After three years of working as a tax accountant, David Maunder was looking for a profession with more room for creativity. The Align program unlocked that freedom for him – since the start, he’s worked on projects ranging from hand gesture recognition to VR world design.

It’s really nice to be able to kind of focus on a project that’s yours and you can kind of control the creative process. They really push and inspire people to follow their creative passions

David Maunder, MSCS ’22

For those aiming to switch to computing at the master’s level and secure jobs at large tech firms, impostor syndrome can be a struggle. But for Julie Rakas, who interned at AWS through the company’s partnership with Khoury College — and who now works there full time — the support she received made the transition into a positive one.

The type of person who chooses to transition to computer science from a totally different field — they’re so interesting to talk to. It’s been so cool to talk to people who were brave enough to take that leap

Julie Rakas, MSCS ’23

For Rachit Mehta, experiential learning is the key to a well-rounded education. Between his internship at Amazon Web Services and his classes in the Align program, he built confidence in multiple areas at once — and set himself up for post-graduation success.

The whole goal of the AWS internship is that they’re gonna teach me what it’s like to be a developer in a full-time capacity … It puts things in perspective that you can still make a difference even if it’s a big organization

Rachit Mehta, Align MSCS ’23

At AWS, Align alumnus Hasti Gheibi Dehnashi works as an SDE1 – Amazon’s equivalent of an entry level software engineer. Although her position at the company is fairly new, she feels a tremendous sense of responsibility toward her work in protecting clients’ data.

As soon as I started, my opinion was this is what I want. I want to come back to AWS and work here full time. I feel a great sense of responsibility towards the individuals who will consume or use the products and services that I create

Hasti Gheibi Dehnashi, Align MSCS ’21

With a graduate degree from the prestigious Juilliard School, Armen Sarkisian was firmly on the classical music track. But with the desire to learn wildly different skills and forge his future in tech, he traded New York for Silicon Valley and joined Khoury College’s Align program.

I was at a point in my life where I was ready to learn new skills, try something completely different. The Northeastern Align program was the most complete, and the most geared toward people just like myself who were looking for this change, who were from a totally different background

Armen Sarkisian, MSDS ’23

Cecilia Lopez has long been passionate about computer science. But after majoring in linguistics, she was unsure when to take the CS leap. Enrolling in the Align program on a whim, she found a world of career opportunities — proving that it is never too late to pursue new interests.

Nowadays, every company is kind of a tech company … so getting a master’s in computer science is going to open up a lot of possibilities

Cecilia Lopez, Align MSCS ’24

Aida Sharif Rohani was ready to shift away from chemical engineering, but she struggled to find a master’s program in computer science that didn’t require a matching bachelor’s degree. Discovering the Align program opened a door for her to pursue her interests, ultimately leading her to a supportive community at NASA, where she currently works as a machine learning engineer.

All of my coworkers at NASA Ames and USRA, they were very welcoming … I had some doubts to … starting a master’s, but right now where I am I’m happy that I made that choice. Especially for people like me without the background in computer science, it’s a great opportunity

Aida Sharif Rohani, Align MSCS ’21

When William Chen joined the Align program, he felt a sense of purpose and dedication rippling across the student body. Now a full-time software developer at Amazon Web Services, he credits his time in the program for teaching him how to work in a large team environment.

The co-op was an excellent way for me to get exposure to what it feels like to work on a large team … And understanding what work culture is through that co-op, I was able to get a return offer for a full-time position

William Chen, Align MSCS ’21

LeAnn Mendoza knew she wanted to work in tech, but she wasn’t sure how she would fit in with a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering. Her time in the Align program helped bridge that experience with a computer science education, opening doors she didn’t realize were there.

What I love about the Align program is that it allows people who don’t necessarily come from your
typical tech backgrounds a way to break into tech, to break into data science and computer science

LeAnn Mendoza, MSDS ’24

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