 |
BizBuzz MSMIS graduates discover it’s a small world after all.
At first glance, Mairim Avila (MSMIS ’07), Eduardo Baez (MSMIS ’07), and Veyssel Naranjo (MSMIS ’07) have one thing in common: All recently graduated at the top of their class from the College of Business Administration’s Master of Science in Management Information Systems (MSMIS) program. But the bond they share runs much deeper than that. The three were born and raised in Pinar del Rio, the capital of the most Western Cuban province that’s sometimes known as “The Cinderella of Cuba”—appropriately so, considering this fairy tale of friends reconnecting. They grew up in a similar environment and shared an interest in computer science that led them to the same high school, Escuela Vocational de Ciencias Exactas de Pinar del Rio. Avila and Naranjo participated in the same computer club. She and Baez became friends when he was a student in a graduate program at a local university. Ultimately, each departed Cuba at different times, with both Avila and Baez leaving master’s programs uncompleted. “What are the odds that these three brilliant students would meet again in the same master’s program? It’s another story that weaves beautifully into the diverse tapestry that is South Florida.” —Irma Becerra-Fernández (PhD ’94), MSMIS program faculty director “For years, we lost contact with each other and were unaware of each other’s whereabouts,” Avila said. “But our dream to pursue a higher education was strong enough to make us jump back on the bandwagon one more time and, to our surprise, reconnect with another.” Different paths head in the same direction.
Fast-rewind to January, 2007, as group 15 of the MSMIS program gathered for the first day of class. Baez, now a systems analyst and programmer with the Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department, first recognized Avila. “I had not seen Mairim in nine years, but I knew it was she. I said, ‘Are you Mairim Avila Pintado? I know you from Cuba,” he said. “‘Your mother’s name is the same as yours but spelled backwards!’ She was skeptical at first but I continued to give her hints until she figured out who I was.” Avila, who currently works as a senior operating systems programmer with Miami-Dade County Enterprise Technology Services, continues the story. “I thought, ‘Wow, he really does know me!’ I quickly introduced Eduardo to Veyssel, whom I had just discovered was in the same MSMIS program,” Avila said. “It’s amazing that the three of us share such a similar background and have had such excellent academic results, due in part to our commitment to obtaining a higher education.” “On top of it all comes the bittersweet experience of connecting with friends from Cuba. We are reminded of times of happiness and sadness as we all have made choices that enable us to make the most of our talents.” —Veyssel Naranjo, partner, Gulfstream Computer Applications Naranjo, who is about to become a partner at Gulfstream Computer Applications, chose the MSMIS program for the same reasons as Avila and Baez: because it successfully merged the business and information technology aspects of a successful MIS career. “On top of it all comes the bittersweet experience of connecting with friends from Cuba,” he said. “We are reminded of times of happiness and sadness as we all have made choices that enable us to make the most of our talents.” Avila feels the program “offered more than education . . . it offered a chance to rekindle friendships.” Irma Becerra-Fernández (PhD ’94), MSMIS program faculty director, expresses admiration for the accomplishments of these three students—and awe for the fates that reunited them. “What are the odds that these three brilliant students would meet again in the same master’s program?” she said. “It’s another story that weaves beautifully into the diverse tapestry that is South Florida.” |
|
|