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At the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, students from nursing, psychology, linguistics and other fields are changing careers, expanding their skills and moving into tech through the master’s program in computer science.
Students pursuing an M.S. in Computer Science come from a range of academic and professional backgrounds, each with different experiences, goals and interdisciplinary strengths.
The program is designed for people who didn’t necessarily start in tech. Three prerequisite courses provide a clear path for students with no computer science background or undergraduate degree in the field, whether they are changing careers or building their first
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For graduate students Sarah Parker, Melissa Stan and Olesya Sukmanovska, the move into computer science is driven as much by prior experience as by new ambition.
Taking clinical experience into tech
Sarah Parker earned her undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and a graduate nursing degree from Emory University before enrolling in the master’s program in computer science at UTC.
She had spent years in nursing, including emergency medicine, when coding caught her attention. While trying to customize a digital calendar for her family, she found herself drawn to the problem-solving itself. What began as a small fix led to online courses and, eventually, to graduate study in computer science.
Her interest arrived at a moment when she was already reconsidering her future in nursing. By then, Parker had built a career and was working at Parkridge Medical Center. But after years of long shifts and the emotional strain of emergency medicine, she knew she wanted something different. UTC offered a structured path for students without a computer science undergraduate degree and the flexibility to make a change like hers possible.
“People don’t want to start a career at 40,” she said, “but for me it was fear of being in a career that was unfulfilling for the next 20 years that made me make the change.”
Parker chose a formal graduate degree because it offered a stronger route into the field and a better chance to stand out in a competitive market. She’s particularly drawn to healthcare technology, though she isn’t limiting herself to that area.
“Ideally, I’d like to work in healthcare technology, where I feel my two worlds come together most naturally,” she said. “Ultimately, though, I want to use this degree to build things that matter for people.”
From pre-med to research and development
Melissa Stan studied psychology, with a biology minor, at Georgia State University before enrolling in UTC’s graduate computer science program. She had expected to attend medical school, but the COVID-19 pandemic prompted her to rethink that plan.
Coding was intriguing and offered a different kind of problem-solving. A boot camp gave her a start in computer science, but it wasn’t enough. She was looking for stronger fundamentals and the kind of experience that could move her forward professionally.
At UTC, she found both. After entering the program in January 2024, Stan worked as a research assistant at UTC’s Center for Urban Informatics and Progress, where she applied computer science in a research setting. That experience helped open the door to an internship and later roles in software development.
“The stuff you learn in class is interesting, but it’s what you do with it that matters more,” she said.
Stan has approached her master’s degree with the same urgency that drove her career pivot. She has never been looking to do the minimum or simply collect a credential.
“I don’t want to just do what’s expected; I want to go above and beyond,” she said.
The logic of language
Originally from Ukraine, Olesya Sukmanovska studied applied linguistics at Lviv Polytechnic National University, later served in logistics in the U.S. Army, and is now pursuing a master’s degree in computer science at UTC.
After leaving the Army, she decided to pursue computer science because it offered a more technical direction, one that still drew on the analytical thinking and pattern recognition that had shaped her earlier work.
UTC’s prerequisite courses gave her a place to start, and the University’s support for veterans helped make the shift feel manageable.
“A lot of people don’t talk about how hard the transition back to civilian life can be,” she said. “UTC has been super supportive.”
Now in the program, Sukmanovska is especially interested in cybersecurity, including forensics and threat analysis. Her background in linguistics still gives her a different way of thinking about code. Rather than seeing programming languages only as technical systems, she tends to read them the way she would any other language: by breaking them down and looking for patterns.
“Once I set my mind to something,” she said, “I won’t stop until I achieve it.”
One program, many starting points
What unites these students is not a single background or destination, but a willingness to begin somewhere new.
At UTC, the program is built to support that kind of transition. Students from other disciplines can be admitted and, if needed, complete up to three prerequisite courses before moving into graduate work. From there, they can build toward different goals through hands-on learning, opportunities to work alongside research faculty, and concentrations in cybersecurity and data science and AI, with the option to complete either a thesis or a project.
“One of the strengths of the program is that students don’t all come in with the same background,” said Dr. Mengjun Xie, head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. “They bring different ways of thinking, different professional experiences and different goals, and that changes the kinds of questions they ask and the work they want to do in the field of computer science.
“Computer science is more than a degree; it is a powerful tool and a way of thinking that can open doors and change lives. Our goal is to help students from a wide range of backgrounds create new opportunities for themselves—whether that means advancing their lives, beginning a new career or pursuing dreams they once thought were out of reach.”
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College of Engineering and Computer Science
