Creating a Playlist Generator

Using Google’s application programming interface, or API, she created a playlist generator that allows users to make a custom-made playlist of 10 to 15 songs based on any theme, which they can export to Spotify. She even made a playlist for herself that commemorates her time at Fordham, using the prompt, “Create a playlist for a Fordham NYC – Lincoln Center Undergraduate student.”

“I really just wanted to test myself on how I could develop something from scratch, from start to finish,” she said. (The export function is not available to the public yet, but a version of the generator can be used to create a playlist.)

Using Math in the Tech Field

For Dedvukaj, it was just one way she made the most of her time exploring different fields. 

She started as a computer science major, thinking it would be a surefire way to stand out when she eventually applied to law school. 

But multivariable calculus, a course she took with professor Han-Bom Moon, Ph.D., in her second year, showed her how valuable a math degree could be when paired with computer science. 

“It just made me really excited for my future,” she said.

“As a concept, math is so abstract, even if you’re taking an applied course. So to see how all of what you’re learning directly correlates to what huge tech companies are doing was really interesting.”

This month, she is graduating from Fordham College at Lincoln Center with a B.S. in math and computer science. In the fall, she’s starting a new position as a data analyst at Jolt, a film marketing and distribution firm in Manhattan.

Finding Community on Campus

After a year of living on campus, Dedvukaj, a first-generation college student whose parents emigrated from Montenegro to the United States in the 1990s, opted to commute from Saddle River to Manhattan.

She still found a sense of community with other commuter students, as well as in her roles as treasurer of the mathematics club and a member of the computer science society.

“One of my fears with commuting was that I wasn’t going to be able to contribute to a lot of the off-campus activities, but they really accommodate you well,” she said.

Internship + Research + Full-Time Job Offer

The job offer from Jolt came after Dedvukaj found a spring internship position there through Handshake, the University’s career portal. She started there in February and was offered a full-time position there beginning this September.

She credits the experience she gained from working with Moon as a research assistant in the summer of 2023. The project that she assisted with, On Algebraic Space Filling Curves, involved meeting twice a week with Moon and three other students to tackle a problem using a combination of linear algebra, geometry, and abstract algebra. 

“[The people at Jolt] were really interested and wanted to hear a lot about the trials and tribulations of the research,” she said.

“It showcases that you are good in collaborative settings, that you’re able to come up with new ideas, and that you’re able to speak to those ideas in your interview.”