Yola Randrianantoanina
Data Analyst
AKA “Resilient Randrianantoanina“
In her role as Data Analyst at Spark451, Yola is responsible for tasks such as “cleaning” data to make it understandable to computers, automating process reviews, and creating visual representations of our results. To perform her duties successfully, Yola relies on her skills in Python coding, SQL, Tableau, data cleaning, and machine learning, which she gained in previous positions at several cutting-edge startups.
Yola also developed significant knowledge earning her bachelor’s degree in linguistics from Miami University of Ohio and her master’s degree in computational linguistics from Stony Brook University. In her spare time, she can be found playing with her 18-year-old dog, who still acts like a puppy.
What do you love most about working in higher education and why?
Education is very important to me. I wouldn’t be who I am without everything I’ve learned, so I am highly motivated to endorse all that educational institutes can offer to young people just starting their journeys.
How has your own college education directly translated to success at Spark451 and why?
At Stony Brook, I studied the intersection of language and computers, so I understand how language works and how to translate that structure into something understandable to computers.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given and why?
When considering getting my master’s degree, I worried that it would take years to complete. My mother responded, “the time will pass anyway.” I always think of this when I feel afraid to commit my time to something important to me.
Beach vacation or city vacation and why?
City vacation because on Long Island, the beach is part of my home!
