Student Spotlight: Matt Dakolios, School Teacher Turned Data Scientist

After fifteen years of teaching middle and high school math, online M.S. in Data Science student Matt Dakalios decided to pivot his career to data science and landed a job as a Junior Data Scientist at Crutchfield Corporation. 

Dakalios graduated with a B.S. in Mathematics from Miami University in Ohio. Since then, he has worked in education teaching students from seventh grade to senior year. 

“I have always loved math, especially statistics,” Dakalios said. “I love the story that stats can tell and how you can apply it to real life.”

Dakalios has taught Algebra I, AP Calculus, and everything in between. 

“Teaching has been a great career,” Dakalios said. “When I learned about the growing data science field and heard about the online M.S. in Data Science program, it piqued my interest and I knew I wanted to apply.”

Dakalios was admitted to the online program and began his coursework in the summer of 2020. He will graduate on December 17, 2021. 

Throughout his career as a teacher, he has learned how to communicate math, a skill which he has already found to be useful in the M.S. in Data Science program. 

“Being able to communicate what the math is doing was my whole job as a teacher,” he noted. “If you can't communicate the math, then it doesn't matter how much you know. I think as I work on a data science team, that skill is going to be really important.”

In addition to teaching full time and getting his M.S. in Data Science, Dakalios is a father of two. Time management has been the key to his success juggling school, work, and family life. 

“It is a really big challenge, because the workload is no joke in this program. I've had to learn to be extremely efficient and manage my time well. When I go home after work, it's all about the family and kids, and then as soon as the kids go to bed, it's all about data science.”

Dakalios added that he has found significant camaraderie and support in the online program from his classmates and professors. 

“Anytime I have felt doubts or insecurities about weaknesses that I have, my classmates and people in the program have been very good to reassure me,” commented Dakalios. “This program really does feel like a big team, and whether I am working on a project or whether we are just helping each other out and talking about different homework assignments, it is a really supportive environment.”

While juggling teaching and studying, Dakalios began the job search process early. One of the companies he interviewed with was Crutchfield Corporation, a North American retailer specializing in electronics ranging from speakers to televisions to car stereos.

Throughout the interview process, Dakalios felt his problem solving and computational skills would be a great fit with the company, and they thought so as well. He was offered a position as Junior Data Scientist with Crutchfield.

“I’m really excited about the position,” he noted. “I’m going to be coding, programming, and managing their database. They want someone who can problem solve, which I think is one of my strengths. I look forward to what the future holds for me as a data scientist.”