Hima Tummalapalli

Year in college: Junior

Hometown: Carrollton, TX

Favorite C S experience so far and why: I've had many great experiences in UTCS so far. I've gotten to learn a lot through my classes, but also through hackathons and organizations like DiRP. Additionally, I've made some really close friends in this department who have been a part of my journey in CS thus far. I was also a pod mentor last school year, and I had a really good time welcoming the new freshmen into UTCS. I've had a lot of great experiences in UTCS, and I'm really grateful for them.

What advice (if any) would you go back and give yourself coming into UTCS? I would probably advise myself to get more involved in organizations, especially freshman year. I found it hard to balance being in clubs while doing schoolwork, but I think I should have tried to do that better since getting involved in clubs can give you really good experience in skills that you may not be able to develop just from your classes.