Graduating Student Sets Sights on Data Analysis Career
Hailing from Nigeria, Lotenna Nwana has carved a remarkable academic journey at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, culminating in the attainment of a master鈥檚 degree in business information systems and analytics.
Nwana joined 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in 2022 after earning a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Covenant University and working as a data analyst for several companies in Nigeria.
鈥淥ne of the things that brought me to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock was the opportunity to work with Dr. Agarwal at the ,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 had seen that a lot of the work being done at the lab aligned with my skills and what I wanted to do for my career. I had the opportunity to collaborate with smart people, work on critical research projects, and publish research papers.鈥�
Nwana鈥檚 research at COMOS focused on analysis of data from X and Instagram that focused on the Indo Pacific region. He has published four research papers so far with more in the works.
Upon reflecting on his college career, Nwana described his time at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock as 鈥渉ectic but rewarding.鈥� In addition to working as a graduate assistant at COSMOS, Nwana served as secretary of the National Society of Black Engineers, a senator for the Student Government Association, and a student ambassador for the College of Business, Health, and Human Services.
鈥淲hen I got to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, I enjoyed the togetherness and community of the university,鈥� Nwana said. 鈥淚 got to meet a number of great people in the student body and faculty, which gave me the opportunity to collaborate and learn more about the United States. I think this has been critical to my journey.鈥�
During summer 2023, Nwana worked as a business intelligence engineer at Amazon.
鈥淚t was a great experience, and I got to experience a new city 鈥� Bellevue, Washington,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he expectations at Amazon are very high. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of smart individuals who taught me a lot. It was a rewarding summer.鈥�
He was also one of the 2023 recipients of the Acxiom Diversity Scholarship program, which provides scholarships to full-time college students from diverse backgrounds majoring in computer science, computer information systems, management information systems, information quality, information systems, engineering, mathematics, and statistics, or related areas of study.
鈥淕etting the Acxiom Scholarship was critical to me and important to my entire experience as a college student at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock,鈥� Nwana said. 鈥淭hat scholarship gave me the opportunity to go to a number of conferences to learn about emerging technology in the industry and to make connections.鈥�
After graduation, Nwana plans to work as a data analyst. His advice for future college students is to find a good balance between academics and student life.
鈥淢y advice is not to miss out on any aspect of the entire student experience,鈥� he said. 鈥淒on鈥檛 focus just on class or just on extracurricular activities. It鈥檚 important to find the right balance so you can have a holistic college experience.鈥�