UDM and GM - A UDM Perspective - Including Local Media Coverage

DETROIT (9/4/2013) -- The University of Detroit Mercy continually wants great things for its students and for senior fencer Paige Zmudczynski of the UDM women's fencing team has had an opportunity to work with General Motors over the summer and do great things for the Detroit community.
 
Zmudczynski is making a documentary video that will run from 60-90 minutes that will show GM and its new program called Student Corps. A ten-minute trailer is already online with the full project to be completed by this October. First initiated this past summer, Student Corps picked 11 schools in the Detroit area and focused on the schools as targets to improve overall scores in order to help make an effort to improve student outcomes. 10 students were picked from those 11 schools to do internships over the summer.
 
Students were then charged with designing a project that would benefit their community, their school, and their neighborhood wherever it might be in their community. They were to design this project, plan it under the guidance of GM retirees and top-level executives and a group of 11 student mentors from UDM, which also included Matt Ybarra from men's soccer and Annie Mendoza from women's lacrosse. GM provided the tools, the mentoring, and the support for the entire project.
 
Zmudczynski earned the position to work on the video through Jason Roche, UDM Assistant Professor of Communication Studies.
 
"Jason recommended me for this and I felt he has been personally rooting for me and trying to get me into this basically for the past year," said Zmudczynski. "This video project has been in the talking stage for quite a few months and it became official in March and ever since then he has been trying to push me to get into this because he thinks it would be a great networking opportunity for me."
 
Roche did not just pick Paige because he knew her from teaching her in class. She had to apply for the position and was selected among a group of individuals. She is not receiving college credit but is instead working as a paid intern. She is building her portfolio and has had a chance to network and be among top-level executives at a place like GM. She has met a number of individuals already, including the Executive Vice President and President, North America Mark Reuss who was on campus on Thursday, August 15, 2013 to promote Student Corps. That day, Reuss drove a 2014 Corvette onto the UDM campus for the press conference in the fountain lounge to talk about the Student Corps program.

 
"I had the liberty of interviewing him asking him questions and getting great responses," said Zmudczynski of Reuss. "I saw him three times the entire week and he remembers me by name which is impressive because GM is one of the biggest corporations in the world.
 
"I was really pleased that GM offered me the opportunity to do this and they gave me a budget that would allow me to get three new cameras for the school and pay for four student interns to do this project," said Roche. "My students had to apply to be one of those four. They had to write a cover letter explaining why they thought they would do a good job, just like for a real job. I knew Paige was good from my classes but her recommendation letters were great as well and it was a no-brainer to hire her. She has been a hard worker."
 
Roche remembers Zmudczynski when he first had her in class and she did not know much about Detroit at least from what he saw. He has seen her grow and the communications major will be a senior in 2013-14.
 
"She is very outgoing and she is also very curious and those are great, great qualities to have and not only that but she is excellent at videography and producing videos," said Roche. "She just really picked up the mission of the university and now she is all about telling people about Detroit. She is going down and visiting places in Detroit so this was a natural fit for Paige."
 
Zmudczynski is outgoing and has mentioned her experience with the UDM fencing team to the students. She is a three-year letter winner fencing with the epee weapon for UDM fencing head coach Todd Dressell.
 
"We made a little pitch for fencing and I have been putting it in there that I fence," said Zmudczynski. "If they do come to UDM, it would be a great thing to try and we have had kids ask us about it. I'm always looking to recruit more people."
 
One of the more memorable moments came for Zmudczynski who worked with students from Hamtramck. A majority of the Hamtramck students are Muslim and the community work was being done during Ramadan, in which Muslims refrain from both food and drink including water. The effort seen by Zmudczynski of each of the individuals working through the summer heat but striving to push forward and persevere is a moment she will never forget.
 
"I think it's just been a great thing. It's helped connect us to the university it's helped connect our students to the community and to get these guys out and learning in different communities around Detroit so it's just been a stellar thing and it ties in dead on with the university mission," said Roche.
 
Zmudczynski is hoping the internship turns into more opportunities in her future.
 
"I'm hoping to be working for GM maybe in the future. Right now, I have been working on networking opportunities. I have been talking to retirees and some of Reuss' personal connections and I just really hope to be working for them," said Zmudczynski.

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