Catlin Rehders (’23) works as a financial intelligence analyst at Navy Federal. She completed her bachelor’s in information sciences in 2023 and now loves what she does for work, but that wasn’t always the case.
Rehders describes herself as a non-traditional student as she did not find her true passion until seeking her second bachelor’s degree. Before attending the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Rehders earned her associate’s degree in math and science at her local community college. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Tennessee Tech with dual concentrations in organizational leadership and psychology.
As a military spouse, Rehders frequently relocates across the country. Given her previous degrees, this meant having to accept whatever job was available to her at the time.
“My last station was up in Wisconsin. There, I was stuck in a more customer service role, which as you could probably guess from the degree path I chose, I’m more interested in numbers than having to talk to people all the time” Rehders laughed.
After working in customer service, Rehders transitioned to a new role at a credit union where she discovered her zeal for information sciences.
“I started trying to delve into finding my niche when I saw my husband with a successful career. I was missing that from my life and I wanted to find something that drove me daily. So I started taking any free class I could find online just to try to find an opportunity that I thought was interesting. I came across David J. Malan’s EdX, CS50 computer science course and when I went through that, I fell in love with programming.” she said.
After discovering her career interests, she knew she had to get a degree in the field to advance in her job. Rehders sought out a degree program that worked with her schedule and still allowed her to work full-time.
“I chose the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, because I found that the information sciences program had a mix of some computer science, information technology, and a mix of data analysis,” she said. “It was the best of both worlds and it gave me the flexibility option of doing a lot of the classes outside of normal business hours.”
Rehders said she has a chaotic work schedule. Having asynchronous classes—courses that do not require in-person attendance and can be taken on the students’ own time schedule—allowed her to rest and recover after working early morning hours and then dedicate time later in the day to retaining class information. She said having a known SEC school on her resume was also a big reason for choosing the program.
“I felt like I needed more oomph in my resume. I needed something that would stand out as far as schools go, and UT is renown across the country, especially with our football program. So, with that, and with UT just having the right program for me, I was able to find the right opportunity that would help showcase my resume,” she said.
Rehders thrived in the program.
“I love programming and the data analysis side of things. I enjoy just taking massive amounts of data, just a mess of information, and turning it into something tangible,” she explained.
After graduating, she found a new job opportunity at the credit union where she was working. This job allowed her to utilize the skills she had acquired in UT’s program. She attributes the information she learned in the classroom to giving her resume the boost it needed, helping her secure her current position as a financial intelligence analyst.
“I work with massive amounts of data, which comes from all over the place from all kinds of people and information. I have to take that and piece it together and tell a story. It could be anything from looking at transactions to looking at information collected about interactions, it can be how transactions are occurring including consistency and frequency. Anything that you could think about a financial transaction is what I look at. Then I have to make informed decisions and write about what I found,” she stated.
Rehders acknowledges her job may not be suitable for everyone, but it brings her joy. She mentions it took some time for her to discover her niche but she’s grateful she never gave up searching for it. She urges others to do the same, no matter how long it takes.
“My advice to anyone still trying to find their way would be to find what you love because it makes a world of difference in your career and it makes a world of difference in school,” she said. “Looking back, I don’t remember the associate’s degree or my first bachelor’s because I was checking a box. I wasn’t doing it for the right reason. I wasn’t doing it because I loved what I was studying. This time around, I loved what I was studying and that even pushed me to get to graduate with honors. It’s a night and day difference when you find a passion and that’s what I would encourage people to do. Don’t stop looking until you can find a passion.”