Khoury News

Marcela Perro is raising two kids in Montana. It’s not stopping her from earning her CS master’s online

Marcela Perro had long dreamed of transitioning to tech. After the arrival of her second child and a move to Montana, she took the plunge, crafting a customized journey through Khoury College's Align program.

June 9, 2025

by Madelaine Millar

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Before she’d even finished her bachelor’s degree, Marcela Perro knew she didn’t want to work in communications.  

While she enjoyed the handful of web design courses she’d taken, as a first-generation college student pursuing a degree in a second language, she didn’t feel like computer science was for her — even though the field tempted her. 

After she graduated from Utah Valley University, she began work as a project manager, moved to Montana, and had two children. But her desire to pursue tech never faded, and after the pandemic, she decided to take the plunge and go back to school for her master’s degree in computer science.  

“We moved to Montana when my second baby was two months old, and my husband said, ‘You've been wanting to do this degree; why don't you try it out?’” Perro recalled. “That's when I found the Align program. I started talking to one of the recruiters, and it was like, ‘OK, I think this is really gonna work out’ … I felt like they really valued all my life experiences.”  

Align is Khoury College’s master’s program for students without undergraduate computing backgrounds. Students begin with four bridge courses on foundational computing topics, then join their direct-entry peers for more specialized coursework. In addition to being offered at several Northeastern campuses, the Align program is available online, with three first-year, in-person residencies to allow students to form community with their peers.  

“When I went to the first Align program residency, I loved it. I loved everyone that was in the program; it was so welcoming,” Perro said. “I met a lot of fellow students, and we would plan out courses that we wanted to take together to have that extra support. We always get on random calls, and I've developed a lot of friendships in the program that are going to be lifelong.”  

That’s not to say that her first year was easy; like many Align students, Perro dealt with impostor syndrome, and she worked hard to cover a lot of complex new material. In particular, she found herself struggling in “Intensive Foundations of Artificial Intelligence,” which was her first experience using Python. 

READ: Impostor to Aligner: How LeAnn Mendoza found her way to data science 

“The help that I got from the TA and Professor Albert Lionelle made a huge impression on me,” she said. “I decided to be a TA for the course once I finished my bridge year because I wanted to help students that were in my position, where they just felt that they couldn't power through. I would tell the students that when I started, I had no idea what I was doing, and look at me — I'm a TA now!”  

A year and a half into her degree, Perro landed a role in cybersecurity for the state of Montana, automating processes like phishing notifications and alerts for suspicious logins to ensure cybersecurity risks are caught quickly and handled consistently. Perro said she found the job “100%” more enjoyable and fulfilling than her previous work. To help her thrive in her new role, she even did an independent study focusing on mitigating cybersecurity risks by using automation and log management to improve threat visibility and streamline responses.  

The new job left her with less time for school, though, so Perro was grateful to find that she could lighten her course load by adding a year to her degree, ensuring she didn’t have to choose between her education and the job it was preparing her for.  

“Talking to my advisor, that was the best thing. I would meet with them every semester and say, ‘This is what I want to do,’ and we would draft a roadmap with the courses that I needed to complete,” Perro said. “As a woman also in a male-dominated field, it can be a little daunting to set those boundaries, but I'm not going to feel bad setting a boundary, because that's just how life is. To make it work, I have to be transparent.” 

As Perro takes stock of the job she enjoys, the family she loves, and the remaining year of her degree that she’s preparing to tackle with a cohort she cares for, she’s glad that she took the plunge and transitioned to tech. She hopes other people considering a master’s degree through Align understand that the complexity of their lives doesn’t have to stop them from making the career change they want.  

“It doesn't have to be all or nothing; your focus doesn't have to be 100% on transitioning into tech,” Perro said. “That can be part of your roadmap, but you can also do other things that you like. There's flexibility in being an online student; you don't have to burn yourself out. If you're passionate about it, then you can 100% accomplish it.”