{"686854":{"#nid":"686854","#data":{"type":"news","title":" In Her Own Words: A First-Gen Grad on Perseverance, Parenthood, and Possibility","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPursuing a master\u2019s degree had always been a dream, but becoming a new mom during the pandemic shifted everything.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith a newborn and the world in lockdown, I paused my software engineering career and applied to Georgia Tech\u2019s Master of Science in Computer Science program to continue learning without leaving my baby behind.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMy journey became a true test of resilience. I completed assignments late at night after my daughters had fallen asleep. I welcomed my second baby in the middle of the program, balancing late-night feedings with project deadlines and Sunday night submissions. It wasn\u2019t easy, but it was worth every moment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday, I graduate with a master\u2019s degree, two beautiful daughters, and overwhelming gratitude for my husband, whose unwavering support made this possible, and for my parents in Bangladesh, whose blessings carried me from afar. I\u2019m proud to be the first in my family to graduate from Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs I step into the next chapter, I am building my tech startup in Austin, combining my expertise in Industrial Engineering with practical, real-world AI to help businesses evaluate, optimize, and automate their workflows.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a mom of two balancing family, work, and grad school, earning this degree has been one of the most transformative chapters of my life. To every mother, dreamer, and non-traditional student: you don\u2019t have to do it all at once; you just have to keep going.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith her MS degree in hand, new alumna Karina Islam is ready for her next chapter.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"With her MS degree in hand, new alumna Karina Islam is ready for her next chapter."}],"uid":"32045","created_gmt":"2025-12-10 20:14:38","changed_gmt":"2026-01-09 13:36:06","author":"Ben Snedeker","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-12-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2025-12-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"678835":{"id":"678835","type":"image","title":"Karina Islam is graduating in Fall 2025 with an MS degree in computer science from Georgia Tech.","body":null,"created":"1765560284","gmt_created":"2025-12-12 17:24:44","changed":"1765560284","gmt_changed":"2025-12-12 17:24:44","alt":"Karina Islam is graduating in Fall 2025 with an MS degree in computer science from Georgia Tech.","file":{"fid":"262924","name":"Karina-Islam-MSCSgraduate-fall2025.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/12\/12\/Karina-Islam-MSCSgraduate-fall2025.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/12\/12\/Karina-Islam-MSCSgraduate-fall2025.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":632732,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/12\/12\/Karina-Islam-MSCSgraduate-fall2025.jpg?itok=0e2aCg-3"}}},"media_ids":["678835"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"10199","name":"Daily Digest"},{"id":"181991","name":"Georgia Tech News Center"},{"id":"627","name":"commencement"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBen Snedeker, Communications Mgr. II\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech College of Computing\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003Ealbert.snedeker@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}