Education

Hello, my name is Brooke Sherman, and I am currently 20 years old and a third-year student at Penn State from Pittsburgh. I am majoring in Data Science in the College of Information Sciences and Technology and pursuing the Smeal Business Certificate. I will graduate in May 2025.

Data Science has given me knowledge about why data utilization is so important for businesses. My love for data science and my previous classes have given me the experience to work with big data and create an analysis from predictive models and visualizations.

Here is one of my projects: Brooke Sherman | DS 310 Project 2 | Kaggle

My business classes have helped me understand the bigger picture of data science and shown there are many ways to utilize data. Data can help the supply chain process, show how changes in management can be effective/ineffective, etc.

For example, I can help a business create an effective marketing strategy by taking the data from the most sold products to advertise a deal involving one of those products.

 

Work Experience

I have worked for three different companies in the past that I believe all help create the values and skills I hold for myself. These companies are Ferri’s IGA Supermarket, Tastyland, and Target.

Ferri’s IGA Supermarket

In high school, I worked at Ferri’s IGA Supermarket, a local grocery store, as a cashier, mostly.

I also worked through different aisles of food and other items in the store to look for expired products that could not be sold. During this, I was able to learn how some data was kept manually and the work and effort needed behind checking every single perishable item in the grocery store.

Tastyland

During the summer of 2022, I worked at Tastyland, a local ice cream place. There, I was doing two different jobs.

First, I was a food service worker. I took an order and prepared the food that was requested. This helped me value the idea of providing customers with the satisfaction of my service. When I was able to bring their ice cream and other food, I was able to see the customer’s face light up with joy.

Also, I created analytical charts for the business to show which products were selling best. This gave me real world experience on my major and allowed me to strengthen my skills in Python, the code I used for the project.

Target

Finally, I most recently worked at a local Target in the summer of 2023. I worked in the style section with the clothing. From this job, I was able to improve upon my work ethic and my reliability.

Working at Target, we always had to make sure the store looked spotless at night. In the morning, the trucks full of clothes had to be emptied and put out in the store.

 

My Passion

From these previous jobs and my gathering of knowledge at Penn State, I want to continue to utilize big data in the real world to help businesses improve efficiency and customer satisfaction. I want to work at a place where I can make positive change like this happen, so I am able to benefit both the well-being of the customer and the business, itself.

 

A Little More

I also have a lot of activities like ultimate frisbee, a business fraternity, and other personal hobbies, that make me who I am.

I currently am on the Penn State Women’s Club Ultimate Frisbee team. I have a love for the sport and have made many friends from it. I was recently elected to be the treasurer for this year. I hope to inspire more people to love the sport just as much as I do.

Also, I am a part of Omega Chi Sigma, a newer fraternity that connects STEM to Business at Penn State. I have been able to listen to different speakers and also improve upon my resume and other skills. The fraternity has taught me the importance of the connection between STEM and business.

In my free time, I like to play video games, watch movies, go to the mall, and go to Penn State sporting events, like football and hockey.