Throughout the spring semester we are highlighting our senior Fighting Scots with a Senior Salute series. Today's featured senior is swimming and diving's Patricia Chen. Chen is a mathematics major.
Q: Why did you choose to attend The College of Wooster?
A: I chose Wooster because of its authentic and welcoming atmosphere. Wooster's traditions truly make this school unique. The people here make this place feel like home.
Q: What does being a Fighting Scot student-athlete mean to you?
A: Being a Fighting Scot student-athlete means embracing both academic and athletic commitment. Here at Wooster, I can create goals in the classroom and in the pool, while also being able to contribute to a community that values teamwork.
Q: What are some of your favorite memories as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: My favorite memories at Wooster are when the community comes together. Events like Springfest or Woosterfest bring the students and local community members together where we can all spend time in a shared space. I also enjoy spending time with the swimming and diving team over winter break.
Q: What is the best part about being a student-athlete at The College of Wooster?
A: The best part about being a student-athlete at Wooster is the support. My coaches and professors all want me to succeed and reach my full potential. If I ever need any help, I know I can rely on the students and staff.
Q: What else were you involved with on campus besides your sport?
A: I have been involved with MiSTEM and am currently a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Q: Which College of Wooster faculty or staff member has made the greatest impact on you and why?
A: Dr. Robert Kelvey has made the greatest impact on me because he is my advisor and oversees my Independent Study. He provides me with advice about other aspects of my life outside of academics.
Q: What other people or resources impacted your Wooster experience in a positive way and how did these people and resources set you up to be successful at Wooster?
A: I have utilized resources at the College, such as APEX, to help me edit my resume and search for internships. I have also attended the career fairs held in the Alley. The career fair is where I found my post-Wooster job.
Q: Tell us a bit about your Independent Study project?
A: My Independent Study uses statistical and machine learning models to predict film success. The first model I created is a risk-scoring model that assigns weighted values to relevant variables to generate a score that predicts a movie's likelihood of success. The second model uses a CatBoostRegressor machine learning model, which applies gradient boosting on decision trees to improve prediction accuracy while efficiently handling categorical variables.
Q: Tell us a bit about something cool you did as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: Over the summer, I interned at a payment processing company I found through one of the career fairs held at the College. I learned a lot about fraud analytics and even helped create a risk scoring model for one of our web portals to help classify fraudulent behaviors more easily.
Q: Reflecting back on your time at Wooster, what advice would you give your first-year self?
A: Say yes to everything, take in every moment, time flies, and check which liberal arts requirements can be completed from classes within your major.
Interested in becoming a Fighting Scot?
High school prospective student-athletes can click here to learn about our recruiting process, click here to view the virtual campus tour, and click here to learn more about admissions events, tours, and visit programs.
Transfer prospective student-athletes can click here to learn about our transfer recruiting process and use the links above for the virtual tour and admissions visit programs.
