Dipeeka Bastola believes that understanding data will be key to her future. 

“In this day and age, if you want to make an impact, you have to know how to use data so you can make decisions based on data-management science,” Bastola says. 

After graduating from Seton Hill with a degree in accounting/business management, Bastola refined her career interests following a stint at Ernst and Young. 

“I did accounting and auditing at EY, and after working there a year I found that I liked solving problems and that auditing was retrospective work. I realized I want to be working in a consulting role and help drive decisions for the future,” Bastola says. 

With an MBA in finance from the University of Miami, she headed to Emory University to study business analytics. “It’s an important skill and an area I’m interested in; I wanted to do a deep dive.” 

She could work for a tech company or the airline industry and “make data-defined decisions,” Bastola says, “I do enjoy making sense of a problem that isn’t very obvious in the first go. It’s very challenging and rewarding for me.” 

She also finds reward in giving back, such as a project she helped to develop while at Seton Hill to teach banking literacy to young people in undeveloped areas of her native Nepal. 

Seton Hill’s young alumni are making their mark on the world through their work in science and healthcare, finance and business, industry, entertainment and service to those in need. The Fall/Winter 2019 edition of Seton Hill’s Forward magazine featured 30 of these alumni, all under the age of 30. You can find all of their stories here on Seton Hill’s site (just look for the “30 Under 30” icon).