NCCC Success Story

Where is your hometown?
Burbank, California

What was your degree program at RIT/NTID?
Bachelor of Computer Science

What was your graduation date from RIT/NTID?
December 2022

Where are you currently employed, and what is your job title?
Software Analyst at Citi ICG Technology

What are your work responsibilities?
I am responsible for working on projects and reporting to an assigned project manager and/or team. Projects vary depending on assigned agile sprint work and the team you are assigned to. For my first internship, I was working with an assigned team, reporting to a manager to set up a new website example from scratch using Flask and React. For my second internship, I was assigned with a different and smaller team to assist other workflow teams, sample business rules, and transform from other versions.

How does your current job relate to your degree from RIT/NTID?
I would strongly say it would be a mix of courses between the Computer Science/Software Engineering paths that have prepared me for my position at Citi. During my path for Computer Science, I was taking computer science clusters such as Software Engineering, Programming Logic Concepts, and other courses that connect each other, which all help me at my current job.

Do you have any advice for any current students attending RIT/NTID?
My advice would be to choose the right path to pursue, hopefully one that you’ve always wanted, and stay motivated in pursuing that path. More specifically for school, you should work with classmates, communicate with professors, plan ahead, work on assigned homework as early as possible to save time, and so much more: do not look at how long it will take you, but instead think of you being successful after you complete a final goal. Pay attention to the courses, homework, projects, and understand what it is trying to teach you. RIT/NTID offers a lot of resources within accessibility, so requesting the necessary accommodations for your courses is a very critical part for your educational path.

I started off with Applied Computer Technology at NTID, with amazing Deaf professors I was able to improve my English skills, teach me important knowledge within liberal arts, and grow my programming knowledge. After finishing all requirements for the AS, I got accepted into and started over at RIT to pursue a Bachelor of Computer Science. Even with the rich knowledge of programming I had learned from NTID, there were still challenges for me. I overcame these challenges by pushing myself to work hard researching, in order to find solutions and finish projects, as well as learning to build a stronger foundation in mathematics, liberal arts, computer science, and science.