CSpotlight: Finding a Place in Computer Science

Why did you choose to pursue a degree in computer science specifically at the University of Minnesota?

I wanted to come to the University of Minnesota because I liked how many opportunities there are in terms of the campus life, the classes you can take, the student clubs that are available, and internships and jobs.

How did you become interested in computer science?

The first time I became involved with computer science was in fifth grade. I was really obsessed with this game called Episode, which is a choose-your-own-adventure game. One time I decided to write a story because I thought it would be fun, but I didn’t realize there would be actual code in it, and I had never coded before. At the time, I hated it so much because I just didn’t know what I was doing and I just wanted to write the stories.

Then, in seventh grade, my school started a robotics team and I decided to join because my friends were in it. We were dividing people into groups of who would do the building and who would do the coding, and no one wanted to do the coding. So, I was like, ‘I have some experience in it, I guess I’ll do it.’ That time it really clicked for me. I think I was going into it with a more open mind than I was before and I started to really like it.

Congratulations on earning Bhimani Family Scholarship, and Computer Science & Engineering Scholarship! How will this scholarship impact your academic and extracurricular work?

Having this scholarship will definitely relieve some stress about my financial situation. It also means that I can focus more on my studies instead of having to work more hours at my job.

Are you involved in any student groups? What inspired you to get involved?

I was in the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Living Learning Community for my freshman year. I decided to join that because I’m from out of state, so I didn’t know anybody and I thought it’d be a good idea to be able to live with people who are going to be in the same classes and maybe the same major as me. I also really like how there are a lot of professional opportunities. We each got assigned our own mentor from Medtronic and we could ask them questions about their job and how they dealt with college. There were also a bunch of conferences that we were able to go to, so that was really fun.

What do you hope to contribute to the computer science community at the University?

Encouraging women in STEM is really big for me, especially because I’ve gone through higher-division classes. In the 4000 and 5000-level classes, I notice that the gender ratio is definitely skewed more male and I just hope that women in the future don’t feel as intimidated by computer science or any engineering field in general just because it’s more male-dominated.

What advice do you have for incoming computer science students?

Try not to feel so intimidated at first. When I was a freshman, even though I had previous coding experience, everything still felt very overwhelming. I know there were some people in my classes who had been coding their whole lives and already knew 10 languages. I just felt like there would be no way I would be able to catch up to them or learn quickly enough. But, I think it’s important to remember that everybody learns differently and comes from different places. So, never give up and keep persevering, even when it’s hard.

What are your plans after graduation?

I’m leaning toward getting some sort of software engineering job. I’d like to work for a company that deals with the environment. I’m very interested in climate change and climate-justice issues. Doing something with more focus on one of those topics would be really nice.

Are there any additional experiences you did that you would like to highlight in the article?

Over last summer, I had the opportunity to work on developing a website for a local business in my community. That was really interesting for me because that was the first big project I’ve ever worked on outside of classes. It really showed me the difference between what it’s like working in a real-world environment rather than just classes. Even though I didn’t know everything, I was still able to use my skills and knowledge that I’ve learned in my classes to work on this website, even though I haven’t had that much experience.