Tarini Sharma

Why did you choose Daniels

The MSBA Capstone Project was a big selling point, especially as graduate internships become more competitive. This reflects the general trend of curriculum planning at Daniels—innovative and strategic. I was also drawn to Daniels because of the personalized student support system. Before starting my graduate program, I was paralyzed with anxiety about losing access to designated academic advisors and tutoring services, but Daniels proved to be an exception to the general graduate program trend and takes care of its graduate students with the same level of detail as its undergraduates.

Previous Education

I graduated from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at DU with a degree in economics in 2023. I minored in Psychology and Mathematics. In addition to my academic coursework, I joined the North Indian Classical Ensemble at the Lamont School of Music—which I am still a part of—to reinvigorate my training in Hindustani classical music (classical music strain from Northern India) and to re-connect with my roots after actively rejecting those for the sake of “fitting in.”

Pre-Grad School Experience

After graduating with my undergraduate degree, I started working at the Daniels College of Business, overseeing the management and disbursement of its graduate- and undergraduate-endowed financial aid, among other things. I am always up for a good challenge, especially when I believe in the mission/purpose of an institution. Higher education was an obvious fit, as it traverses uncharted—and potentially choppy—waters with an unflinching commitment to its mission. I got to meet with some extremely talented and driven individuals who care about their colleagues and social justice—just the stuff I look for in friendships and partnerships!

Post-Grad School Goal

At this point in my program, I am toying with two post-grad outcomes: working in consumer analytics or staying in the nonprofit space. I am tempted to revisit my old pal, behavioral economics, and see it through matured (hopefully!) and more trained lenses than before in the consumer analytics realm. As the adage goes, once you go non-profiteering, there’s no going back…or something. I am interested in working in spaces/teams that are involved in tackling the world’s pressing problems. I have become very interested in AI governance and big data management.

Hobbies

When not at work or in class or doing homework (natural state of being for a graduate student), I enjoy gossiping with my mother, watching movies, playing video games with my brother, reading and sharing stories about immigration and diaspora, and dabbling in some fast philosophy and deep Pokemon lore with my partner. As you can probably infer at this point, I am also involved in a lot of political activities pertaining to women’s rights and workers’ welfare. I also spend way too much time on Reddit looking at pretty graphs.