{"id":227588,"date":"2025-03-27T14:24:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T18:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=227588"},"modified":"2025-03-27T14:24:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T18:24:04","slug":"go-getter-high-school-students-explore-data-analytics-profession-at-uconn-event-it-looks-like-a-fun-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/03\/go-getter-high-school-students-explore-data-analytics-profession-at-uconn-event-it-looks-like-a-fun-career\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Go Getter\u2019 High School Students Explore Data Analytics Profession at UConn Event: \u2018It Looks Like a Fun Career\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isabella Escobar and Anwesha Gupta, both juniors at Avon High School, spent a few minutes Monday morning in a friendly competition to see whose robot could scoop up more blocks and get them across a goal line.<\/p>\n

They were among 40 students from Avon, Farmington, and Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, who spent part of the day at UConn\u2019s Graduate Business Learning Center, exploring careers in data analytics. The Data Analytics Day event was organized in partnership with Junior Achievement of Southwest New England.<\/p>\n

Gupta\u2019s older sister is studying business in college and that piqued her own interest in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to major in business and I\u2019m figuring out what direction interests me. I\u2019m testing the water for data analytics,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed myself today. It was very fun.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Escobar is also leaning toward a business career, possibly in marketing or international affairs, but is open to other options. \u201cI\u2019m very lucky to be here. I\u2019m excited,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

In addition to learning about emerging technology, including robotics, the students attended programs about communication and leadership, and how Microsoft Excel and Tableau can benefit business.<\/p>\n

During the latter program, professor John Wilson, academic director for the master\u2019s in FinTech program, explained that visual analytics\u2014collecting, analyzing and presenting information in an appealing and easy-to-understand way\u2014is one of the hottest jobs in business today.<\/p>\n

\"Professor
Professor John Wilson, Academic Director for the graduate FinTech program told 40 high school students that careers in data visualization are among the most promising in business. (Nathan Oldham \/ UConn School of Business)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That captured the interest of Capital Prep students Javaris Spencer, a junior, and Sherdon Rodney, a senior.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted more information and a better understanding of the data analytics field,\u2019\u2019 Spencer said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a good experience so far.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned about the role data analytics plays in life,\u2019\u2019 Rodney said, after viewing a brief introduction to a visual analytics presentation on the impact of domestic violence. \u201cI\u2019ve been thinking about how data has evolved and how it works, and how more companies want to use it. It looks like a fun career.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Julie Armstrong, director of education at Junior Achievement, was excited about the new partnership between her organization and UConn, and felt it would be fruitful.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe students are self selected and all are interested in data analytics and in business, and have an aptitude for research,\u2019\u2019 Armstrong said. \u201cThe teachers we work with send us the real go-getters who want as much career exposure as possible.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Wilson said the event appeared to be a success.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been tasked with workforce development and creating a pipeline to drive interest in STEM careers early on,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cThere\u2019s great enthusiasm here today. Many students are interested in careers in analytics, and others are here just to gain a better understanding of what it is.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

UConn graduate student Gomathi Ramachandran helped develop the curriculum for the event. Ramachandran, a former educator now working as an educational financial systems analyst, is pursuing an advanced degree in business analytics and program management. She said she could witness the students\u2019 engagement and hopes the program will expand their interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, I remember wishing for a mentor who would encourage me to believe in myself and in my ability to learn new things,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cBack then, I was often afraid to take risks due to the fear of failure. Now, as an adult, I\u2019m pursuing courses that push me out of my comfort zone daily. I\u2019ve learned to embrace challenging subjects like SQL, visual analytics, and public speaking.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

She said she hopes the students who participated in Monday\u2019s program developed curiosity, a belief in themselves and their abilities, and recognize that no concept is too difficult to grasp.
\nJunior Achievement serves 35,000 students in Connecticut alone. The organization\u2019s three pillars are financial literacy, career preparation, and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Race, President and CEO of the Southern New England chapter, said programs like the Data Analytics Day are invaluable and offer students exposure to high-impact careers that they might not otherwise experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy partnering with the UConn School of Business, Junior Achievement is providing high school students with unprecedented access to expertise in data analytics, showing them how numbers can tell powerful stories that drive business outcomes,\u2019\u2019 Race said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis collaboration creates a unique bridge between academic theory and real-world application, allowing students to learn directly from professors and student mentors who are at the cutting edge of the field,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cWe are deeply grateful to our friends at UConn for their commitment to cultivating the next generation of business leaders and for opening their doors to give JA students this glimpse into the world of data-drive decision making.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBy partnering with the UConn School of Business, Junior Achievement is providing high school students with unprecedented access to expertise in data analytics, showing them how numbers can tell powerful stories that drive business outcomes,\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":227592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1862],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2105],"class_list":["post-227588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-busn"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 15:34:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227588"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":227594,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227588\/revisions\/227594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/227592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227588"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=227588"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=227588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}