Graduating Student Sets Sights on Data Analysis Career

Hailing from Nigeria, Lotenna Nwana has carved a remarkable academic journey at UA Little Rock, culminating in the attainment of a master's degree in business information systems and analytics.

Nwana joined UA Little Rock in 2022 after earning a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Covenant University and working as a data analyst for several companies in Nigeria.

"One of the things that brought me to UA Little Rock was the opportunity to work with Dr. Agarwal at the COSMOS Research Center," he said. "I had seen that a lot of the work being done at the lab aligned with my skills and what I wanted to do for my career. I had the opportunity to collaborate with smart people, work on critical research projects, and publish research papers."

Nwana's research at COMOS focused on analysis of data from X and Instagram that focused on the Indo Pacific region. He has published four research papers so far with more in the works.

Upon reflecting on his college career, Nwana described his time at UA Little Rock as "hectic but rewarding." In addition to working as a graduate assistant at COSMOS, Nwana served as secretary of the National Society of Black Engineers, a senator for the Student Government Association, and a student ambassador for the College of Business, Health, and Human Services.

"When I got to UA Little Rock, I enjoyed the togetherness and community of the university," Nwana said. "I got to meet a number of great people in the student body and faculty, which gave me the opportunity to collaborate and learn more about the United States. I think this has been critical to my journey."

During summer 2023, Nwana worked as a business intelligence engineer at Amazon.

"It was a great experience, and I got to experience a new city - Bellevue, Washington," he said. "The expectations at Amazon are very high. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of smart individuals who taught me a lot. It was a rewarding summer."

He was also one of the 2023 recipients of the Acxiom Diversity Scholarship program, which provides scholarships to full-time college students from diverse backgrounds majoring in computer science, computer information systems, management information systems, information quality, information systems, engineering, mathematics, and statistics, or related areas of study.

"Getting the Acxiom Scholarship was critical to me and important to my entire experience as a college student at UA Little Rock," Nwana said. "That scholarship gave me the opportunity to go to a number of conferences to learn about emerging technology in the industry and to make connections."

After graduation, Nwana plans to work as a data analyst. His advice for future college students is to find a good balance between academics and student life.

"My advice is not to miss out on any aspect of the entire student experience," he said. "Don't focus just on class or just on extracurricular activities. It's important to find the right balance so you can have a holistic college experience."

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