Jenny Zhang
Computer Science Specialist and Statistics Minor
Victoria College
What inspired you to study computer science at U of T?
Toronto is Canada’s major tech and innovation hub, not to mention simply a lively and inspiring city. I loved that U of T is at the centre of it all. Of course, at the time, I hadn’t known just how significant this would be. I had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, learn about diverse areas of innovation in computer science and even access the many course offerings outside of computer science to explore other interests.
Who or what at U of T influenced your education the most?
I was empowered by many of my CS professors and instructors, including François Pitt, Jennifer Campbell, and Ian Berlot-Attwell, who brought so much passion and enthusiasm not only for their area of expertise in computer science, but also for teaching and inspiring students to see the greater potential and significance of what they learn. I’ve also had the pleasure of having various mentors throughout my undergrad CS journey, including from the CS Alumni-Student Mentorship Program. These mentors gave me new perspectives that guided me through my career uncertainties and exploration.
Tell us about an experience from one of your CS courses that stands out to you.
I treasure all the lessons that I learned and the connections that I made through every one of my team projects. I made a deliberate effort to take the project-based CS courses, and in almost every project, I worked with people whom I was meeting for the first time.
The experiences that stand out the most from my CS courses all involve working on a team to build some software application that is prompted by a real industry problem. This is where an industry partner provides the description and requirements for the final application, but we make the design and implementation decisions. For me, topics ranged from environmental advocacy to health care reporting to marketing tech. Working on these real applications and challenges of software development allowed me to see the power that we, as developers have, to change and dictate the way people work. Ultimately, we have our own social responsibility as we can potentially influence (for better or for worse) many people everywhere through the technical systems that we design.
How did you get involved at U of T outside of your coursework?
Having really enjoyed being a part of the second-year CS learning community, I went on to become a peer mentor for the first-year CS learning community. This was during the year when we were fully online, so it was extra special and rewarding to foster a community for new students who were starting university during an unprecedented time.
What’s next for you?
I'll be working as a UX researcher/designer and project manager at Environment and Climate Change Canada, striving to streamline systems to make regulatory compliance easier, one application at a time. I'll also be working on building a community for new designers and those who want to learn more about UX.
This Q&A has been edited for clarity and length.