June 3, 2022
As part of the largest graduating class in the history of the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, a few graduates in the Class of 2022 shared reflections on their undergraduate years. With varied accomplishments at Cornell, their wide-ranging educational initiatives embody their ingenuity and perseverance.
Joshua Akinwumi exploring information science and filmmaking
Information Science and Performing & Media Arts
Peterborough, United Kingdom
Why Cornell?
I had a wide variety of interests and did not know what I wanted to study. I chose Cornell as I felt assured that I would find something that interested and challenged me. I am a member of a film organization, Delta Kappa Alpha. I enjoyed having a space to explore my interests with like-minded people. I completed an honors thesis in film. This had been the largest project I have taken on, but it has been satisfying and encouraging to see everything come together.
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Anna Effenberger researching natural language processing with faculty
Statistics and Economics
Colts Neck, N.J.
Why Cornell?
After high school, I was eager to explore my interests in a variety of fields: computer science, art, statistics, economics and more. Cornell’s breadth and depth offered me the opportunity to explore and home in on what I truly enjoyed. I’m very committed to research and have been working with Professor Martin T. Wells in the statistics department to apply computational linguistic analyses to juror selection questioning transcripts to determine how attorneys change their language to shape minority jurors’ responses.
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Katie Go becoming a social entrepreneur
Information Science
Manila, Philippines
Why Cornell?
Go is the co-founder of IBlieve, a global education non-profit that supports high school International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program students — especially in low-income, lower-resourced communities. Go says she and her co-founder launched IBlieve in March 2020 to address educational inequalities that were exacerbated by the pandemic. Her experience at Cornell has been instrumental in the pursuit of IBlieve’s success, with financial support from several Cornell grants over the last two years, including a Bowers CIS Dream Grant and Contribution Project.
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Natalie Kalitsi contributing to the student group Underrepresented Minorities in Computer Science (URMC)
Information Science and French
Washington, D.C.
Why Cornell?
Definitely intellectual flexibility. Early in my Cornell career, I took classes in psychology and sociology, which were very different from the core computer science courses I was in at the time. I learned how to see problems from multiple angles — logically from computer science, the importance of social impact from sociology and understanding perception from psychology. Being able to switch between these frames of thinking has made me into a more confident thinker, and generally a more empathetic person as well.
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Rachel Spivak working on gender inequality within STEM
Information Science
Avon, Connecticut
Why Cornell?
I had always loved math and knew that whatever I wanted to study should be STEM-focused. I wanted to try computer science but didn’t know where to begin. After further research, the information science major intrigued me. This major would give me the flexibility to take classes that sparked my interest, eventually leading me to focus on data science and user experience.
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Alanna Zhou becoming a tech entrepreneur
Computer Science
Saratoga, California
Why Cornell?
I'm most proud of building the app, Telie. I couldn't have asked for a better team to be with me to experience eLab, Cornell's startup accelerator program. We've been thrown into the entrepreneurship world. Because of Telie, my team and eLab, I've been able to see for myself how to start an LLC, how to build a product that users need, and simply, how to start a startup. It was also with eLab that I was able to get invited to a Cornell alumni event in the Bay Area, where I was lucky enough to chat with an insanely successful Cornell alumna about our journey and get invaluable feedback and advice on taking the next step into the future.