Thursday, May 3, 2018
Andrea Ndubizu will attend Boston University to study computer information systems
by Robert Leitner ’17
Andrea Ndubizu, a senior computer information systems major, will attend Boston University, her top choice for graduate school, in the fall to begin working toward a master's in computer information systems with a concentration in security.
According to collegeboard.org, Boston University is “very selective,” admitting only 25 percent of applicants. Ndubizu’s acceptance is a gratifying reward for her hard work at Rider.
“Boston University is a great school and I’m really excited I got in,” Ndubizu says. “I’m very grateful for Rider. I feel like the rigorous coursework and all the professors and experiences I have had will enable me to be successful at the graduate level.”
Ndubizu aspires to obtain a graduate degree and begin working in the growing field of cybersecurity. Academia also interests her — the result of her experience working as a tutor at Rider and writing her honors thesis about the security flaws that exist in internet of things devices.
Her original ambition was to become a writer, but Ndubizu decided to follow her interest in technology. “I did not have a background in technology before college, but I was interested in technology and fascinated by how it works, which made me want to learn about it instead of just wondering,” she says.
Ndubizu knew by the end of her first technology class at Rider that she was in the right field of study.
“It was a programming class, and I had a very nice and helpful professor,” Ndubizu explains, referring to Dr. Arthur Taylor, an information system professor. “I had no prior experience in programming, but I did very well in the class. It made me think that I could do pretty well in the field.”
In addition to being accepted to Boston University, Ndubizu is a Scholarships for Women Studying Information Security (SWSIS) award recipient. SWSIS is sponsored by a conglomerate of prominent information technology and cybersecurity companies such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HP), Symantec and others.
When she entered college, Ndubizu was shy and typically kept to herself. At Rider, she turned those two qualities into strengths, noting that her time as an undergraduate made her a better student and a more confident person. She says her experience studying abroad in England at Edge Hill University was a particular time of personal growth.
“I was really nervous about studying abroad at first,” Ndubizu says. “I didn’t go with anyone I knew, so I was even more nervous. At first, I didn’t think I would go. I was hesitant. But I ended up going, and it ended up being the best thing that happened to me.”
Raised in Princeton Junction, N.J., Ndubizu is ready to explore a new area and meet new people in Boston. A fan of the Boston Celtics and legendary Celtic center Bill Russell in particular, she has admired the city for some time.
"Everyone that I know who goes to Boston is always talking about how it’s so much fun and there is so much to do," says Ndubizu. "It seems like an exciting city to live in.”