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Profiles of Current Students and Alumni

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Priyanka Thaker

Program of Study:

Master of Science in Computer Science/Software Development

Year of Graduation:

2007

Hometown:

Kingston, NY

Previous Education (degree and institution):

Bachelor of Computer Applications, Gujarat University, India

Tell us about your work history before Marist, including years of experience, industry, companies, and positions.

I chose to pursue my Masters degree immediately after receiving my Bachelors degree. I wanted to look for a full-time position after completing my Masters, so that I could give more time to my courses and maintain a better GPA. Hence, I do not have a work history before joining Marist that is relevant to my field.

Current Employer and Position:

IBM, IT Specialist

Why did you choose Marist?

Among the various reasons for choosing Marist to pursue a Masters degree, one of them was its program designed for Software Development. I love programming and hence was looking for a program that could help me enhance my skills. The courses offered at Marist just seemed to be perfect. Another contributing factor to my decision was the collaboration between Marist and IBM. I felt that I could certainly get the kind of education and experience needed to get a job at IBM. It held true in my case. Moreover, I fell in love with the outstanding and well-facilitated library, the location of the campus and the helpful and friendly staff at Marist.

Tell us about a project or course that was particularly meaningfully to your professional development.

Software Design and Development as well as Distributed Systems were some of the most interesting and meaningful courses to my professional development that I came across during my Masters program. The projects that were assigned during these courses entailed real world scenarios that really helped me during my initial projects at IBM.

How has a degree from Marist enhanced your career?

Studying at Marist has been one of the best experiences of my life. It has not only given me a platform to begin my career, but has also given me the environment and the opportunity to enhance my skills and become a better candidate for employment at any company. I also had the opportunity to work part-time at Marist during my Masters program. I worked on quite a few projects during this course of time which also included a couple projects with IBM. This opportunity not only gave a boost to my confidence level but also gave me the experience and exposure required to work in the industry.