Loretta Petrovich

Seeking involvement in an organization directly related to my field of study, I joined STATCOM as an undergraduate between my junior and senior year. As a member of a STATCOM team, I helped analyze the sampling methods and survey design for a hospital’s assessment of its food services.

The benefits of my involvement in STATCOM were numerous. I applied knowledge gained in the classroom to real world situations and learned more statistical techniques in the process. The team atmosphere helped me to build interpersonal and problem solving skills valuable to a future career in statistical consulting. Knowing that the work of STATCOM was helping the local community was especially rewarding. In addition, interacting with statistics graduate students allowed me to learn about advanced research topics and a graduate student’s lifestyle.

I currently work as an Associate Data Consultant for Claes Fornell International, a consulting firm specializing in analyzing customer and employee satisfaction and linking these measures to financial performance. Because the projects I work on are team based, my experiences with STATCOM helped me to prepare for this type of work.

I would recommend becoming involved in an organization such as STATCOM to any undergraduate student of statistics. Besides supporting a valuable community resource, the knowledge and skills gained through involvement have a lasting impact on future endeavors.