QuestBridge Alum, Penn '17
Incoming Computer Science and Learning Sciences PhD Student at Northwestern
A daughter of two Brazilian immigrants, Natalie Melo grew up in Malden, MA where she attended the most diverse public high school in MA. In 2013, she was matched with the University of Pennsylvania where she studied Computer Science in their School of Engineering. Throughout college, Natalie realized her passion for empowering students and helping others learn. She enjoyed her experience as a Teaching Assistant at Penn, and she moved on the following semester to work as a course manager for an introductory computer science class at Yale University, which has been her role for the past two years. Inspired by her experiences thus far, she recently applied for graduate school. Now in the fall, Natalie will begin her studies at Northwestern University as a Ph.D. student in their joint Computer Science and Learning Sciences program. She hopes that her work can reflect how each person can use their unique experiences, prior knowledge, and education to contribute to the advancement of society.