Megan Nash is a Cloud Engineer III at Education Analytics, and she joined EA in 2022. Megan is from Brookfield, Wisconsin, and attended the University of Notre Dame.
How would you describe your role on the Cloud Engineering and Interoperability team?
As a Cloud Engineer, my responsibilities generally fall into one of three categories: StartingBlocks development, partner implementation support, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure management. Starting Blocks development includes adding features and making updates for newer versions. Partner implementation support involves helping partners connect their source systems to the Ed-Fi Operational Data Store (ODS), share their data, and troubleshoot issues along the way. AWS infrastructure management includes deploying resources like servers and databases, creating identity and access management (IAM) roles for teams like Data Engineering and Software Engineering to be able to access the resources they need, and performing updates to keep our data ecosystem secure.
What interested you in working at EA?
The mission. Education has been a passion of mine for a long time. I was a middle school math and technology teacher for a few years, and after transitioning away from teaching, I continued looking for ways to use my skills to positively impact student outcomes. When I found Education Analytics, I knew I wanted to be part of the team.
We know that every day is different, but what would a typical day at EA look like for you?
I start each day with a team check-in, which is a short meeting for the Cloud Engineers to review work in progress and surface any questions. Some days I have a few partner meetings, but most of my time is spent working on StartingBlocks improvements or AWS infrastructure. That typically means modifying Cloud Formation templates, creating pull requests, and reviewing pull requests created by my teammates.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your role?
What I find most rewarding is helping to enable the downstream uses of Ed-Fi data. I enjoy seeing the tools that rely on data from the Ed-Fi ODS and how those tools are used to help improve student outcomes.
What is your favorite project that you’ve worked on at EA?
I really enjoyed updating StartingBlocks to use the newest version of the Ed-Fi ODS/API. There were significant improvements from the 6.x to 7.x versions, and it was a large team effort to make the necessary changes. I appreciated the team collaboration as well as the technical challenges involved with getting StartingBlocks ready for the 2024-2025 school year. Because so much needed to be changed, I gained a deeper understanding of how the components of StartingBlocks Environments work together.
What is something you enjoy in your free time?
I love spending time with my family and being outdoors. My husband and I enjoy taking our daughter hiking through Wisconsin’s state parks. I also enjoy water activities like swimming and paddle boarding.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A teacher. I had a fantastic middle school math teacher who helped me not only fall in love with math but also with the process of teaching and learning.
What is something that you would tell your younger self about your career?
You’ll always be learning. Have confidence when you know something, but don’t be afraid to ask questions when you don’t.