Over the summer, junior Bilal Boussayoud worked as a teaching assistant at All Star Code in New York City,  a nonprofit organization that focuses on teaching 

computer science to Black and Latino men.

“I taught around 18 high school kids introductory programming and how to build web apps. I liked 

seeing a bunch of people in the position I was, getting that 

opportunity and being able to pay it forward. I loved seeing them pitch their projects to a whole group of engineers,” Boussayoud said. 

Boussayoud commented on the lack of diversity in his computer science classes at Colgate.

“[I see] extremely few people of color in my computer science classes. Normally my classes have about 25 people, and there will be two or three people of color, including myself,” he said. 

The lack of diversity in his classes has had a significant impact on him.

“It definitely ramps up the imposter syndrome. I will feel like ‘Oh there’s no one here that looks like me, I don’t belong here.’ I try to counteract that feeling through my passion for coding,” Boussayoud said.