{"id":12820,"date":"2024-05-19T06:56:44","date_gmt":"2024-05-19T10:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/?page_id=12820"},"modified":"2025-10-01T22:53:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T02:53:32","slug":"bella-davies-cds24","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/cds-convocation-ceremony-2025\/commencement-2025\/bella-davies-cds24\/","title":{"rendered":"Bella Davies (CDS&#8217;24) Convocation Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DqbouwewBMA?si=RRxnickuLxKIdWja\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Good morning everyone, family, friends, faculty, and guests, thank you for being here today. The\u00a0successes and achievements we are celebrating could not have been possible without you and\u00a0your unwavering support. And congratulations to the 2024 graduates, we did it! I am honored\u00a0and grateful to have been selected to speak here today. For those who don\u2019t know me, my name\u00a0is Bella Davies, and I am a proud data science student and now CDS graduate.<\/p>\n<p>When I was asked to write about my experiences in CDS, I knew immediately that I needed to\u00a0mention our amazing professors, as well as TAs, advisors, and mentors. Their involvement in the\u00a0CDS program is the factor that has shaped our education the most. The expertise, industry\u00a0experiences, and ceaseless efforts by our instructors to improve and develop the curriculum with\u00a0the rapidly changing world of technology, has provided us with the most relevant, cutting-edge\u00a0education in data science. These instructors have also been the kindest and most supportive\u00a0mentors to myself and my peers. I\u2019m sure many of you could speak to this as well, but I\u2019ve\u00a0consistently witnessed their kindness, understanding, and their love for data science in every\u00a0class I\u2019ve had here. I\u2019ve seen time and time again professors willing and eager to help students in\u00a0all areas whether it\u2019s for academics or career support. We are all extremely thankful for your\u00a0guidance, inspiration, and everything you have taught us over the years.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;I\u2019ve\u00a0consistently witnessed their (faculty) kindness, understanding, and their love for data science in every\u00a0class I\u2019ve had here.&#8221;<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>Not only must we recognize our amazing families and faculty, but it&#8217;s also an important time to\u00a0reflect on ourselves and on these past four transformative years at this institution. From an\u00a0isolating freshman year on a silent ghostown campus during covid, to a now lively campus full\u00a0of events and activities, I\u2019m sure we\u2019ve all had very different paths and challenges along the way.\u00a0Especially since the data science program is new, and most of us started off with different majors\u00a0then decided to explore this instead. So it&#8217;s even more true that each of us has our own unique\u00a0college experience to reflect on, but I wanted to speak about the thing that has held constant for\u00a0all of us which is of course the CDS program. I am personally very happy with my decision to\u00a0switch into data science and I know the experiences we have shared throughout our academic\u00a0journey of navigating this advanced and transformative field together will stay with me forever.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design-27-636x358.jpg\" alt=\"Bella Davies (CDS'24), Boston University\" width=\"636\" height=\"358\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12821 aligncenter\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design-27-636x358.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design-27-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design-27-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design-27-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design-27-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design-27-992x558.jpg 992w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design-27-1500x844.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design-27.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design-27-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/>The first data science course I ever took was DS100 with Professor White. It was the first time I had been exposed to programming specifically for data science and analyzing large datasets, and I truly learned so much in that class. From that point forward I started to get more involved in the CDS community, through student organizations, course assistant roles, hackathons, and various projects for clients around Boston through the BU Spark! organization. These experiences have been some of the most rewarding highlights of my college journey, as well as the many classes we\u2019ve all shared together over the years.<\/p>\n<p>For example, in DS310 data mechanics with Professor Seferlis, where we identified the most\u00a0effective covid policies using data from 10 different major countries. Or going to Professor\u00a0Onak\u2019s office hours together to discuss our DS320 algorithms homework. Or in DS340 machine\u00a0learning class Professor Gold this semester, where we saw everyone\u2019s projects using ML and AI\u00a0in all different areas of computer vision, image and speech recognition, audio, music, and more.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s truly inspiring to see these projects from my peers, and shows how this type of work and you\u00a0all are truly the future of tech. We also learned about and discussed ethical considerations of\u00a0working with large datasets, like trust, privacy, and bias in DS380 data ethics with Professor\u00a0Wildman. These valuable lessons we will take with us into our professional lives and careers.\u00a0Throughout these core data science classes and more of our individual chosen electives, we have\u00a0built a strong foundation of math, statistics, and programming. On top of that we\u2019ve gained a\u00a0crucial understanding of modern data science skills of analytics, visualization, and predictive\u00a0modeling, skills that are increasingly valuable in today\u2019s world. We should all be so proud of the\u00a0skills and knowledge we\u2019ve gained throughout our hard-earned degrees.<\/p>\n<p>Today is a celebration of successes and achievements, but one thing we should not forget during\u00a0our reflection is our inevitable failures. Any tests we bombed, assignments missed, projects we\u00a0probably could\u2019ve done better. These have been pivotal moments in my academic journey as\u00a0they\u2019ve allowed me to learn from my mistakes, then grow for the better as a result. Though it can\u00a0be difficult, I encourage you all to carry your failures with you along with your successes. Even\u00a0though we\u2019re graduating, we\u2019re all still constantly learning and growing, and some self reflection\u00a0now and then will only help us reach further success in life.<\/p>\n<p>The last thing I have to mention is the invaluable friends and lifelong connections I\u2019ve made\u00a0through this program. I\u2019m forever thankful to CDS for bringing together some of the smartest\u00a0and brightest minds I have ever met, and at the same time the most down to earth, inclusive, and\u00a0genuine people from countries all over the world. I will miss seeing you guys everyday in our\u00a0classes and working on our projects together, and I hope our paths will cross again in the future.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;Data\u00a0science is still a relatively new field, that means we\u2019re the generation that holds the power to use\u00a0these new technologies to make a positive change in the world.&#8221;<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>Whatever\u2019s next for you, if it\u2019s a new job or continuing education, research, or whatever industry\u00a0you plan to bring your new data science skills to, whether it&#8217;s big tech, finance, public policy,\u00a0energy, healthcare or any of the boundless applications of data sicence. Remember that data\u00a0science is still a relatively new field, that means we\u2019re the generation that holds the power to use\u00a0these new technologies to make a positive change in the world. And as we move on to the next\u00a0stage of our lives and into the real world, remember to practice self reflection, as well as\u00a0appreciation and gratitude for those who have helped us. Finally, remember to practice data\u00a0science for good and data science for all. Thank you and congratulations to the Class of 2024.<\/p>\n<p><span><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Unknown-150x150.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-12887 alignleft\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Unknown-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Unknown-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Unknown-600x600.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Unknown-550x550.jpeg 550w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Unknown-710x710.jpeg 710w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2024\/05\/Unknown-100x100.jpeg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>Bella is a 2024 CDS graduate with a love and passion for data science. An active member of the CDS community, she has been involved with student organizations and hackathons, mentoring students as a course assistant, and working on data science projects for the BU Spark! organization. After graduating with a B.S. in Data Science and minor in Economics from Boston University, Bella will be working as a full-time software engineer in Boston.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Good morning everyone, family, friends, faculty, and guests, thank you for being here today. The\u00a0successes and achievements we are celebrating could not have been possible without you and\u00a0your unwavering support. And congratulations to the 2024 graduates, we did it! I am honored\u00a0and grateful to have been selected to speak here today. For those who don\u2019t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18026,"featured_media":12821,"parent":12526,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12820"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18026"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12820"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18409,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12820\/revisions\/18409"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}