How a Dale Carnegie Program Ignited a Passion for Management: Yashree Vyas ’23 MS MIS

As Yashree Vyas ’23 MS MIS prepares to complete her master’s in MIS degree at the Eller College of Management, she reflected on her time in the program. It hasn’t been an easy journey; after all, she was working full-time and earning her degree online at the same time. But it’s been worth it.

“I am confident that this program will further enrich my skillset, preparing me to achieve my future career goals,” Vyas says.

Growing up in Mumbai, India, Vyas was interested in art and expressing herself creatively. Her path took a turn when she enrolled in a computer science elective in eighth grade.

“Computer science to me felt like solving puzzles, which ignited my love for problem-solving and analytical thinking,” she says.

Determined to combine her artistic talents with her interest in technology, Vyas set off to pursue higher education. She first earned her Bachelor of Science (Information Technology) degree from Vidyalankar School of Information Technology in Mumbai. Yet she had a bigger plan in mind.

“Coming from a big family, I was determined to break barriers and become the first woman in my family to pursue engineering and travel to the United States for my bachelor’s degree,” she says.

So she did just that. Vyas participated in a transfer program at VSIT, which allowed her take certain credits and transfer them to California State University, Fresno, where she completed her bachelor’s in computer science.

After graduating, she took a programmer analyst position at Hotel Connections and was later promoted to front-end developer. Today, she is a lead engineer at Fleetcor, a corporate payments company.

Though she is happy working in tech, Vyas wanted more. As a student at VSIT, she attended a Dale Carnegie certificate program, which opened her eyes to “a hidden passion for management that [she] hadn’t previously recognized.” Joining the Phoenix chapter of Girls in Tech, a nonprofit focused on closing the gender gap in the tech sector, further cemented that interest.

Vyas elected to pursue a degree to develop her business skills. As she started looking for programs, she knew she didn’t want one “that solely focused on business without any technical aspects.” But when she found Eller’s MS MIS program, it felt like the right fit.

“What sets this program apart is its unique blend of technology-oriented education and equipping students with the essential tools to achieve their visions of becoming technical managers,” she says.

Vyas also appreciates the knowledgeable faculty members, the challenging projects and the program’s online format, which has allowed her to simultaneously pursue her master’s degree and her job at Fleetcor. Though this was difficult at times, Vyas says she found it beneficial to “create a reasonable study plan with manageable study blocks.”

Although she will complete her final class for her master’s degree later this summer, Vyas plans to keep learning and continue to dive deeper into the topics she’s found most intriguing. Before that, however, she will celebrate her academic accomplishment with a well-deserved vacation.