Each week we spotlight an OMSCS TA, so you can get to know who's behind the screen. Here are four questions for Sandra Davis, who TAs CS 6460: Educational Technology.
What do you do professionally?
I have been a secondary math and CS teacher for over a decade now and genuinely love working with high school students. Prior to teaching, I worked in tech consulting for about seven years. I graduated from OMSCS in December 2019.
Why do you TA for OMSCS?
I TA for EdTech, which perfectly combines my two passions of education and CS. I have been a TA now for six semesters and am always impressed with the experience and knowledge of OMSCS students. I really learn from the projects that the students create.
What's your advice for future students in OMSCS?
If you are on the fence about applying – just apply! I was so intimidated by the Georgia Tech reputation. At the time, I applied to OMSCS, my own CS bachelors was almost two decades old and from a liberal arts university. Professionally I was a part-time teacher and mostly stay-at-home mom; my third child was only a year old. I really struggled to see myself as [what I thought was] the typical Georgia Tech student. Once I applied and started taking classes I realized I did belong, and the experience was amazing.
What surprised you most about OMSCS?
For me, it was how effective the online structure was. My first master’s was a traditional program, where I drove to a university twice a week and sat in a classroom with other students. I was skeptical as to how much I would learn with OMSCS being fully online. It turns out I learned more than I could have imagined. Most importantly, I interacted more with classmates and TAs as an OMSCS student as compared to the traditional program. Slack, Piazza, etc. are all so powerful in terms of allowing people to connect, especially people you would normally not get a chance to meet because of geography.
