Emili Robles joined us as a WISCIENCE Peer Leader in spring 2024. Peer Leaders are undergraduate students who support their peers in WISCIENCE programs and courses while learning valuable leadership skills. Find out more about Emili and her experience as a Peer Leader!
Pronouns: She/her
Peer Leader for: STEM Immersion
Major: Computer Science and Data Science
Hometown: Chicago, IL
If you could choose anyone to be a mentor to you, who would it be?
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC)
What is your favorite place on campus?
The Discovery Building because the cafe area is peaceful, aesthetically pleasing, and has caffeine! It’s definitely a nice spot to study in the morning before class.
What extracurricular activities are you involved in?
I’m a Biweekly Chair for WACM, L&S ambassador, WISCIENCE Peer Leader, Rewriting the Code, CeO, MLT, Colorstack
What are your favorite snacks for a study session?
I always pack a pepperoni and mozzarella sandwich as a snack because my stomach will still grumble after a protein bar.
If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?
A capybara, because they look unfazed by anything and everything.
What is an academic accomplishment that you are proud of?
I’m proud of being selected as a scholar for the 2025 National Conference on Undergraduate Research where I’ll present on AI Fairness and its Relationship to Cultural Contexts.
What sparked your interest in STEM?
I’ve always been interested in math, and in high school, I was part of the Math Team where my teacher helped encourage me to move towards a related field. I first majored in Finance as I thought it fulfilled my values, but quickly realized it wasn’t something I saw myself thriving in. Being able to have a ML internship after graduating high school—I worked with software engineers, data scientists, and analysts who made me realize that computer science was a field where I could be challenged and have the freedom to work on anything that I’m interested in.
What is your vision for life after graduation?
Getting professional experience as a Software Engineer for 1-2 years to be able to apply for a graduate program in Data Science afterwards.
What advice would you give a friend considering becoming a peer leader?
Be transparent with your story—we’ve all struggled at least once, and we can help others by giving them our honest experience.
What have you learned through your experience of being a peer leader?
I learned to be more organized with my time and to be aware of others as well. Being understanding is a huge trait to being a peer leader because I’ve been able to deal with situations I didn’t see coming, help others feel included, etc.
Meet the rest of the WISCIENCE Peer Leaders.
Learn more about the WISCIENCE Peer Leader program.