Student Profile: Emma Sabbadini

Photo of Emma Sabbadini

What are you passionate about?

I am passionate about using computer science for the betterment of others specifically within the fields of medicine and drug discovery. Within this application of computer science, I have taken a particular interest in machine learning. During my sophomore summer, I was fortunate to work on a few projects at Pfizer that used machine-learning techniques to predict the reactivity of different sites on organic and inorganic compounds. This has been one of my favorite projects I have gotten to work on and I hope that I can continue to put my education toward similar projects/research. I am working to deepen my knowledge in this subject area by taking courses like Machine Learning and Biomedical Image Analysis offered at BC. 

What do you do on campus?

On campus, I love my job working as a teaching assistant for the ComputerScience department. Some of my other favorite activities include serving as a student volunteer and leader within 4Boston (the largest community service organization at BC) and being a tour guide for the Student Admissions Program. I love collaborating with the other students in these groups and have found a home in the friendships I have formed participating in them.

Why Computer Science?

My interest in and love for Computer Science first started in High school when my math teacher pushed me to take AP Computer Science. My final project, coding a computer bot that you could play the card game hearts against, was my first real coding project and sparked my interest in this field. Ever since then courses that I have taken at BC have continued to grow my interest and passion for CS. They have shown me just how far-reaching and impactful my code can be as well as demonstrated that there is always something new to learn which is exciting and keeps me engaged in the material.   

What has been your favorite class so far? (Computer Science related or otherwise)?

This has been one of the hardest questions for me to answer. I have loved so many of the classes I have taken at Boston College, however, I think my favorite two have been Honors Computer Science I (now functional programming) and Machine Learning. The problem sets in both of these courses have been some of my favorites during my undergraduate education. The problems pushed me to look further than the material explicitly discussed in the lecture and approach problems in a variety of ways. I have also really enjoyed the lab courses that I have completed for my Chemistry major specifically organic chemistry lab. I love working with my hands and applying what I am learning about in lectures to real-world examples which is why I think I have enjoyed CSI Honors, ML, and my labs so much.

What advice do you have for someone considering Computer Science?

Keep an open mind when starting to learn computer science. Learning to code is like learning any new skill it takes practice, hard work, and patience but the results are so fulfilling. A good foundation in computer science and coding can be used in so many different disciplines and it is a skill that I recommend to everyone. Even though it might not seem like it at first, once you get comfortable with coding it is super fun!