![\"Mary](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Mary-Tunstall-800x450-1.jpg?resize=744%2C419&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In West Virginia, Mary Tunstall once avoided the New River\u2019s dangerous rapids at all costs. After all, if the raft flipped, she\u2019d be responsible. But being a whitewater raft guide right out of high school taught her something more important: how to say, \u201cI can do this\u201d to overcome obstacles.<\/p>\n
Like the river, Tunstall\u2019s career journey roared with twists and turns. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 2009 with her bachelor\u2019s in environmental science, she landed an internship with the\u00a0U.S. Forest Service<\/a>\u00a0right outside of Vail, Colorado.<\/p>\n The draw of snowboarding in the cold and crisp Rocky Mountain snow kept her and her husband sticking around. Her journey snowballed when she found herself working the front desk at\u00a0Manor Vail Lodge<\/a>, a popular resort hotel with its own restaurant, outdoor pool, garden and luxury bar. Little did she know she would climb the ladder nine years later.<\/p>\n In 2018, Tunstall and her husband made the move to Toledo, Oregon to be closer to family. By working remotely for the same hotel as director of revenue and reservations, she had the flexibility to focus on her education.<\/p>\n When she discovered that Oregon State University offered a fully online master\u2019s program in data analytics<\/a> that could help her make a bigger impact in her career, she decided to take the plunge.<\/p>\n Tunstall is a data analytics student set to graduate with her master\u2019s degree. On the way, she discovered that remote learning never kept her from success. In a way, it brought her closer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s super important to be able to understand and draw conclusions from data. Having the ability to take that data, make meaningful conclusions from it and then be able to communicate it to others well is why data analytics is so important,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Mary Tunstall sits in the middle (with the blue jacket) with her rafting team in West Virginia.<\/p><\/div>\n Completing an online master\u2019s degree while working remotely full-time was no easy feat. Courses ranged from statistics to learning the R computer programming language and advanced mathematics skills. \u201cI hadn\u2019t taken calculus in 15 years, so I really struggled with the probability distributions and hazard functions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n After getting the lowest score she had ever earned on a quiz, she remembered what she told herself back in the day as a raft guide: \u201cI can do this.\u201d She pushed forward, and her professor\u2019s support turned her struggle into a milestone.<\/p>\n “<\/span>I never thought it would be possible to work with data like this \u2014 it\u2019s a game changer.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n When she felt blocked by the low quiz score in the applied survival analysis course, Associate Professor\u00a0Yanming Di<\/a>\u00a0steered her in a direction that mattered more.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce I got over the grade I got on this quiz, I was able to take what I learned from him from those biweekly office hours discussions, assemble everything I learned, post it to the class discussion board and ask for clarification,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Discussion boards are a great way for both students and professors to post online messages that everyone in the course can read. Taking advantage of this format, Tunstall assembled all the different mathematical functions, explained what they did and posted them to the discussion board. If her work was a little bit off, she saw feedback from her professor fast.<\/p>\n As she tackled each concept, Tunstall\u2019s passion for data analytics blossomed in the applied survival analysis course. Analyzing the effects of a treatment on patients with a liver disease called primary biliary cholangitis was her favorite project.<\/p>\n \u201cFor my project, I wanted to explore the effects of the treatment on each morphological stage of the disease. I wanted to see if there was an actual correlation between the timing of the treatment and the survival rate for each of the four stages,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Utilizing data sets in this way can reveal whether it\u2019s beneficial to take the treatment for a disease in stage one versus stage three. The effects of treatment may vary depending on the stage, but the only way to see this is to look at the data.<\/p>\n \u201cI never thought it would be possible to work with data like this \u2014 it\u2019s a game changer,\u201d Tunstall said. \u201cI thought you had to have a medical degree to even touch data like that. But you don\u2019t. So it\u2019s been a really eye-opening experience \u2014 I don’t know a lot about the disease and what causes it, but I can look at this data set and make recommendations that might be better for patients.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n This summer, Tunstall is attending the in-person graduation ceremony in Corvallis. After that, she\u2019s leaving some doors open.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately what I\u2019d like to do is land a career that\u2019s more impactful. I would love to work for the federal government in some sort of capacity, especially in environmental sciences,\u201d she said. \u201cIf it exists, being the director of data analysis with an organization like the Environmental Protection Agency would be a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n She also credits her partner for standing by her side and making earning her master\u2019s degree less stressful. \u201cMy husband, Paul, has been the one that\u2019s been supporting me and cooking dinner when I\u2019m busy working on my classes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n After celebrating this milestone with her family, she plans to leverage the skills she learned to improve her current role at the hotel. This includes automating some of the manual tasks she currently handles, allowing her to focus more on strategy and less time on tactics.<\/p>\n \u201cI do revenue management as part of my job, which involves monthly forecasts for room revenue and analyzing data to make decisions. A lot of what I do right now is manual, so I\u2019m really interested in implementing an exponential smoothing process,\u201d she said. After she gets permission from IT to do so, she would automate the process it takes to predict the future using past data sets.<\/p>\n Being able to make these predictions can help the hotel make better financial decisions so that people can still enjoy the Rocky Mountains in luxury for years to come.<\/p>\n Her journey from rafting to survival analysis revealed endless possibilities, and Tunstall is along for the ride. To make a difference in the world, sometimes all it takes is saying, \u201cI can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span> 4<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>Mary Tunstall shares how she embarked on her graduate degree in data analytics the only way she knew how: By facing it head on, just as she did as a whitewater raft guide in West Virginia. Mary didn’t let intense rapids stand in her way, and she wouldn’t let challenging coursework slow her down either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":2594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,677,8],"tags":[639,32],"class_list":["post-2593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-students-and-alumni","category-students","tag-business-and-communications","tag-data-analytics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Mary-Tunstall-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-FP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2059,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/data-analytics-audrey-dickinson\/","url_meta":{"origin":2593,"position":0},"title":"Data analytics alumna: Oregon State has \u2018all the tools\u2019 for student success online","author":"Grace Peterman","date":"July 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Audrey Dickinson was working as an engineer at HP when she realized that a better understanding of data would make her work even more impactful. Oregon State\u2019s online\u00a0M.S. in Data Analytics gave her the flexibility to earn her credentials while still working full time at HP. \u201cRight away, I applied\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Audrey-Dickinson-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Audrey-Dickinson-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Audrey-Dickinson-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Audrey-Dickinson-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1173,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/online-msb-supply-chain-analytics\/","url_meta":{"origin":2593,"position":1},"title":"Oregon State unveils online MSB in Supply Chain Analytics","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"April 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Oregon State University is expanding its catalog of online business programs by offering a new Master of Science in Business (MSB) in Supply Chain Analytics to students worldwide. 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How that data is collected and analyzed varies widely, but one thing is certain according to industry experts at EDUCAUSE: The use\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Oregon State Ecampus liberal studies alumna Janine Romero stands on a balcony speaking to her husband, Lee. 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He's also a graduate of Oregon State's online data analytics master's program. He was drawn to the program as a way to get a leg up in his current role, and so far it has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Brent-Wolf-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Brent-Wolf-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Brent-Wolf-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Brent-Wolf-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":543,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/online-data-analytics-students-prepare-top-job-country\/","url_meta":{"origin":2593,"position":4},"title":"Online data analytics students prepare for top job in the country","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"July 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Josh Stevens, an army veteran and a mid-career IT analyst at State Farm in Bloomington, Illinois, had been searching for the right online data analytics program for well over a year. The perfect match continued to be elusive. When he came across Oregon State University\u2019s new Master of Science Data\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Archives"","block_context":{"text":"Archives","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/archives\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Symbols and numbers make up an abstract image representing data analytics.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/data-header-2.jpg?fit=638%2C334&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/data-header-2.jpg?fit=638%2C334&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/data-header-2.jpg?fit=638%2C334&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1428,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/business-analytics-degree-data\/","url_meta":{"origin":2593,"position":5},"title":"An online business analytics degree for a data-driven workforce","author":"Jordan Friedman","date":"June 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Given its ubiquity across industries, analytics skills are in high demand in the job market, and research shows the trend is expected to continue. That\u2019s, in part, why Oregon State Ecampus launched its online business analytics bachelor's program. \u201c(Companies) realize by analyzing this data, they can identify new solutions to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two shoppers purchase eggs at an outdoor market, with a woman holding a smartphone as she scans a hand-held payment device","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/business-analytics.jpg?fit=744%2C389&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/business-analytics.jpg?fit=744%2C389&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/business-analytics.jpg?fit=744%2C389&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/business-analytics.jpg?fit=744%2C389&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Mary](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Rafting-1-edit.jpg?resize=550%2C415&ssl=1\")
\n\n\n\nFloating through rough rapids<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEmbarking on her next adventure<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\nReady to take on your own adventure?<\/h2>\n
Request information<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"