Clubs, Code and K-pop
Senior computer science major Nandini Shah co-leads several campus clubs, including the Association for Women in Computing and the Korean pop dance group Ganji.
Nandini Shah has always been a “joiner”—someone who loves the camaraderie of clubs. So when Shah enrolled in the University of Maryland’s undergraduate computer science program in 2021, she wasted no time getting involved in campus life.
“When you're in a new space, I feel that clubs are the best way to get a sense of community,” Shah said. “Through clubs, I've met so many people who helped me become who I am today and exposed me to different career opportunities.”
Now a senior with multiple leadership roles, Shah’s calendar is regularly booked. She serves as co-president of UMD’s Association for Women in Computing and co-performance chair of Ganji, a UMD dance group specializing in K-pop—a genre of Korean pop music known for its infectious melodies and elaborate choreography.
On one particularly hectic day last semester, Shah worked a morning shift as a teaching assistant and an afternoon shift as a peer advisor for the Department of Computer Science, collaborated with her QUEST Honors Program team, and attended three classes and three dance practices before wrapping up at 11 p.m.
“I'm constantly trying to surround myself with people and stay as busy as possible,” Shah said. “I wanted to take advantage of every opportunity at UMD, and that's what I’ve done.”
The beginnings of a tech career
Though Shah found her niche at UMD, she didn’t always aspire to a career in computer science. It wasn’t until the onset of COVID-19 that her current interests started to take shape.
“My mom is a nurse practitioner, and during that period, I saw her use telemedicine and saw how technology in general had such a big influence on everyone's lives, from social media to health care to government,” Shah said. “So even though I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I knew that if I pursued a career in tech, I could stay flexible and find the right avenue for me.”
After graduating from high school in New Jersey, Shah decided to pursue computer science at UMD largely because of opportunities offered by the Iribe Initiative for Inclusion and Diversity in Computing (I4C) and Break Through Tech DC. Before even starting classes her freshman year, Shah participated in Break Through Tech Guild, a program where students explore tech and learn to code real-world, mission-driven applications with the help of industry mentors.
When classes started, Shah knew she could use her professors’ office hours and I4C’s tutoring services to quickly get up to speed.
“I went to all my lectures, asked a lot of questions and really took the time to solidify concepts,” Shah said. “I took it very seriously because I realized I had a bigger learning curve than most students.”
During her freshman year, a Break Through Tech Sprinternship—a three-week micro-internship over winter break—boosted her skills and confidence. Working with Verizon, she helped create a data tool to update the company’s technology and increase efficiency.
“Having the opportunity to work in a corporate setting for the winter helped me leverage myself in my career going forward,” Shah said.
This initial experience helped Shah land other internships with Garmin and Wells Fargo, with Shah amassing experience in eight computer languages along the way. She is now a fellow with Break Through Tech’s AI Program, a yearlong experience focused on artificial intelligence (AI) that includes a summer internship, career coaching and courses in machine learning.
For this fellowship, Shah worked with a Virginia-based company to create a chatbot that complies with the European Union’s AI regulations.
“I was able to apply all the concepts I learned in class as well as external concepts,” Shah said, “so that has been a really cool opportunity."
‘Better than yesterday’
In between internships and classes, Shah finds time to nurture her lifelong passion for dance. Inspired by her training in khatak, a style of Indian classical dance, Shah realized that K-pop’s choreography had a similar capacity for storytelling.
“What I liked about K-pop is that there is a dance for every song,” said Shah, who counts BLACKPINK and Itzy among her favorite K-pop groups. “I’m very dance-focused, so even when I listen to Bollywood songs, I love seeing the moves that go along with the catchy phrases.”
Shah first joined Ganji—a tiny club at the time—as a freshman. Now, the group has 60 active members who audition for roles in various performances. Ganji performs at public events like UMD basketball games and competes each year in the Ultimate Showcase, a regional K-pop contest and showcase held in UMD’s Stamp Student Union. At this year’s video game-themed Ultimate Showcase on March 29, Ganji took second place with a performance inspired by “The Legend of Zelda.”
“The first time we competed in the Ultimate Showcase, we were nowhere near placing,” Shah said. “It's amazing how we've improved and grown so much as a community of dancers.”
As Ganji’s co-performance chair, Shah helps to coordinate the details of each performance with a goal of bringing out the best in every dancer. Whether she’s teaching choreography or debugging software code, Shah approaches each task with the same goal: “Better than yesterday.”
“I chose that motto because it’s the way I view life,” Shah said. “No matter how much I accomplish, I want to keep growing because there’s always room for improvement.”
With her graduation quickly approaching this spring, Shah is reflecting on her reason for pursuing computer science in the first place: the chance to use technology to help others, just like her mother did during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the future, I would be interested in something at the intersection of health care and tech,” Shah said. “I want to be able to work on software that has a real-world impact.”
