Community Connections - IRHS Alumni Interview
Tanvi Manku
Nyle (he/him) is an IRHS Class of 2017 alumni student and studied Computer Science at Northwestern University, Class of 2021.
How did you decide which field/program you wanted to pursue?
I came into university as a pre-med and I realized after taking a couple chemistry classes that I really didn't want to study natural sciences for the next 8+ years of my life. I took random classes over the next couple quarters and then took a CS class as an elective that I really liked and I decided to roll with that and major in CS.
Why did you choose to attend your university/college?
I really liked Northwestern's academic flexibility and its encouragement of interdisciplinary study. As someone who didn't decide what they wanted to do with the rest of their life at the age of 17, I liked that Northwestern didn't have me apply to a specific program. Instead, I applied to the school as a whole without having to declare a specific academic concentration, which allowed me to easily switch my major once I got there. Even once I settled on my major, I wasn't constrained to STEM classes and still got to take a lot of humanities classes and even complete a certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications, which really helped me round out my education.
What was the biggest challenge you faced transitioning from high school to university/college and how did you overcome it?
The sheer increase in workload and the sudden freedom was a deadly combination. Classes at the university level were definitely more involved but without the structure of high school, it became way easier to procrastinate, sleep in, skip classes, etc. as a way of avoiding the stress. What helped me overcome that was forcing myself to engage in good habits: getting in 8 hours of sleep as often as I could, eating well, starting my work early, and making time for decompression and my friends.
What did you do in high school that you feel helped prepare you for university/college?
Iroquois has a really strong extracurricular culture and immersing myself in that really helped me adjust to university. As I previously said, you get a lot of freedom in university that you don't get in high school and to really do well there, you have to take initiative and push yourself out of your comfort zone. Doing extracurriculars in high school is similar- you're expected to go to classes and do your homework and everything, but the extracurriculars you voluntarily engage in are all you. They're your chance to find a passion and build leadership and teamwork skills, and go the extra mile with your high school experience- all of which I think pays big dividends in your future.
What was your favorite memory from IRHS?
Going to prom with Alessia Collia.
What are you currently doing and what are your plans for the future?
I graduated in June and I'm currently working as a software engineer at Cisco. I'm going to continue doing software engineering for a few years and then I'll probably switch over to the business side of things and go for an MBA or something.
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