FLEXperience
FLEXperience: Amplifying Student Voices
The 2022-2023 Student FLEXperience expands the UMass Amherst student experience by sharing digital stories focused on the overarching theme of Belonging and Access: How Digital Technology Can Solve Obstacles.
Over the course of four months, students wrote scripts, recorded audio narrations, and collected visual content to develop digital stories. These stories focus on experiences throughout the pandemic as well as the use of technology to find community, access education, and engage with the campus.
2023 FLEXperience Digital Stories
Gilbert Wermeling '23
"STILL SINGING"
Take a peek into the experience of a choral conducting student during a global pandemic.
By Gilbert Wermeling, M.M. Choral Conducting, College of Humanities and Fine Arts (May 2023)
Jakob Gokey '23/'24
"THE PORTABLE CLASSROOM: A MILITARY SERVICEMEMBER'S EXPERIENCE"
How UMass enabled me to continue my education full time while serving overseas.
By Jakob Gokey, B.A. Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in International Relations, University Without Walls (Spring 2023) and Master of Public Policy, School of Public Policy (February 2024)
Jazmine Chan '25
"FINDING CONNECTIONS & COMMUNITY"
As a commuter student, utilizing technology and support from my colleagues at UMass has allowed me to find my own community, be a student and caregiver for my dad.
By Jazmine Chan, PhD Health Promotion & Policy: Community Health Education, School of Public Health & Health Sciences (May 2025)
Amelia Talluri '25
"FIGURING IT OUT"
A short story about navigating through school and life as the first child of multicultural immigrants.
By Amelia Talluri, B.S. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, College of Natural Sciences, Business Minor (May 2025)
Chiruza Muhimuzi '25
"THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY"
I share a short story about one of the challenges I faced as a refugee and English learner and how I faced it.
By Chiruza Muhimuzi, B.S. Biology, College of Natural Sciences (2025)
Daria Agrba '23
"BRINGING FAMILY CLOSER TOGETHER"
The flexibility of education improved my relationship with my family, especially with my father after he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
By Daria Agrba, B.S Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Natural Sciences (May 2023)
Saffron Turner '24
"AN AUTISTIC EXPERIENCE WITH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY: IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY AT UNIVERISTY AND BEYOND"
Saffron, an autistic undergraduate student, discusses how they’re better able to access more equal educational and social opportunities at their university by taking advantage of digital technology.
By Saffron Turner, B.A. Sociology, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies Minor, College of Humanities and Fine Arts (May 2024)
Fatih Cetin '24
"BREAKING THE BARRIERS: HOW AUXILIARY TECHNOLOGIES HELPED ME TO ACHIEVE MY DREAMS"
I tell the personal stories of my sister and I which started with similar obstacles but evolved into diverging paths due to the increased availability of accessibility-augmenting technologies.
By Fatih Cetin, PhD Political Science, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (June 2024)
Anna Clune '23
"BEING BOTH COLLEGE STUDENT AND 1ST GRADE TEACHER"
During my pandemic year at home, I balanced being both an online college student while working as a Spanish immersion school teacher for a 1st grader.
By Anna Clune, B.S. Spanish and Communications, College of Humanities and Arts (May 2023)
Bridget Benner '23, Jonisha Aubain '26, Paola Pimentel Furlanetto '24
"WOMANHOOD IN ENGINEERING: MARRIAGE, MOTHERHOOD, AND MULTICULTURAL BACKGROUNDS"
Personal experiences from nontraditional women in Engineering and the challenges that come from that and how we overcome these challenges.
By Bridget Benner, PhD Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering (December 2023),
Jonisha Aubain, PhD Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering (May 2026),
and Paola Pimentel Furlanetto, PhD Industrial Engineering & Operations Research, College of Engineering (May 2024)