Robbie Fishel

Courses supported: Current: CS-0445 Past (as peer tutor): CS-0007; CMPINF-0401; CS-0441; CS-0445

Major: Computer Science

Academic Level: Junior

Achievements and Accolades: Dean's List

Activities and Clubs: Pitt Computer Science Club; Pitt Newman Club; Univ. of Pitt Orchestra

Internship, Research and Experiential Learning: Will be SDE Intern at Amazon this coming summer

Why did you become a UTA? I've always loved to help people in any way I can. I try to have a positive impact in other's lives, via peer tutoring last semester I feel I did that and would like to continue in an increased capacity. Further, I believe tutoring for CS 445 will help refresh my memory for internship & job interviews in the future.

What is the best advice you would give to a student who may need additional support? Don't be afraid to reach out to TAs or peer tutors! Sure, it can be an intimidating mental task, as I personally can concur. However what I can say is we seeked out and now hold this position because we want to help. You aren't inconveniencing anyone and your questions aren't stupid, we've all been in a similar position.

What is the best study tip you have for a student taking the course you UTA for? Start Dr. Ramirez's projects as soon as you possibly can! As more lectures go by, you'll be able to add more to your work and continue to refine the code you've already wrote. Further, if any QOTD or quizzes include topics covered with the projects, you'll feel more confident in those. Besides, they can be quite time consuming and therefore you'll need as much time as you can get.

Why should students come to your UTA office hours? Again, I'm here to help! No one is going to understand everything right away. I'm quite flexible and try my best to explain concepts as thoroughly as you need to understand them. Additionally, I took this course with Dr. Ramirez, so I have insight on his teaching style and project style. Consequently, I'll be able to help you rectify any confusion regarding a concept or a project's requirements.

What is your favorite thing about the subject you UTA for? The applicability of the concepts learned to stuff you'll learn in later classes! For instance, his in-depth discussion of asymptotic runtime analysis will be important in basically any other CS class you take at Pitt. Accomplishing a task in the most efficient way possible is the crux of Computer Science, and Dr. Ramirez does an excellent job at describing how to quantify this quality at a high level.