Yosra Abdulwahid, a junior from Oak Forest, Illinois, is sharing her enthusiasm for her School through her service as an iSchool ambassador. She has had the opportunity to present to high school students about the BS in information sciences, participate in a student course showcase event, and attend the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference.
"This fall, I'll be working with a fellow ambassador to organize and manage student-professor course interviews, which will be led by ambassadors," said Abdulwahid. "Our goal is for these videos to serve as a marketing tool for potential students and give current students insight into courses beyond syllabus descriptions."
Abdulwahid chose to pursue a BS/IS because the interdisciplinary nature of the degree fit her varying interests. She especially enjoys the degree's emphasis on project-based learning, which applies the concepts learned in class to real-world settings. Her favorite class so far has been Data Science Policy & Ethics (IS 467), which is taught in a discussion format through case studies. Technology policy and the digital/data divide are among the topics that interest her the most.
"There's a huge emphasis on the big data revolution, but unfortunately, not every community has equal access to the resources needed to learn data science or even access data," said Abdulwahid. "Oftentimes, even if they do, they don't know how to interpret or make use of the data, thus excluding them from opportunities in the space."
This summer, she worked as the human resources information systems intern at William Blair, an investment bank in Chicago, where she created a people metrics data visualization dashboard using Microsoft Power BI. Outside of the classroom, Abdulwahid loves powerlifting at the gym.
"After graduation, I plan to work in the financial services industry for two years and then apply to graduate school to pursue a law degree," she said.