ve applied to law school and will hear back in April.

Advice for UGS Students
My advice for UGS students is don’t be afraid to do certain things. I’ve had problems with anxiety my whole life, and I’ve realized you just can’t worry about it—you just gotta take what you’ve been given and work with it.

Erick Munoz

Finding a Major
I was always RTF—that was always what I really wanted. In high school I was asked to make a commercial, and I loved it. I got really good grades for that commercial and everybody loved it, so I started making videos, and that’s when I was like, yep, this is what I want to do. When I found out I was accepted to UGS, I didn’t really know how it worked. But I just realized, ok, I need to work harder to get into what I want.

Road Bumps
My second semester wasn’t great, and I didn’t get into RTF that semester. And my first semester, I missed the deadline and didn’t apply. It was tough to realize that I still wasn’t in RTF, even though I was involved in so many things related to it. And it was sad to see all of my friends who were already RTF when I was trying to get in and wasn’t getting in. My parents kept asking me, are you in? And I’d be like, not this semester, not yet, but then I got in my third semester.

Strategic Advising Support
I will forever say that Rose Mastrangelo is the most amazing person, and I’m so happy she was my advisor, because, Rose is a friend. When she was my advisor, I would just walk in out of the blue to see how she was doing and tell her how I was doing. And that was never the case with my new advisor. Even when Rose stopped being my advisor, I would still email her sometimes to ask questions because she always—just very very very there for us.

Being an RTF Major
Coming from Mexico, I came with a really low budget, and I’d never really had a lot of money. So the fact that I’m shooting a film that is about a little over $2,500 right now—that’s never something I really imagined happening. It’s still amazing to me that I’m 22 and I’m making a film that’s $2,500.

Student Organizations
When I started being a member of the University Filmmakers Alliance (UFA), I never pictured I would end up being the president. So that was pretty amazing.

I split myself into three: If I’m not in classes, I’m at work, and if I’m not at work or in classes, I’m planning something film-related to do. Especially in the last year, being president of UFA, school, work, president, and school work. It’s been fun—stressful—but pretty awesome.

Post Graduation Plans
I’m applying to different internships. I’m planning on keeping my job at the computer store in the FAC to pay the bills while I’m doing internships. That way I can pay the bills and get experience.

Advice for UGS Students
If you already know what you want to do, but didn’t get in, make sure you spend your first year working on as many projects as you can to build a resume. There’s nothing worse than a student who wants to get into a department who’s not doing anything about it. You’re not going to get in just because of your grades. You need to show them that you’re doing things on the side that have to do with the program you’re interested in.

If you don’t know what you want to do, I’d say get involved with as many organizations or groups so you can to get an idea of what you might want. Sometimes classes are not the best way to decide what you want. It’s better to hang around people who already know what they want and can give you an idea. Definitely don’t just sit around. You’re never going to decide what you want to do if you’re just sitting around taking classes and then going home and watching TV.