Meet BCCC’s SGA President

Rachel Hundertmark Rachel Hundertmark isn’t the traditional college student, and she’s using that as her platform while at BCCC to make a difference and inspire her classmates from all walks of life and histories. Originally from Carroll County, she began her journey at BCCC in the fall of 2023. A single mother, she moved to the area so her teenage daughter could attend Baltimore Design School and began investigating colleges for herself.

“I wasn’t sure what to do after COVID, so I researched local colleges and found BCCC,” Hundertmark says. “The location and low cost to attend made it a no-brainer. So, I enrolled and after changing my major will be finished in December 2025.”

Hundertmark is in the Computer Information Systems program, which she describes as bringing the business into technology. This combination will allow her to help people with problems from both the front and back end of technology. Gaining early acceptance, she will begin her undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in the fall of 2026. She plans to continue her education and obtain a master’s degree in human centered computing, which for her will bring psychology into technology.  

No small feat for a first-generation college student who has tried college several times without success. Until now.  

“I want everyone to know there is no limit to the number of times you can fail at succeeding,” she explains. “Sometimes you just aren’t in the right place but once you find where you fit it all falls together. I tried college three times before BCCC without success because life happened. But I am succeeding now and showing my daughter that college is a reality.”

BCCC was the right place for her, especially after she got plugged into the Student Government Association (SGA). Hundertmark attended the Student Advocacy Day in 2024, and it piqued her interest in politics. Student Advocacy Day is held every year and brings community college students to Annapolis to advocate for state support of the community college mission through meetings with elected officials and interacting with the legislature.

She wanted to get involved and discovered the SGA. Describing it as the voice between students and administration she is now the president and advocating for all students at BCCC. Some efforts spearheaded through SGA are writing and sending letters to encourage individuals to vote in the recent elections; raising and contributing donations to community colleges affected by the wildfires in California; and attending and promoting college-wide events. In the coming semester students will see new rooms dedicated to the arts, wayfinding and ADA compliance in college signage, a naming promotion for the student center and naming of the panther mascot. This all came to fruition through the SGA and Student Life & Engagement, with the support of the administration.

She describes SGA’s role as one responsible for listening to student concerns and input and taking that information to the president with the goal of finding solutions and sparking change. The SGA is made up of three students, which she portrays as small but mighty, and notes that they are not only here to listen to complaints but also the positive things and emphasize what the college is doing well.

All students are welcome to attend the monthly SGA meeting held on the first Wednesday of every month at 12 pm in the Fine Arts building Mini Conference Center. The first meeting of 2025 will be February 5. Students are also encouraged to reach out to Hundertmark via email or during her office hours:

Liberty Campus, Main Building, Room 09B
410-462-8361
rhundertmark@student.bccc.edu

Monday: Virtual 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Tuesday: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Wednesday: 11 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Thursday: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Asked for one piece of advice for all students, Hundertmark easily responds to get plugged in. She credits several areas at BCCC that have been instrumental in her success, but only after she got involved. She notes TRIO as a one stop shop to help navigate the details of college; Disability Support Services as an aid to overcome barriers to education instigated by visible and invisible disabilities; and the Student Support & Wellness Services as a terrific counsel on emotional and psychological factors. She also emphasizes the importance of finding a mentor.

 “BCCC has given me the tools to know how to life better, and I want to evoke positive change through SGA and all the other organizations I’m involved in at the college,” she says.

SGA is one of many clubs and organizations that serve as a resource and opportunity to all students as they continue their educational journey or move into their professional field. These are all offered through Student Life & Engagement.