EMILY CHEN

My name is Emily, and I’m a freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill as a Robertson Scholar planning to major in Computer Science, minor in Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence, and earn a certificate in Digital Intelligence! I’ve had experience with Python, JavaScript, Java, GoLang, and Bash both inside and outside of the classroom, and I’m especially interested in the area of cybersecurity. I am a National Cyber Scholar with Honors and an NCWIT National Honorable Mention Winner.

When I was younger and I was first introduced to programming with Code.org, I found it fun but not exactly “intriguing” because I couldn’t find a “real-world application” for the little characters I was making move around the screen. As I delved deeper into cybersecurity and coding projects that helped me solve simple problems in my daily life, I began to understand how big of an impact coding can have on a single person to large-scale problems in the world.

I hope to show students what they can do with code, whether it be building a small game for their friends to play or solving a simple problem for their family. I’m currently a Co-Director of Engineering at BitProject, building software development curriculum and learning management systems on GitHub. When I’m not playing around with code ideas, I enjoy riding my bike, going on hikes, and dancing!