An opportunity to learn

Education has helped me reach my dream of studying Computer Science in the U.S. and since then my goal has been to give back to education. Few people from developi ng countries like mine, especially women, get a chance to have an education at all, let alone study what they dream in the land of opportunities. I am thankful for all the paths that education has opened for me. I am thankful to all my teachers who guided me this way, and as they helped me, I want to help my students so that they too can reach for their dreams.

My primary goal in teaching is for my students to learn and develop the knowledge and skills that will provide them a strong foundation to succeed, not only in my course but also in other courses in their degrees and in their work and life in general. In addition, my goal is to convey to my students that the knowledge and skills that they learn in my course are of practical importance and can be used to solve real world problems and improve the world around us. Finally, I aim for my students to recognize that they have a huge responsibility to ensure that what they create and develop using the skills and knowledge we learn in class is ultimately used by us, humans and should account for our needs.

Last but not least, being a minority, both as a woman and international student, it was very common for me to not feel welcomed and that I did not belong in my classes. For this reason, I always aim to create a welcoming, open and friendly classroom environment for all my students. Regardless of their background, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, interest in my course, etc., my goal is for my students to feel welcome and that they belong in my classroom.

I am honored to receive the Alan J. Perlis Graduate Student Teaching Award. I would like to thank all my students that I have mentored, starting from my PUI Spring 2018 and UCRE Fall 2019 students to my REUs and Independent Study students, for helping me learn and become a better teacher. A big thank you to my advisor Amy Ogan for always being super supportive and encouraging of my dream and passion to teach. I would like to also thank Raelin Musuraca and Jason Hong for being amazing mentors during my TAships and in my teaching. Last but not least, I thank my mum, dad and my sister for always believing in me and encouraging me to continue in the teaching path.