MARANDA DISCENNA, WATCHING HER MUSICAL FAMILY GROW
CURRENT POSITION: Systems Analyst at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
LOCATION: Troy, Michigan
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN DEGREE: Informatics (Data Mining and Information Analysis), Minor in Music
GRADUATION YEAR: 2017
ACTIVITIES AT MICHIGAN: Michigan Pops Orchestra, Campus Symphony Orchestra, RC Chamber Musicians, Research Assistant at the School of Education, Administrative Assistant at the Department of Human Genetics
MICHIGAN POPS ORCHESTRA INSTRUMENT: Violin
Watch and listen to one of Maranda's favorite pieces while you read about her Pops Life!
A CONVERSATION WITH MARANDA
KELLY COMPTON, our Pops Life correspondent, chats with Maranda about her musical memories, young professional life, and spending her time on all the things she loves.
KC: Maranda, tell us about your musical background before coming to Michigan!
MD: I started playing violin in 5th grade, when all of the elementary school students had to pick an instrument. I fell in love with it! I ended up taking lessons all the way through high school, and alongside that was also in the middle and high school orchestras. I also did a few orchestras on the side: the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra (on the weekends) and Suzuki Royal Oak, which was a smaller one hosted by my private instructor. I also did summer programs hosted by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra called “Avanti.” I also played at weddings in high school. My sister sings, so we often did duets. My family is pretty musical: dad plays guitar, my brother plays piano and guitar, my sisters sing, and I play violin. I’ve grown up with music.
KC: How did you find out about the Michigan Pops Orchestra, and what made you want to join?
MD: A friend from my high school orchestra told me about it the summer before I started college. I also toured Michigan as a high school student, and my tour guide was in the Michigan Pops Orchestra. She had nothing but good things to say about it, and she said it wasn’t like any other orchestra she’d been in because it was like a big family. I don’t think I joined until my sophomore year, and that’s because I ended up joining the Campus Symphony Orchestra in the music school. I didn’t know if I could juggle both.
KC: What are some of your favorite memories of being part of the Pops?
I think my absolute favorite memory was concert days, from gathering backstage to the sound checks in the Michigan Theater. It was truly magical playing on that stage. Every year Pops was full of strong musicians, and that made the concerts so rewarding. We played so well! And ending with the "Victors" was always awesome.
MD: There are so many! I really liked the Pops Progressive parties – it was a great time to meet people who you don’t typically interact with in rehearsal. We also had “Pops-lucks” (potlucks!) which were so fun. It was always at someone’s small apartment, and we’d try to cram so many people in there while trying to eat food.
KC: What is your current job, and what made you want to enter this field?
MD: I’m a systems analyst at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Whenever Blue Cross wants to introduce a new product or service, my job is to write up the technical documents that give detailed instructions to the developers and testers to produce that product or create that service. There’s a lot of writing involved, but it’s also very technical – you have to be good at both sides.
What inspired me to go into this…my dad is very technical. He’s a project manager at an IT company, and I was always interested in what he did growing up. I started taking programming and stats classes in high school (the AP classes), and I enjoyed it.
I interned at Blue Cross in the same position my sophomore year, and then I interned again the next summer and then they hired me. I liked it there, so I joined fulltime.
KC: How would you describe the difference between computer science and informatics?
MD: Computer science is programming – writing code to produce something or to create some kind of output. Informatics is like a combination of stats, computer science, and math. Let’s say you’re given data… informatics requires trying to find trends from that data and trying to use that data to predict something in the future, like solving business problems.
KC: What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of your job?
MD: My favorite aspect is the people. Everyone here is really helpful and intelligent, and a lot of the people working have been here for 10+ years. I’m still learning so much about the company, and they know that, so they do what they can to help me when I need it. My least favorite…I wouldn’t say there is a least favorite but there is just so much to learn! I’m getting there, but it’s overwhelming how much I have to learn so quickly.
KC: What advice would you give to students interested in a similar career path?
MD: I would say whatever you do, never stop learning. Especially in the world of technology, where it’s constantly evolving. It’s up to you to stay informed and skilled as time goes on. Even when you’ve graduated, you might not be in classes, but there are so many resources online that you can use to teach yourself new languages or new software, and it’s great to add those skills to your resume. What’s great is that you can learn at your own pace after you graduate!
KC: Along the lines of learning more, do you think you might ever want to pursue graduate school?
MD: I think it’s too early to tell. I think I would want to have some experience in the workforce for a few years and then maybe consider it. I learn better with experience than I do from a textbook, so I think that’s why I might not do grad school right away.
KC: How did the Pops influence your time at Michigan and after graduating?
MD: I met some of my closest friends in Pops, and I still connect with them after I graduated. I guess during school it was my outlet. Being a fulltime student and working two fulltime jobs, along with studying – even though I was so busy all the time, playing violin with so many talented people was always the best way to start the week. Even though it was an added activity, it didn’t feel like “work” to me. It was just so fun, and I loved it! And after graduating, I continued to play violin. I currently play in a local orchestra in the Bloomfield Hills/Birmingham area called Spectrum Orchestra. It’s run by some people in Michigan’s School of Music Graduate programs.
KC: What does the Pops mean to you personally?
MD: Pops is like a second family. It’s a big family, but I met some of my best friends through Pops, and that’s not something I will lose. It’s always going to be there, and it’s been so awesome for me to see Warren put together the alumni program. The friends I’ve made in Pops are going to join this alumni network too, so the family is growing!
MARANDA'S FAVORITES
- THINGS TO KNIT: Infinity scarves
- CHARACTER IN THE PRINCESS BRIDE: Fezzik
- LATE NIGHT SNACK: Oranges! Or any kind of fruit, really
- RESTAURANT IN A2 AND TROY/DETROIT: Frita Batidos and Rich J.C.
- U OF M MEMORY: Going sledding in the Arb! And walking into the Big House on graduation day.
- POPS PIECE: "Fiddler on the Roof" medley
- PERSON YOU'D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: I'd like to have dinner with my grandpa whom I never met. My mom said he would play violin all the time around the house growing up. He is a big reason I wanted to start playing the instrument.
3/1/18