Archana Ramkumar

Courses supported: Current: CS-0007; CMPINF-0401 Prior: CS-0007 

Major: Computational Biology

Minor: Computer Science

Academic Level: Sophomore

Achievements and Accolades: Dean's List, University Honors College

Activities and Clubs: I'm on the board of Women in Healthcare having the role of planning volunteering events for the club. I have also volunteered with Girls Who Code.

Internship, Research and Experiential Learning: Last summer, I was selected to participate in the UPMC Children's Hospital Summer Research Internship Program. This is also my second semester with SCI tutoring; last semester I was a UTA for CS7. This semester, I also started research with the Neuro department and do clinical data analysis in R using patient records of those that have the autoimmune disease Multiple Sclerosis.

Post graduation plans: I hope to work in the industry particularly in the field of computational biology with all of its biomedical applications. I am interested in drug design and therapy.

Why did you become a Peer Tutor? I became a Peer Tutor because I genuinely enjoy seeing students learning so much throughout the course of a semester. It's rewarding to be a part of the journey in a student's success in the class. I also am continuously able to review my own knowledge of computer science which helps me too!

What is the best advice you would give to a student who may need additional support? The best advice I would give to a student who may need additional support is to reach out early on. It can become very frustrating when doing projects close to the deadline and having questions that need to be addressed. Start assignments early so you can ask for help right away if needed!

What is the best study tip you have for a student taking the course you tutor for? For CS-0007, I would suggest going to office hours as soon as something is unclear in the lecture. Many of the things learned in the first half of the course become smaller parts of bigger things in the latter half so it's important to understand the fundamentals. For CMPINF-0401, don't be afraid to read or watch videos outside of class on topics that need more clarification. Sometimes concepts can make more sense explained in a different way!

Why should students come to your office hours? Students should come to my office hours because I have a good amount of tutoring experience by now with all ages and can help you break down the problem and understand different approaches/strategies :)

What is your favorite thing about the subject you tutor for? My favorite thing about tutoring for CS0007 is seeing students who had no prior experience in programming become passionate about coding!