Alumni Spotlight: Jessica LaRocco-Olszewski

What is your academic and/or professional background? If you're currently working, what do you do?

I have a B.A. in Linguistics from NYU and I am a graduate of OMSCS, where my specialization was Interactive Intelligence. I'm currently a data scientist for an insurance company where I'm focused primarily on building pricing models for my current project.

What inspired you to enroll in OMSCS?

I had wanted to be a data scientist for a long while but had ended up working in ecommerce and then insurance claims after my Bachelor's. My company had a data scientist program, but an M.S. was required to be able to participate. OMSCS provided a great opportunity to do that without having to worry about the logistical hurdles of an on-campus program, and it had a great tuition structure that was manageable even with my undergrad loans.

Why did you choose to pursue computer science?

I originally got interested in my undergraduate days through computational linguistics. Eventually I was exposed to more aspects of computer science, and I particularly like that aspect of the data science world. Even today, as a professional, I'm more focused on the "computer science" aspects of data science rather than the purely statistical aspects.

What is your favorite hobby?

I'm currently making my way through an assortment of crafts (crochet, etc.), but I also very much enjoy cooking, baking, and attempting to garden.

Find Jessica on...

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-larocco-ab16b921