Robin Robinson

HARVARD 2022, STATISTICS, SHE/HER/HERS

I remember I was at office hours for Stat 110. And I was trying to ask the student sitting in front of me, like, "What'd you get for number 3? I got 5." And he said, "What?" and was talking to me very disrespectfully and threw in the word "dumb" or something. I was just like, "Are you not going to tell me how to do it?" I don't know, it was just very disheartening. I kind of just left office hours, but it gave me a really bad impression of the department and the students in the department.

I generally feel comfortable asking questions in office hours.

Grace Tian

HARVARD 2022, COMPUTER SCIENCE + STATISTICS, SHE/HER/HERS

I think that's what makes people feel the most alone, doing CS or any field in general, when they have questions and they're treated with impatience or annoyance. So in general just being treated with more patience and friendliness when it comes to learning these new things for the first time.

I have experienced a microaggression.

Sarika Chawla

HARVARD 2023, COMPUTER SCIENCE, SHE/HER/HERS

This isn't necessarily only specific to CS but to academics in general at Harvard, that if you need help on a problem set or if you are stuck on understanding some concept you're expected to constantly go to office hours or find study groups. And that's not always possible for disabled people because personally, I have a medical schedule. I have other schedules related to my disability that I have to follow...That kind of bars me from going to office hours anytime I want to go. Not to mention that office hours aren't always in accessible locations or they're in places where the elevator randomly breaks and no one knows about it or they're just far away on campus and by the time I get there office hours will be over.

I have to prove myself before being taken seriously in academic settings.

Emily Chan

HARVARD 2021, COMPUTER SCIENCE + STATISTICS, SHE/HER/HERS

What I've really enjoyed about computer science at Harvard is that the department and the faculty are a lot more diverse than pretty much any other department I've seen. It's a lot younger, you have a lot of fresh blood...we have a smattering of people from all over the world. The diversity in the department really makes a huge difference for me, and I really appreciate it.

In a group project, my opinion is as respected as that of other group members.

Miela Foster

HARVARD 2021, STATISTICS, SHE/HER/HERS

Harvard didn't really give me the opportunity to see STEM applied to communities of color. There's a lot of really cool startups, especially startups founded by women on campus, that are geared towards minorities, geared towards women-centric issues.

I believe organizations whose purpose is to support underrepresented or marginalized groups are still needed today.

Cindy Wang

HARVARD 2024, COMPUTER SCIENCE + STATISTICS, SHE/HER/HERS

I feel like I have to like work a little harder to prove myself.

I have a faculty member whom I perceive as a role model.

Eric Jjemba

HARVARD 2021, ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING, HE/HIM/HIS

I've always wanted to put science and my work in STEM into a broader context. And so for me, when we talk about climate change in ESE, there's the very scientific perspective of: this is how greenhouse gases are warming the planet. But it's then helpful as a Black man to be able to put that conversation in the context of discussing communities that will continue to be overburdened if we continue this path. If we talk about chemical contaminants and drinking water, I can bring the perspective of talking very clearly using my background in terms of how that's going to impact certain communities disproportionately.

I believe students from every background have an equal chance to succeed at Harvard.

Amy Jin

HARVARD 2022, COMPUTER SCIENCE, SHE/HER/HERS

There are definitely times when I still question whether this is the right field for me. One big question that I had just in general, is where do I feel like my strengths lie and how can I best leverage them to make the make a positive impact for the biggest impact that I can. And sometimes I question whether or not that's actually computer science. But I think ultimately, having these support communities and being reminded that I can bring a lot of value, and diverse perspectives that are really important to have especially when building such impactful tools.

I feel pressure at Harvard to find internships, job opportunities, and extracurricular activities.

Harinni Kannan

HARVARD 2024, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, SHE/HER/HERS

I think in STEM, and specifically in engineering or in computer science, it's not just that being male is the majority, but masculinity is part of it too. People assume that if you're a woman in STEM, then you have more traditionally masculine traits too. I feel like I've had to compromise on things and assert masculinity in these kinds of environments. Which I think should not be the case. And I think that, you know, engineering is for everyone. I feel like for me, I've always not only had to prove that I can do what it takes, but show that I can also be 'one of the guys.'

If Piazza or Ed didn’t allow for anonymous questions, I would not likely post on the platform.

Eshika Saxena

HARVARD 2023, COMPUTER SCIENCE, SHE/HER/HERS

What really appeals to me about applied computer science research is that you can take computer science and use it as a tool to solve a real problem. With my research, I was able to see the tangible impact of what I was working on, and that was very motivating. For example, freshman year of high school, I was inspired to develop a food quality analysis device because of my own experience with food poisoning. I did some initial research and was like, 'I want to build something to solve this.' I reached out to a bunch of different labs in my area, and one of them took me. That's how I got started doing research. By the end of the school year, I had developed a portable spectrometer that could analyze food quality using machine learning software. That first experience showed me the power of computer science and how it can be used in a number of fields and situations to solve problems. From there, I kept working on different research projects, one for measuring heart rate from a video and another one for detecting sickle cell disease with a smartphone. These types of projects are really cool and fun to work on because after months of toiling away at code, you can actually see an end result. I presented my work at many science fairs and symposia, and many people would say 'This could really help me or one of my family members or someone I know.' I think seeing firsthand that your work makes a difference is very rewarding, and that's one of the things I love most about computer science and CS research.

I have to prove myself before being taken seriously in academic settings.

Isabelle Zheng

HARVARD 2022, COMPUTER SCIENCE, SHE/HER/HERS

My best experiences at Harvard have just been times in which I've been able to get people together, or create connections between people, or form this community that cares about each other, especially just because everyone's busy and it's hard to do that without effort.

My peers respect me.

Sílvia Casacuberta Puig

HARVARD 2022, MATH + COMPUTER SCIENCE, SHE/HER/HERS

Before Harvard, I had the kind of mentality that you have to be born to do math and computer science, or else it is impossible. I think this is one of the main issues of these fields, because it seems that having intuition is the only thing that counts, and there's this feeling that it doesn't matter how many hours you put into studying. But effort and hard work matter, as they do elsewhere.

I have been interrupted or talked to condescendingly by someone who assumed they knew more.