Where will you be living next year, and what will you be doing?
Aurora, IL – I plan to use the skills I have earned in my master’s degree in my current role as a technologist. This ranges from managing my own tasks for the day to interacting with my coworkers. As I deepened my skills in various disciplines in technology during graduate studies, I have a better understanding of what happens under the hood.
As I also earned a certificate in data and analytics, I want to be more involved in this area. This can mean seeking further studies or seeking client opportunities in data and analytics.. Further studies can mean a doctorate degree or another master’s degree.
What advice do you have for Harvard HES students, now that you have graduated?
Keep your passion for learning burning.
There were two semesters when I enrolled for three graduate courses. This means that I had to devote about 30 hours of studies during the two semesters. This load is on top of my full time employment and family life. As with most HES students, I am married with two teenage sons and a twelve year old daughter. With this as a backdrop, I developed time management. I learned how to juggle many balls without letting one drop.
When it came to school work, I knew that I didn’t have the luxury to procrastinate. As soon as assignments and videos were released, I watched or worked on them. I let my assignments marinate for a week before I finally submit them. Also, doing assignments before sections helped me understand the material. I was ready with my questions during sections. This helped me aced my assignments. When it came to final projects, I started researching them as soon as details of the final projects were released. This helped me managed my time when due dates of final projects for three courses came at the same time.
In what ways has your Harvard Extension degree impacted your career?
My Harvard Extension degree allowed me to seek client opportunities beyond what I had mastered in my career as an IT professional. I can confidently talk about subjects beyond what I learned from client engagements from my full time work. These subjects can vary from web development, cloud computing or statistical modeling.
My degree also allowed me to explore an academic career. During my last semester, I was accepted as a Teaching Fellow for Statistical Modeling. I enjoyed this opportunity and I have learned a lot from HES students too. I hope to be a teaching fellow for the succeeding years. Hopefully, one day, I can also be a faculty at HES.
