In her book, Postcards and Pearls, Gina Greenlee writes: “Experience is a master teacher,
even when it’s not our own.” We, the 5th cohort of the NSS Data Analytics Bootcamp, recognize
the important role that the experiences of others have played in our education. Each and every
day, we learned and grew through the guidance and wisdom of others. Whether by our brilliant
instructors, ever-helpful staff, enthusiastic alumni, community partners, field experts, or
others, we were blessed to have decades of wisdom at our beck and call. Below, we wish to extend
a heartfelt “Thank You” to those who encouraged and challenged us throughout our journey!
NSS Staff and Alumni
For many of us, this was the start of a new adventure, the first steps down a new path!
However, we were lucky to find that this path was well worn. It had been walked before, the
rough stone worn smooth, and there were signposts left by those who had gone before. What could
have been a scary journey was made easier through the efforts of NSS Staff and former students
willing to give their time and energy to those of us just starting out. Whether through guest
lecturing, constructive feedback, or providing spot on impressions of cemetery workers, the NSS
community was an invaluable source of support to each of us! Please accept our sincere thanks!
Please accept our sincere thanks!
- Aimee Johnson
- Amy Henderson
- Ashley Conino
- Haley "Zap" Zapolski
- Heather Sopel
- Jessica Grande
- John Wark
- Kate Wilson
- Katie Kuhl
- Laura Buchanon
- Mahesh Rao
- Mandy Arola
- Marlo Lamont
- Mary Van Valkenburg
- Michael Frieh
- Michael Holloway
Community Partners
As with all things, the only way to become skilled at a task is to practice. Then, as your
skills improve and you see the progress you’re making, it becomes imperative to practice some
more. Then, when you feel that you are finally on the precipice of greatness, that would be a
great time to practice even more. NSS provides incalculable chances for its students to practice
the skills they will need to be successful in the professional world. However, it is thanks to
our community partners and guests that we get the real-world experience we will need. Whether we’re
practicing our analytics skills during the partner projects, our interview skills during our mocks,
or presentation skills and communication skills during round table events, the impact of the Nashville
tech community reverberates throughout the program. We would not be the analysts we are today without
those individuals that offered up their time and efforts!
We give great thanks to:
- Adrienne Franke - Healthcare Bluebook
- Alexander Young - Heidrick & Struggles
- Andrew Dao - Reckitt
- Ben Hummel - Zapier
- Brendon Pierson - Aspire Health Inc.
- Brian Johnson - DonorBureau
- Cody Asbury - CGI
- Daniel Gonzalez - KirkpatrickPrice
- David Zilberman - GraphiteRx
- Emily Saul -Acquire.io
- Heather Sopel - A.O. Smith
- Jason Parker - HCA Healthcare
- Jayson Backes - Discount Tire
- Jim Dehner - Market Analytics LLC
- Landry Butler - MP&F Strategic Communications
- Leigh McCorkle - The Mechanical Licensing Collective
- Lori Butler - GTT
- Malini Senthilkumar - BridgeStone Americas
- Matt Kasle - MyHealthDirect
- Nadia Marie Roumanos - Monogram Health
- Natasha Moore - A.O. Smith
- Nathan Brewer - Premise Health
- Patrick Macallister - GraphiteRx
- Ron Balcarras - Deloitte
- Ryan Ito - Zillow
- Sabber Ahamed - Bridgestone Americas
- Sandip Shinde - Synechron
- Sarah Beth Ivester - HCA Healthcare
- Simon Kingaby - Deloitte
- Stephen Gabor - A.O. Smith
- Timothy Drisdelle - Lord & Liberty Hotels
Special Thanks
We would also like to present a special thanks to Benjamin Shuler and the wonderful people
at Smile On 60+ for allowing us to use your data to improve our skills! We hope that you
were able to take what we found and continue to help those in need across Tennessee!
Instructors
Finally, we want to express our biggest thanks to those who were with us each and every day. Partly
because, without their daily guidance and patience we would all still be trying to download the right
version of Excel, but mostly because we are a tough group to deal with at the best of times and that
first week of SQL was far from “the best of times.” The four of them gave us advice when we needed it,
challenges when we were up for them, and the right mixture of levity and seriousness to make the hard
days a little easier.
We give great thanks to:
- Christopher Wright…
- Thank you for your unending patience with our silly questions, your even-handed guidance,
and willingness to walk through simple steps as many times as we needed! We will never forget
your hair, your heinous dad jokes, “#notaspecialty,” your incorrect opinions on Tom Hanks, or
the snores of the incomparable Raisin.
- Joshua Rio Ross…
- If Chris is the dad of DDA5, you’re the cool older brother. We could always count on you for
funny jokes in the chat, Taylor Swift references, and a reassuring nod when we finally started
asking the right questions. However, you also provided a perfect balance of encouragement and
challenge to keep us moving. Thanks, again, “The One!”
- Toni Kim…
- The one who got away! As excited as we all were for your job opportunity, it broke our hearts
to see you go. Each day we noticed your absence, missing your lunch time gifs, brilliant analytics
insight, or the humor of watching Chris and Josh try to explain football to you in a way that made
sense! You were the calming presence that we needed and it wasn’t the same without you!
- Chip Hubbard…
- NSS asked a lot of you, stepping into Toni’s shoes with a group as rambunctious as ours! However,
you handled it with grace and aplomb. You jumped right in and, without missing a beat, became a part of
this DDA5 community. Whether you’re rocking those break out rooms or just that flat billed cap, I don’t
know how we made it through a day before you got here!