{"692094":{"#nid":"692094","#data":{"type":"external_news","title":"It Started With a Cold Call: Alumna\u2019s Journey from Mall Job to Professor","body":"","field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA cold call changed the trajectory of \u003Cstrong\u003ERosa\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003EArriaga\u2019s\u003C\/strong\u003E career.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a non-traditional student at San Diego State University, Arriaga was working at a shopping mall when an SDSU professor reached out and encouraged her to pursue research. That opportunity helped launch an academic career that eventually took her to Harvard University and, ultimately, Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday, Arriaga is a GT professor whose work bridges psychology and computing, focusing on how people interact with technology. Her journey also has shaped her commitment to mentorship and giving back to the university that helped set her career in motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESDSU recently profiled Arriaga\u2019s unconventional path from the mall to the professoriate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERead the full story:\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.sdsu.edu\/news\/2026\/08\/it-started-with-a-cold-call-alumnas-journey-from-mall-job-to-professor?utm_source=chatgpt.com\u0022\u003E\u201cIt started with a cold call: Alumna\u2019s journey from mall job to professor\u201d\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"32045","created_gmt":"2026-08-28 13:48:36","changed_gmt":"2026-08-28 14:01:50","author":"Ben Snedeker","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","publication":"San Diego State University News","field_article_url":"","publication_url":"https:\/\/www.sdsu.edu\/news\/2026\/08\/it-started-with-a-cold-call-alumnas-journey-from-mall-job-to-professor","extras":[],"hg_media":{"681001":{"id":"681001","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech Professor Rosa Arriaga speaking during a lunch-and-learn workshop in 2022","body":null,"created":"1787925446","gmt_created":"2026-08-28 13:57:26","changed":"1787925446","gmt_changed":"2026-08-28 13:57:26","alt":"Georgia Tech Interactive Computing Professor Rosa Arriaga speaks with students during a lunch-and-learn workshop in 2022","file":{"fid":"265345","name":"Rosa-Arriaga-Brown-Bag__86A9630.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/28\/Rosa-Arriaga-Brown-Bag__86A9630.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/28\/Rosa-Arriaga-Brown-Bag__86A9630.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":89982,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/28\/Rosa-Arriaga-Brown-Bag__86A9630.jpg?itok=krFmwD-p"}}},"media_ids":["681001"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"179885","name":"external news"},{"id":"2483","name":"interactive computing"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}