Jocelyn Kranicka, a senior financial technology major, spends her time analyzing data and performing community service — and now she is a recipient of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s Rising Star award.
Kranicka, from Washington Township in Warren County, intended to study computer science after being inspired by her high school teacher at Warren Hills Regional. But she also loved data and had some business experience working in the office of her family’s plumbing store.
She discovered the fintech major after her mother met Oya Tukel, dean of NJIT’s Martin Tuchman School of Management, through a hiking club. “And financial technology just happens to be a perfect mix of those two topics that I was already interested in, so it seemed perfect,” Kranicka explained.
“I really like data analytics. It's so silly to say, but I really enjoy sitting in front of an Excel sheet and figuring out problems and formulas within that,” Kranicka said. At her current job, a co-op with Johnson & Johnson, “I have this huge assignment of a capital report, and it’s like 30 tabs, and it's just the greatest thing ever!”
“I’m on their offer development team, so hospitals put in orders for our products. I'm in joint reconstruction and orthopedics, so it'll be spines and hips and knees. People will put in the order, we negotiate the pricing and the contracting, and then hand it off. My job right now is to report on all of the joint reconstruction team's profit, cases, and statistics.”
However, the NJBIA award is selected for students in leadership and community service positions, not just academic and business success. Kranicka leads and serves her community in two ways — she was president of the NJIT Knit and Crochet Club, which created and then donated clothing and blankets to Newark’s Covenant House for young people experiencing homelessness, and she took charge of the management software for NJIT’s Highlander House, which provides food to students in need.
“I felt like, in both situations, I wanted to donate my time and skill because even though we don't have the money to physically give back, I still have those skills that I'm able to help others,” Kranicka said. “I wanted community. I didn't have a ton of people in my circle, and I just thought it was a great way to give back, as well as foster a community with people who are like-minded. It also brings you that peace. You're helping somebody. It's beneficial for both parties.”
“I wasn't just going to pay all this money to live on campus and just sit around here playing video games in my dorm, you know? I really wanted to be able to come out of college with friends and connections and memories and just all this great stuff. Some people come to class and just leave, and maybe that's fine for them, but I could never imagine,” she added.
“I really enjoyed every aspect of the club and the job that I had at Highlander House … If you love what you're doing, it's not going to be hard to be successful. I think that's maybe my strongest takeaway. I didn't join the club and join the pantry to get awards. I did it because I really wanted to, and just happened to get me here.”
Kranicka hopes to land a full-time role with Johnson & Johnson after graduating in May 2027. She said her dream job is to work in quantitative analysis — it’s a role that is hard to get and is extremely high-tech, including plenty of artificial intelligence, she said.
Kranicka will receive her award at a ceremony in Atlantic City on September 24. The award marks the second year that MTSM students have won. Melissa De Cunto and Nalan Kus both won in 2025.
