December 17, 2024
Compiled by Louis DiPietro
The Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science would like to congratulate our December 2025 graduates and wish them well as they embark on their next steps. From conducting research to joining project teams and serving as teaching staff in Bowers classes, our students have accomplished remarkable things. Here’s what some of them had to say about their Cornell experiences.
Kate Chanpong
Kate Chanpong, Statistical Science
What clubs, organizations, or activities were you involved in during your time at Cornell? How were those experiences?
During my time at Cornell, I was actively involved in the Cornell Actuarial Society, where I served as vice president on the executive board. This experience allowed me to connect with many fellow statistical science majors who share my interest in actuarial science. Through the club, I gained access to exclusive recruiting sessions with life- and health-insurance companies and received exam support for my actuarial exam preparations.
What was your favorite class and why?
My favorite class at Cornell was STSCI 3040 (R Programming for Data Science), taught by Jeremy Entner. The class introduced me to many R packages that are essential for data cleaning and analysis. The technical skills that I’ve gained from this class helped me tremendously in my other STSCI courses and during my summer internship at Uber.
What’s next?
After my graduation in December, I’ll be returning to Cornell as a graduate student to finish the MPS program in data science and applied statistics. Following my MPS graduation in Spring 2025, I’ll be starting my career in actuarial science as an actuarial analyst at Uber.
Robert Feldstein
Robert Feldstein, Biometry and Statistics
What is your all-time favorite Cornell memory?
During my sophomore year, Ithaca had a massive blizzard that managed to cancel classes. My friends and I spent that morning sledding down from the top of Cornell’s Libe Slope and wiping out. After freezing for about four hours, we got hot chocolate from the dining hall and spent the rest of the day playing board games.
What was your favorite class and why?
My favorite class I took at Cornell was STSCI 3510 which focuses on mathematical modeling. The course was able to combine all of the probability, linear algebra, and computer science skills that I had developed during my time at Cornell and in Bowers CIS. It was uniquely satisfying and gave me a clear sense of how statistics can be used to solve complex, real-life problems.
What’s next?
After graduation, I’m excited to work as an economic consultant. I’ll be working with real-world datasets, applying the statistical theory and programming skills that I’ve developed over the past few years at Cornell to estimate damages in antitrust, class action, and labor litigation.
Zach Garcia
Zach Garcia, Computer Science
What clubs, organizations, or activities were you involved in during your time at Cornell? How were those experiences?
During my time at Cornell, I was thrilled to be a part of the Cornell Rocketry Team. This team provided me with countless opportunities to explore my interests within computer science and beyond. The ability to put theory into practice with mission-critical embedded systems, networking, and web development is not something I take for granted, and the skills I learned have set me up for future success. Rocketry also gave me the chance to explore other fields: I designed a PCB (printed circuit board) that controls a ball valve for fueling the rocket and learned CAD (computer aided design). I was also involved in the Space Systems Design Studio, working on Alpha CubeSat, and I was the president of the Amateur Radio Club. Both of these further contributed to helping me explore a variety of interests.
What's Next?
After I graduate, I will be applying the skills I learned throughout my time at Cornell to developing software for satellites at SpaceX. I am excited to further expand my skill set by contributing to cutting-edge projects in industry!
What was your favorite class and why?
My favorite class was CS3410: Computer System Organization and Programming because it gave me an understanding of the missing links between the software I write and the hardware that actually runs it. I remember sitting in lectures and having so many "aha!" moments. I gained a deeper appreciation for the decades of abstractions and hidden complexity that makes modern software development possible.
Gloria Geng
Gloria Geng, Computer Science
What clubs, organizations, or activities were you involved in during your time at Cornell? How were those experiences?
I am part of Women in Computing at Cornell (WICC)! I joined during my sophomore year through the mentorship program and lunch bunch. I also volunteered with WICC outreach to teach the weekly Girls Who Code class. This was a really meaningful experience for me because I didn't have the opportunity to learn computer science outside of school. After joining WICC, I met many new people in CS [computer science] at Cornell, which helped me build a solid community here. I met some of my closest friends while attending WICC events, and the different events have helped me build connections both within and outside of Cornell.
What advice do you have for current or incoming Cornellians?
I would advise people to get involved in all of the activities here. Sometimes, my friends and I would just browse CampusGroups to see what was going on. We attended so many cool events (and to be honest, got so much free food and merch). I recently started going to hockey games, and honestly, I wish I had gone sooner. They're so much fun, and the energy of the crowd is spectacular.
What are the most valuable skills you gained from Bowers CIS?
Beyond the technical skills and knowledge that I gained from attending classes, the most valuable skills I gained were as a communicator. As a TA, I quickly learned that raw knowledge was not enough to be an effective teaching assistant. I had to be able to concisely and clearly explain concepts to students who were struggling to learn them. This skill has proven very valuable in my internships, where I had to be able to explain my ideas to a wide range of people with different skills. I think communication is key, and my time here at Bowers CIS has helped me develop those skills.
Jaclyn Liquori
Jaclyn Liquori, Biometry and Statistics
What advice do you have for current or incoming Cornellians?
Take care of yourself. Cornell is a well-connected institution with endless opportunities for undergraduate research, clubs, and projects alongside rigorous academics. Tackling everything at once can quickly become overwhelming. Many students experience burnout because they do not prioritize their well-being alongside their academic and extracurricular commitments. Your health, both mental and physical, should always come first. If you don’t care for yourself, you won’t be able to perform to your full potential. Success isn’t about pushing through exhaustion but about finding balance and sustainability.
What was your favorite class and why?
This is a tough choice because I loved both STSCI 3900: Causal Inference and BIOCB 4830: Quantitative Genomics and Genetics for different reasons.
In Causal Inference, we explored techniques and statistical methods to determine casualty, a question that many statistics courses avoid despite emphasizing that correlation does not equal causation. It was an extremely well-taught and engaging course with interesting topics and labs that reinforced the lecture topics.
As for Quantitative Genomics and Genetics, I had wanted to take this class before even arriving at Cornell; I specifically mentioned it in my application essay. It was a well-tuned, highly multidisciplinary course, blending statistical theory, applied statistics, genomics, and R programming. I enjoyed learning how to apply my statistical knowledge to genomic data, which was challenging and rewarding.
Together, these two courses have been incredibly useful for me. I frequently refer back to the methods and insights I learned in both courses for my current research. I highly recommend them to any statistics major looking to broaden their skill set.
What’s next?
I may be graduating now, but I am not leaving Cornell just yet. Since June, I have been working in the Musharoff Lab in the Department of Computational Biology, where my research focuses on sexually dimorphic traits and health disparities. I will continue as a post-baccalaureate researcher through Spring 2025, further expanding my skills.
Beyond that, we will have to see! I have applied to Cornell’s computational biology Ph.D. program because I’m passionate about understanding and addressing sex- and race-specific disease factors and deeply committed to advancing equitable science. I hope to begin as a doctoral student in Fall 2025, and I’m excited about the opportunities to make meaningful contributions to the field.
Julia Papp
Julia Papp, Computer Science
What clubs, organizations, or activities were you involved in during your time at Cornell? How were those experiences?
I have lived in Redbud Co-op since summer 2022. Choosing cooperative housing was the best decision I made at Cornell, since I found so many of my closest friends through it and made the best memories with them through sharing dinner every day, holding events like sock wrestling, and having late-night chats.
I was also a member of Hack4Impact, a project team dedicated to developing technology for nonprofits around the globe. I’ve taken on many different roles in the team, from product designer to developer, and lastly, engineering chair. The team gave me the chance to make a real difference in causes I care about, like environmental justice and combating food insecurity. I will always be so grateful to Hack for pushing me to think critically about how the technology we create affects the world around us and for giving me the chance to work on projects that actually matter.
Additionally, I was a member of Cornell Progressives, a leftist political club, where I met some of the most inspiring people, with whom I tried to make Cornell and the rest of the world a little bit better and more progressive.
What have you accomplished as a Cornell student that you are most proud of, either inside the classroom or otherwise?
According to Workday, I have worked over 2,500 hours at Cornell throughout my years here. I started out as a student dining worker at Big Red Barn, then pivoted to a bit more relaxing environment and started working at the Math Library. I’ve also worked at Reunion, planned the meal plan at my co-op for two years, TA-ed CS4820 and INFO2040, and was a research assistant at the Communication & Collaborative Technologies Lab and the Applied Moral Psychology Lab. I was able to do this all while taking more than 17 credits/semester on average and maintaining my social life!
What is your all-time favorite Cornell memory?
The concerts! I got to see Tinashe, Yves Tumor, Magdalena Bay, and Beach Bunny at CCC concerts along with a bunch of other artists, such as Shallowhallo, Vicious Fishes, GoodHead, and Microbes, Mostly through Fanclub Collective and co-op concerts.
What’s next?
Next semester my boyfriend—a fellow Bowers CIS student—and I are going to travel to Southeast Asia and Europe, particularly Hungary, where I grew up. After that, I will be starting my job as a software engineer at Microsoft in NYC after having interned for them last summer.
David Yashgur
David Yashgur, Information Science
What have you accomplished as a Cornell student that you are most proud of, either inside the classroom or otherwise?
I am proud of making it onto the Dean's List during my first semester junior year. I struggled a lot with classes and good learning strategies during my first two years, and I was proud to be able to turn it around in my junior year and see that effort validated.
What are the most valuable skills you gained from Bowers CIS?
Bowers CIS gave me the opportunity to TA a class. I learned how to communicate with other students, how to be patient and empathetic, and how to encourage students to keep trying even when things get tough.
If you had to describe your Cornell experience in one word, what would it be?
Immersive.
Compiled by Louis DiPietro, a writer for the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science.