'Not all IT’ers sit in their basement to program or hack'

Alumnus Mattia Andronico (23) reminisces to the time when he used to study Applied Computer Science in Geel. He rewinds with us to the three golden years in his lifetime as a Computer Science student and debunks the stereotypes of IT’ers. Mattia is currently working as SAP Analytics Consultant at Cubis Solutions, a company which aims to be the scoop of experts in the field of Data Analytics with SAP Technology. His job is very energizing. Mattia made his life more challenging by combining his job with further studies in the University of Hasselt in order to accomplish his Master’s degree of Management.

Mattia started this course in 2015 and graduated cordially in 2018 with a Bachelor’s degree of Applied Science in his hands. ‘Initially I was searching for a course which would be related to my previous studies of Electronics and Electricity. I visited the IT Factory (a combination of the courses Electronics-ICT and Applied Computer Science) and they provided me elaborate information regarding the Computer Science course', says Mattia. ‘I had various conversations with lecturers of the IT Factory and thereafter paid a visit to the open day of Thomas More. That was the day I made my final decision and decided to enroll myself into this course’, says Mattia.

During his studies Mattia proved he is not the average student. On the contrary: he proved he could be innovative, hard-working and driven to win prices. ‘I had three golden moments during my studies. When I was in my first year I won the Hackathon game challenge at school. I really enjoyed the Nigh of the Entrepreneurs during my second year too. In my final year I won the price for the Hack The Future challenge', says Mattia.

‘I got various insights and faced so many challenges during my internship abroad’

Mattia wasn’t only the winner of the game challenges but also won his first ever web design project along with his teammates. ‘I remember when I was in my first year, we had a web design project coming up right after the mid-term exams. We had to create two websites by the end of that week. It was the very first time we had worked with the concept of 960 framework. I remember fully sweating with my teammates until few hours before the deadline. We eventually won, but to me that didn’t matter. What mattered the most was the process we went through while creating our product and the fun memories”, says Mattia.

Bratislava

After getting selected by Accenture Brussels for an internship, Mattia packed his luggage and travelled to Bratislava for three months of Internship. ‘During my internship I was a part of Accenture’s SAP Analytics team. While I was interning, I collided with utterly friendly and helpful people. I can call myself more than lucky. My job literally consisted out of learning about new technology strategies. How cool is that? I’m a very ambitious person so after two weeks of intensive training they put into the real practical world where I could start taking the baby steps. They saw me as their full-fledged member of the team. I monitored the operational systems and fixed all the bug issues in the system.’

Mattia didn’t only had a great interning with Accenture but also made lots of memories while being in the city. ‘Bratislava is near the cities Prague, Vienna and Budapest. I grabbed this opportunity to visit these cities too. I also went to the beer festival with my colleagues. Doing an internship abroad not only enhances you professional skills, but you get to know yourself on a personal level too”, says Mattia.

The challenges in life

Being a student undoubtedly brings many challenges with itself. ‘My period of being a student was marvelous and quite fluent, actually. Our course faced us with many challenges. Those challenges are most of the time likely to be taken positively. They make sure you get the space and time to grow, make mistakes and develop new skills. And of course, beside my studies, I had room for party and amusement too’, smiles Mattia.

Mattia’s current job confronts him with many challenges too. ‘I love to work as the SAP Analytics consultant. Every day is a new challenge. We gather all the data of the company, clean it up, construct the necessary links for analyzing and eventually create reports. The combination of my work and studies brings a lot of pressure when it comes to time management. After working fully eight hours I tend to spend many hours behind my computer it order to revise for my classes. I’m convinced when people work hard and do where their interest lay, ​ they surely reach far in life’, says Mattia.

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