Jake Greenberg ’22, ’23 is thrilled to walk across the stage and receive his master’s degree in engineering management at Florida Polytechnic University just one year after earning his bachelor’s degree in data science with a concentration in big data analytics at the University. During his time as a student, Greenberg was chair and vice chair of Florida PolyCon, treasurer for the Student Government Association, president, vice president, and treasurer of the Rhythm Game Club, and a member of the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Society (IEOM). Florida Poly’s commencement is May 7.
What did you enjoy most about your time at Florida Poly?
Florida PolyCon was big when I first got here, and it was the first thing I did that I saw had an impact on campus. But maybe my favorite thing that I’ve done is working with SGA. I have been able to do things proactively that benefit the campus moving forward. Student government has been a great opportunity to leave a mark. Because Florida Poly is a small school, I think I tried to own what I did in SGA and all the organizations I’ve been involved with, and I can pass that down and see it continue to be passed down from year to year.
How well do you feel Florida Poly has prepared you for life after graduation?
The University has prepared me very well. My experience, whether working through academic departments or student life, prepared me for what I’m doing next. There are a ton of people I know who have remained in Central Florida, and I’ll be looking for employment locally, ideally in business analytics or at a university. I’m interested in higher education generally because it left such a positive impact on my life and I’d like to provide that to other students.
What was your favorite course and why?
That would be operations research. That was the first class I took when I changed my major from computer science to data science. I walked into that class, and I felt like, ‘This is what I want to be doing.’ I felt right then like I made the right choice.
Where did you complete your internship and what did you learn from the experience?
I had an internship with Draken International, a military contractor based in Lakeland, (Florida). It was a really valuable experience. I was there as a data migration intern to help them change over some systems, and I had to learn a lot. It was a very good crash course in ‘I need to accomplish this task. I am missing one of the skills I need to complete this task. How can I learn that skill?’ In this case, it was reading technical data for fighter jets, which is not something I thought I would ever need to know, but by the end of it, I was in charge of migrating data for all the engines and the part lists. I could just open up this giant book and be like, that’s this part number and it has these alternate part numbers. I learned how to read and parse data that I was wholly unfamiliar with.
What advice would you give an incoming student?
We are a small school and that is maybe the best news I can give any prospective student. There is not a single one of my professors I do not know, and almost all of the professors know me as well. New students should really take the opportunity to network themselves with the people here at the University because it will make their college experience so much better. If I’m not understanding a class, I can just go talk to the professor. If I don’t know how to register for something, I can go talk to my advisor. Get to know as many people as possible because I never once encountered an issue at this University and thought, ‘I don’t know who I need to talk to,’ because I’ve taken the time to know everybody.
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of Q&As with several Florida Poly Class of 2023 graduates.
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Lydia Guzmán
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