In 2017, I transitioned from the military after 12 years of service in the U.S. Army Infantry. Shortly after, I began my career in government contracting in the Washington, D.C. area, with my first role as a project manager. At the same time, I was working toward my bachelor’s degree with the goal of later completing an MBA.

Early in my MBA studies, I took a decision-modeling course that sparked my interest in taking more analytics courses. As I was nearing the end, those additional courses left me wanting to find an analytics-focused graduate program.

My military and professional experiences also played a big part in my interest in analytics. The common theme in those experiences was being expected to “do more with less.” As my studies progressed, and I saw opportunities to apply analytics to situations I had previously been in, it reinforced my opinion that the best way to “do more with less” was by leveraging technology and analytics.

Finding the Right Fit at Fuqua

As I was searching for a graduate analytics program, it was difficult to find the right fit for my situation. I had limited exposure to coding, a very demanding job as a program manager in a small (but growing) federal contracting firm, and an energetic two-year-old son at home. When I found Fuqua’s 12-month Accelerated MSQM: Business Analytics program, it checked all the boxes for me.

With its online format and weekend live sessions, I knew I would be able to meet the demands of work, family, and the program. As a veteran who valued diversity and teamwork, I was also heavily drawn to the Team Fuqua culture.

One of the aspects I really enjoyed during the program was the assignment of dedicated learning teams. In previous programs, I might find myself with two or three different project teams each term. At Fuqua, it was great to have an assigned learning team that was established during orientation and remained consistent throughout all the group assignments. I really felt that my learning team, and the cohort, brought an impressive mix of skills and experience that yielded strong results.

The faculty from the top down were outstanding. They were all very accomplished as you would expect, but also very supportive. The faculty would routinely hold regular office hours and were always responsive if there was a problem someone was struggling with. While the MSQM program may not be intended to make you a proficient analyst, the faculty would regularly provide additional background in computer science topics relevant to the techniques, models, and assignments covered.

Leveraging My Technical Skills Long-Term

It’s only been two years since I completed the program, but I can confidently say the long-term impact has been tremendous. The biggest benefit for me was the high-level technical foundation that the program provides. A big part of that foundation was the ongoing exercise of working on assignments with two similar, but nuanced coding languages, in R and Python. It seemed like every week, I would find myself working on a mix of assignments using each language. The mental agility required in that process made it much easier to develop other related skills.

When I started the program, I was spending time at work developing and improving tools to track staffing and financial reporting with Excel and VBA. I also began tinkering with personal projects like building my own website.

As the program progressed, I was able to find opportunities at work and in personal projects to expand my skills with Python and leverage my growing understanding of coding to learn other languages (i.e., HTML, CSS, SQL, M, PowerFX, and DAX). These combined learning experiences enabled me to become certified in a variety of other relevant tools after the program (i.e. Power BI, Power Apps, ServiceNow).

I don’t think I would have developed my current skillset if it weren’t for the MSQM program, and I definitely would not be receiving the same professional opportunities. In August 2023, I was able to begin working independently as a full-time analytics consultant under my own small business. The journey to this point has been long and challenging, and I would not be in this position without the support of Team Fuqua!