Student News
Student Spotlight: Naomi Sang
September 30, 2024
Naomi Sang is currently in her second year at Grand Valley State University, but before starting her Masters, Naomi received her undergraduate degree in Health and Development Communication back home in Kenya. This is where her love for health prevention began. She said, “That's where I really got my passion for health prevention because I saw how much of a difference the packaging of health messages helped enhance the communication of health campaigns leading to better health outcomes.”
It was not until after she worked her first career job that she realized the potential of health prevention with technology. Naomi worked for a fintech company that helped raise funds for healthcare initiatives. This was her exposure to data and just how powerful it can be when used creatively. She said, “I could see the value of data in helping us reach better individuals and organizations with more accuracy. This realization is what led me to thinking about getting back into health prevention but with a focus on technology rather than communication!”
This realization also led Naomi to Grand Valley. During her search to continue her educational journey, Naomi was specifically looking for a program to learn specifically both health informatics and bioinformatics. After seeing the program structure, Naomi decided on Grand Valley. She said this has been the right decision as her classes have given her so much valuable knowledge, but also great hands-on experience with data.
Outside of academics, Naomi is a very involved member of the College of Computing community and the wider Grand Valley community. She works as the Programming Specialist in the College of Computing. Before her current position in the College of Computing, Naomi worked as the Communication and Marketing graduate assistant in the Padnos College of Engineering and Computing. She said the experience in both positions has been valuable to her. She said, “These graduate assistantships have allowed me to continue building my communication skills in the new context of higher education.” Outside of her work as a graduate assistant, Naomi is a Metagenomics Analyst intern at the Annis Water Resources Institute.
Naomi is also involved with multiple fellowships. She is a first-year fellow in the Cook Leadership Academy, a program designed to help students with leadership qualities. So far, Naomi says this fellowship has helped her improve her public speaking and presentation skills. She is also a fellow in The Build Fellowship by Open Avenues Foundation which has helped give her additional experience with industry projects. She said, “I'm working on a project where we are learning how to analyze genetic data using Python. We will also learn how to use some of the commonly used Bioinformatics tools in industry.” She is also a member of the Health and Bioinformatics Journal Club, a College of Computing club that examines exciting studies and research in the field.
Through all of the things Naomi is a part of, her first year at Grand Valley was not like this. Naomi was new to the United States and an entirely different educational system, and she focused a lot on class and work. But she said there is so much value in being actively involved with things outside of class. She exclaimed, “Graduate school, in my opinion, is an immersive experience. You must truly and intentionally immerse yourself in it. You have to intentionally go to school events, go for the networking events, intentionally go to the Career Center and try to build your resume as early as possible. Intentionally approach your professors and ask them if there are opportunities for collaboration. You have to do it.”
Article written by Maxwell Ritchie.