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Meet JSOM Student Niko Taha
Niko Taha is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems & Technology at the Naveen Jindal School of Management and he is expected to graduate May 2025.
Taha is vice president of the Computer Information Systems and Technology Leadership Council (CISTLC) and a member of the Professional Program in Computer Information Systems & Technology (PPIT).
Coming to UT Dallas
For Taha, UT Dallas was the clear choice. He wanted a computer-science related degree, and UT Dallas was close to home.
“Literally in my backyard,” he said. “I went to a high school that was five minutes away from it.”
Taha also appreciated the campus culture at UT Dallas.
“It’s just so much more different than any other college,” he said. “I feel like it’s a lot more down to Earth and I find more people that I align with here. There’s not many college campuses that don’t have a football team but have an amazing chess team.”
Life on Campus at JSOM
Taha believes being involved in CISTLC and PPIT has helped him find his community on campus.
“Freshman and sophomore year I’d be walking around campus or even JSOM and literally see maybe one person I knew that I had a faint conversation with them in a class,” he said. “Through the organizations I’m involved with now, I see so many people I know even outside of JSOM.”
Taha first got involved in CISTLC starting his sophomore spring semester.
“I applied for the Leadership Council, which I was initially really worried about,” he said. “I was like, this is going to be really busy for me. But I love being busy with it now. Leadership council propelled me in the direction of being involved in getting to know people. Once you get to know people, you’ll see them everywhere around campus and that’s what builds the community for me.”
Overcoming Obstacles and Finding Success
When Taha reflects on his first year at campus, he believes his biggest obstacle was learning to take on more.
“Freshman and sophomore year were pretty boring for me because I hadn’t found the area that I belonged in within campus yet and I wasn’t working either, so I was a lot less busy than I am now,” he said. “It sounds good on paper, but I was just bored. There wasn’t enough to do for me professionally or academically.”
Now that Taha has gotten involved, he feels like a multitude of opportunities have opened up.
“Those opportunities just lend themselves to more,” he said. “It’s like an exponential function. Now my days on campus are way more enjoyable because I said yes to one minor afterthought in my sophomore spring semester.”
Taha found his current part-time job while on the hunt for an internship.
“I went to the JSOM Career Management Center and spoke with Jason Cirilo a lot about what to do cause I was completely lost on what to look for,” he said.
Taha found an open position from John Lee Insurance that he thought was an ideal fit and applied to it.
“After not hearing back, I just showed up to the front door with my résumé in hand,” he said. “I got a 20-minute interview right there on the spot. I was expecting a second round, but they said, ‘Okay, when can you work?’”
Taha believes he has learned valuable skills in his role and he is thrilled to have been entrusted with more job responsibilities, including locating and negotiating a new contract for John Lee Insurance’s internet provider.
Mentorship Along the Way
Taha praised Andrea Woudwyk, the program manager for the Bachelor’s in Computer Information Systems & Technology Program, for her dedication to the program and its students.
“It’s just inspiring when you see someone be able to handle so much so gracefully,” he said. “Leadership Council or PPIT would not exist without Andrea. I fear what we would look like without her.”
Advice for Fellow Students
Taha encouraged his fellow students to make the most of their time at UT Dallas.
“Figure out what you want, and once you know what you want, be intentional with it,” he said. “Unfortunately, I feel like a lot of students will find themselves kind of going through the motions. College will fly by. You just need to grab the experiences that you can while you’re here.”
Looking to the Future
This summer, Taha is headed to an IT internship with Fisher Investments. He hopes that his experience there will lead to further opportunities.
With graduation coming May 2025, Taha aims to finish out his senior year with excellence.
“I’d like to go through my coursework and really try to learn from that stuff because it’s my only opportunity to do so,” he said. “I may never touch any of the software that I used in my senior year again or it may be the central focus of one my positions in the future. I just want to try to learn as much as possible and have fun with it.”
Taha aspires to manage a team once he has enough experience, and he looks forward to getting his feet on the ground and seeing what the professional IT field holds.
