Ujwal Sapkota
Senior Data Scientist at Aetna
Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics with minor in Physics in 2012
Master of Science in Application Mathematics from the University of Missouri in 2014.
Even when I was in school, I used to find doing math problems more enjoyable than studying other subjects. My friends and I used to be few chapters ahead in terms of doing problems and homework. I think the sense of accomplishment I got after solving math problems is what made me choose math.
Current Position:
Currently I am a Senior Data Scientist. In my final year at Mizzou I got more interested in the application of Math, especially in the field of data science. Also the growing amount of data and hidden information in those data motivated me to go for a career in the field of data science. After graduation, I started my career as a Database Analyst, then Data Engineer, and now Data Scientist.
How I use math in my job:
There are some times where I use math skills directly, mostly the concepts of statistics and calculus. However more than this I value the indirect skills I have been using throughout my career, which I believe I learned doing math. The amount of time I spent learning theorems and lemmas were actually preparing me to incorporate ideas from different sources to make a decision. The long hours we spend scratching our head in an attempt to solve a problem are actually preparing for us to be dedicated and focused problem solver. Most importantly, I learned self learning skills while learning/preparing to do math homework problems.
Advice to Truman students getting ready to hit the job market:
Having a Math degree and skills will qualify you for many entry level positions. First find the career path you want to be on then pursue it with full dedication and sincerity.