Over my high-school career, I've had an opportunity to explore my eclectic interests, to potentially divine what I might want to do in the future. However, an issue arose; be it computer science, business, or even digital design; I fell in love with each and every one of them. Being on a robotics team just cemented that further, I got to code, manage the team finances, and create all our digital art (logos, posters, etc.).
Then, over my last summer, I was privileged to intern at 412Build, an engineering and entrepreneurship program. By partnering with companies like TechShop and AlphaLab Gear (a hardware startup accelerator), 412Build offered courses on machining, creating a one-page business plan, elevator pitches, and much more. It introduced
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First and foremost, the Department of Computer and Information Science (CIS) at UPenn offers the flexibility and breadth of programs I am looking for in an institution. While I know that computer science and entrepreneurship are my primary career interests now, there is still so much about computer science I want to learn. The computer science program offered by UPenn has courses spanning natural language processing to computer architecture, and as someone who wants to learn as much as possible about the whole range of computer science, I am comforted by the fact that I would never be shoe-horned into any singular computer science discipline. The labs at UPenn would also serve as an irreplaceable resource. Being in the GRASP lab and working on ground-breaking innovation like that done by Vijay Kumar would provide the hands-on learning that I have grown to love through working on robotics. The lessons learned feel far more tangible when they can be applied, and the many labs at UPenn provide an environment to innovate and apply the subjects learned in classwork. Furthermore, the PRECISE lab has research on Automotive Cyber Physical Systems, a field that has piqued my interest in the recent years. With companies like UBER working on autonomous driving right here in Pittsburgh, as well as the increasing amount of technology seen in cars such as the Tesla Model S, I would love to get personally involved in what is going to be the technology of the