Linehan Scholars | 1st Year
Maren Auth is pursuing an Acting BFA with a Minor in Vocal Music. She enjoys playing dramatic roles that require emotional intimacy and vulnerability. Her aspirations include working in musicals and regular theatre, taking on dream roles such as Christine from “Phantom of the Opera,” Anastasia from “Anastasia the Musical,” and Betheina from “Fences.” Maren is also very interested in film roles. With many career interests, her talents include vocals, modeling professionally, and acting, and she is working on furthering her skills in dance. Maren plans to use all these avenues to get her to what she wants for her life. And that is to have a comfortable life doing what she loves. While also pursuing pre-physical Therapy, Maren would always feel like she had missed out if she hadn’t tried her very best to build her artistic career.
Rickerra Bassett is a first-year Linehan scholar. She plays viola and is double majoring in Music Education and Viola Performance. From Pre-K to 12th Grade, she was in the BSO Orchkids program, where she gained her love for music. She was also a Preparatory student at Peabody and was involved in both the Tuned-in and Pathways scholarship programs. These programs helped her receive private lessons and orchestral and Chamber experience. These programs have also allowed her to gain teaching experience during the summer and school year. She loves teaching because seeing younger kids enjoy playing like she did at their age brings her so much joy. She sees herself in them. She decided to double major because she still wants to gain more skills in performing, and she loves that as well while also learning better methods of teaching in the classroom. Rickerra hopes to achieve a promising teaching career and/or a solid performing career that she enjoys.
Brianna Bates is a pianist and percussionist from Pasadena, Maryland, studying instrumental music education at UMBC. She has studied piano for the last 13 years and percussion for the last six. Brianna aspires to be an elementary school teacher and introduce her love of music with kids at an early age. During high school, she was involved in her school’s jazz, percussion, wind ensemble, chamber orchestra, and Tri-M chapter president. Additionally, she teaches piano lessons outside of school. During her time at UMBC, she hopes to learn many different styles of music and grow on new instruments she has not explored before.
Kia Brazhnikova is a Visual Arts major at UMBC with a concentration in Animation. Art has helped Kia understand her feelings by giving them a tangible form. In moments of uncertainty, art is the anchor that keeps her grounded and gives her an outlet to express herself. She hopes that her work resonates with others who are going through a hard time and helps them feel understood. Some of her achievements include earning three gold regional medals at the 2024 Scholastic Artist and Writers Awards and being a runner-up at the 2021 New York Times Coming of Age competition with her work “Impassive.” During high school, Kia was in the Visual Art Center(a nationally recognized portfolio preparation program). In the VAC Kia learned to work under a rigorous workload and got to experiment with a variety of different mediums. Kia aspires to collaborate with passionate individuals to create numerous animated films that tell thoughtful messages in unique ways of visual storytelling—specifically tackling difficult topics such as mental illness and complex family dynamics.
Trinity Brechtel is a freshman and a first-year Linehan Artist Scholar at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, pursuing a double major in Dance and Education. At the age of 4, she was trained under Centre Pointe Performing Arts, learning multiple styles of dance such as ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, and contemporary. Growing up in the dance world as a competitive dancer, Trinity has gotten the opportunity to work with professional dancers at different conventions and at her studio. She recently took the opportunity to dance for two weeks at the Ascend Contemporary Dance Intensive, directed under Brandon Russell, and worked with Shaness Kemp, Kelly Sneddon Walker, Ryan Bailey, and Kele Roberson. With the help of her two majors, Trinity hopes to become a professional choreographer or dancer, and be able to travel to many states, hoping to inspire the future generations of dancers who also want to pursue it professionally.
Bella Brown(they/them) is an artist and dancer from Baltimore, Maryland, pursuing a double major in Dance and Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. They have studied dance at institutions such as the Baltimore School for the Arts, Charm City Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, and The Ailey School under the direction of Tracy Inman and Melanie Person. In addition, Bella has worked with choreographers like Da’Shown Rawl, Hollie Wright, and Amy Hall Garner. Their most notable roles include The Enchantress in Beauty and the Beast, Flotsam in The Little Mermaid, and The Sugar Plum Fairy in Amy Hall Garner’s Nutcracker. Bella aspires to have a performance career in contemporary dance while conducting research on the intersectionality of dance and gender identity in the future.
Lee Dugan is stoked and honored to be a Linehan Artist Scholar. He started dance class at four years old and has attempted nearly every genre. In the Kinetics Youth Ensemble, he choreographed two works and participated in Maryland Dance Alliance events and the Howard County Dance Festival. He’s also had the honor of performing and choreographing with Kinetics Dance Company. He hopes to learn from the artistic, athletic, and academic challenges and opportunities ahead.
Brooks Anthony Giro is a music education and music technology major hoping to earn a degree in both. He began playing percussion and drum set when he was eight years old and has been playing ever since. He is also an independent musician who produces rap lyrics and instrumentals and has been making professional records since 2021. Brooks loves the way music can make people feel, express themselves, and bring people together, and overall enjoys the art creation. He played in Mount Hebron High School’s percussion ensemble, symphonic band, marching band, jazz band, and wind ensemble while playing alongside the school’s choir and performing as the lead drummer in the last two musicals. This past year, he played in Towson University’s symphonic band and participated in multiple concerts with the ensemble. He won the “Jazz Musician of the Year” award in his senior year of high school and was the section leader for the wind ensemble and marching band. Throughout the Linehan program and UMBC, he hopes to become a top-notch producer while learning what it takes to become a teacher. When he gets into the classroom, he hopes to make a difference in a child’s life, not only with music but in general.
Briana Hausler is a first-year Linehan Scholar studying towards a major in Graphic Design. Her love for visual arts sparked in middle school with a newfound interest in traditional works, later morphing into love for the digital arts world. She continued to experiment with various media during her sophomore year of high school and cultivated an interest in design programs with an Adobe-focused Inter Media Productions class. With said program, she worked towards gaining Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator certifications as well as qualifying for a Computer Technology of Engineering scholarship throughout her remaining years of high school. She pushes forward to create pieces that truly stand out to the eyes of the beholder and hopes to showcase that creativity in future careers. She aims to further these opportunities at UMBC and grow together with the Linehan Scholars!
Carli Haynes is a first-year Linehan Arts Scholar at UMBC pursuing a double major in Dance and Economics. Since beginning her dance training at an early age, Carli has trained in all styles of dance. She received a well-rounded dance education, exploring the depths and opportunities provided in the world of concert dance and the commercial dance industry. Haynes has attended numerous workshops and competitions at both the regional and national levels. Furthermore, Carli has been the recipient of several scholarships from her home studio, summer programs, and college programs, ultimately leading her to expand her artistic expression as a dancer. Over the years, Carli has had the opportunity to train with industry professionals, including Charles Renato, Darrell Moultrie, Dez Soliven, and Thomas Ford. By studying dance at a collegiate level and pursuing a degree in economics, Carli hopes to combine her studies to establish herself in a position of leadership with a dance company.
Kayla Laucks is an artist and theatre maker from Fleetwood, Pennsylvania. She is pursuing a major in Theatre Design and Production from UMBC, also a Linehan Artist Scholar. Kayla fell in love with theatre because of its unique ability to unite people of different backgrounds and create pieces that encompass many different art forms and subject matters. While in high school, Kayla was the Stage Manager for her school’s spring musicals (The Addams Family, Into the Woods, Fiddler on the Roof) and helped to create her school’s first ever Fall One Act productions in 2022 and 2023. She has also been a part of many local Berks County theatre productions including the creation of new works with Reading Theater Project (In Nature’s Studio, 5-Minute Fringe Festival) stage managing for Reading Area Community College’s Winter Musicals (Young Frankenstein, Something Rotten) and Berks Ballet Theatre’s 2023 The Nutcracker. Kayla looks forward to continuing her artistic and theatrical journey at UMBC and aims to work in theatre professionally in the future.
Jaime Loza is a first-year Linehan scholar and visual arts major at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, studying 3D animation and photography. He is certified in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Pro and has experience in Adobe Lightroom, Illustrator, After Effects, Maya, Unity, and several other software programs. Jaime has displayed his work at the Howard County Junior/Senior Artist Showcase, the Howard County Council Center for Arts, and the Columbia Mall Howard County Artist Exhibit. Most notably, he received three gold keys and a silver key for his photography in the Scholastics Art and Writing competition. Jaime is primarily drawn to the liberty of expression within different mediums, seeking to emotionally connect with others through his work. He hopes to be able to create art in professional settings, continuing his exploration of various mediums while maintaining the sentimental value that art holds for him.
Sydney McDonald is a National award-winning artist based in Maryland studying Photography and Computer Science at UMBC. What Sydney loves about photography as well as other forms of art, is how expressive, complex, and experimental pieces can be and how easy it is to craft a narrative and create a visual story. Sydney has been recognized by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, and Scholastics Art and Writing Awards for her photographic work as well as her drawings and paintings. She has had her work displayed in multiple galleries, and she continues to improve in her practice. Sydney aspires to work as a professional artist while working in computer science as a way to combine her STEM and art identities.
Maranna Nwozo is a writer, animator, and artist majoring in animation and double minoring in entrepreneurship and Japanese. What Maranna loves about art is that enhancing it also comes with the power to tell stories that deeply impact people’s hearts and minds. In high school, she was the Co-President of the Creative Writing Club and often enjoys videographing experiences in American high school and university life to send to her seven pen pals in Japan. Maranna aspires to use the knowledge gained from her education at UMBC to start a production company that creates diverse and globally-minded shows through the medium of Japanese-styled animation.
Riley “Scott” Payne is a first-year Linehan Scholar majoring in Jazz Studies. He began his musical career at the young age of 6, starting on the piano. When he was 9, he picked up the electric bass which became his clear passion and main instrument. Riley plans on releasing a 3-4 song EP entirely made up of solo Bass performance. Along with his songwriting, he is also a part of the band, Kill The Darkness, which currently has an album and two singles released. Over the past year, he has worked with legendary bass players Jacob Umansky and Toby Peterson. Both give him new ways to approach technique, theory, and production. He is now a music teacher at Soundcheck Rock Academy, where he helps the younger generation learn and love music as he does. Entering into UMBC he will be a part of the Jazz Ensemble and Small Jazz groups. However before he was a Retriever, he was Gael. At Mount Saint Joseph High School, he has performed with the Jazz, Symphonic, Pit, and Choir bands. To break away from music for a second, he also has a strong interest in rock climbing and goes to the Movement gym in Columbia whenever he can. He is ready to move forward into the next step of his journey at UMBC.
Abby Wheatley is a multifaceted artist currently studying visual arts as a freshman at UMBC. They are a Linehan Scholar and member of the Honors College, and they specialize in digital illustration, resin art, and acting. Abby is also a 2024 graduate of the Apex Arts Magnet Program in Anne Arundel County, with a concentration in theater. Through this program, they have assisted teaching visual arts summer camps at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, led a clowning workshop at the annual Apex open house, and received awards for both their senior capstone projects. They own a small Etsy shop where they sell resin dice and jewelry, and they annually work at the Maryland Renaissance Festival, which they consider their second home. Abby is a storyteller, and constantly strives to translate the ideas in their head into the world- be it on a piece of paper, a screen, or a stage. They draw most of their inspiration from comic artists and video game art styles, and are constantly experimenting to improve their own work. Abby hopes to one day create graphic novels, especially centered around all the stories and misadventures that come with working in the customer service industry. Connection makes us human, and they want to use their art to bridge gaps and help people feel seen.
Joshua Wittenberg is a freshman at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, majoring in Music Education. He started music at a young age and has been singing for ten years. As an Academy for the Fine Arts graduate and current Linehan Scholar, he has had four years of experience studying music at the collegiate level. In high school, he was the President of the Tri-M Music National Honor Society, won the departmental music award, and was awarded a superior score at the MMEA state solo & ensemble festival. Joshua plans to pursue a master’s degree in vocal performance to continue his educational journey. His goal is to get the next generation of students involved in music so that they can express their passions and emotions as freely as possible.
