It is no surprise that when you get a group of highly intelligent students together, most tasks turn into a competition. And for a group of aspiring data scientists, that competition comes down to numbers!
This month, our Blue and Orange cohorts competed against one another to donate as many items and/or dollars for a Thanksgiving Day food drive to benefit students at a local middle school. Our incentive (other than helping out our neighbors): A private tour of one of our beloved professor’s research lab – a prize highly sought after.
Within days of announcing the competition, the Orange cohort came full throttle and, thanks to some extremely generous donators, were able to purchase ~650 food items. Throughout the next week, Blue was able to earn 400 points between food and cash donations, but Orange could not be caught!
It was an all-hands-on-deck approach between organizing, donating, and delivering. As a result of the collective contributions from students, staff, and faculty, the Institute was able to provide ~1,300 food items to the middle school. Congratulations to the Orange cohort on your win. Thank you to all who volunteered and donated to make this food drive such a success!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Columnist: Katrina Crawford