Success Matters - Tika Pahadi
Software Development Engineer II—Amazon Web Services
BS in Computer Science, 2017
Tika Pahadi, originally from Nepal, is a 2017 computer science graduate with a love for creating software. His passion has driven quick success. Tika, less than two years out of college, is now a Software Development Engineer II for Amazon Web Services.
Tika’s love for his field is both evident and deeply ingrained within him. He’s focused on the great possibilities of the future. Particularly, he is interested in how data sets can be used to predict problems. “It’s amazing how we can predict traffic accidents and drive times right down to the minute. Who knows, we might be able to cure cancer by analyzing data and the cells’ behavior. For me, it’s not just a software product. It’s the way we live and the change we can see.”
Tika has wanted to work with software from the time he was a small child. “I was playing video games and asked my uncle, ‘How does this happen? How does it know what to do?’ He told me that it was something called software, and explained it to me. I said, ‘Alright. Someday I’m going to write software.’”
To help him achieve this life-long goal, Tika chose to move across the world to attend Southeastern. “Southeastern has a very good program in computer science, and the professors are great,” he reflects. “We had classes that let us think out of the box. Most of the classes were project classes—you have your own idea, do it, and present it. So it gave a more hands-on experience.”
While Tika did enjoy attending events on campus and spending time with friends, the computer science classes and professors were his favorite part of Southeastern. “The collaboration,” he reminisces with a smile, “and how you could just knock on any professor’s door at any time and they would be happy to help. Those things helped create an atmosphere of a sense of home.”
Keeping himself busy at all times, Tika started an internship his first semester of college. By his second semester, he was employed full time for Fusionstak LLC in Baton Rouge, where he worked for the next two years. Even with this full time position, he graduated with a BS from Southeastern in three years, taking over 20 credit hours every semester. He then went to work for Omnidek before accepting his current position with Amazon Web Services.
Even though Tika enjoys keeping a full workload, he also likes to take time out for friends, fishing, and working on his Corvette.
by: Sheri Gibson
