Alumni

Courtney Roberts

Since graduating from UNCG, I took a year off in order to study for the GRE and apply for graduate school. In that time, I was a substitute teacher (K-12) in Northern Virginia, Fairfax County and did some administrative temp work in DC. I got into the University of Chicago MAPSS program (Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences). This is a one-year program where I took classes in anthropology, sociology and psychology and conducted independent research to guide my own thesis. My project examined how cell phones have impacted our notions of social interaction and social etiquette, and how we perceive of, and act in, public and private space. That was an intense year! After graduating, I spent about one year at a small boutique style consulting firm in Chicago called TOCA, where I worked as a lead researcher, conducting video ethnography in people’s homes (for cell phones) and in the operating room/hospital setting (for a supply chain logistics software company). Although TOCA was fun, it was contract-based, and I wanted to find something more stable and secure.

Since September 2011, I have worked at User Centric as a User Experience Specialist (consultant). At User Centric, we conduct projects in the mobile, web, health care, and service industries. We do FDA testing on medical devices such as blood glucose meters, and cell phone prototyping for Android or iPhone apps. Never thought I would find myself at a job like this– in fact, I had no idea this type of job exists (www.usercentric.com). It’s something new every day!

The theory and introduction to research I learned at UNCG was no doubt the springboard to my career. Support and motivation filled each class and talks with my professors led me to think about things I hadn’t been exposed to before. Sociology is a great discipline that applies to so much in life and work!