For Rosario, numbers have always come easier than words. She learned Spanish before English, and because of that, she struggled adjusting to languages. Gray has dyslexia, which slows her processing time and makes reading a challenge.
Naturally, the two individually gravitated toward coding and mathematical equations, as they just made more sense.
The pair connected through Thrive Scholars, a program that supports students of color from disadvantaged backgrounds through their academic journey, partially through partnerships with industry professionals that offer scholars career advice and mentorship.
Gray, of Dracut, works as a technical manager at Nuance, a Microsoft company where she develops voice-to-speech models. Alternatively, Rosario recently completed her freshman year at Amherst College, where she studies computer science and math with the goal of helping people.
Rosario joined the program in her junior year at Central Catholic High School, seeking guidance through college applications and resources once she was accepted to Amherst. Since the fall, she and Gray have met multiple times, allowing her to explore potential paths post-college and build her professional network.
"This is exposing me to routes that I could possibly take in the future," Rosario said, "so this has been great exposure for me."
In listing her preferences for a mentee, Gray said she was seeking a female STEM student interested in speech recognition software who lived close. They were both surprised to discover their passions outside of the sciences align.
"She likes to do art and we both came from a different country and migrated to the USA," Gray said, "so it couldn't be a better match."
The mentorship has proven to be mutually beneficial — with 20 years of experience under her belt, Gray said she's learning from Rosario and understanding what a modern-day college curriculum looks like for a developing computer scientist.
Over the last two semesters, Gray advised Rosario to tap into her artistic side and take courses outside her majors to become a more well-rounded student. That suggestion seems to have resonated with Rosario.
"I really like art, and a lot of people have tried to persuade me not to do it ... and Sharmi has encouraged me," Rosario said. "She's just like, 'No, take that art class that you want to.' She's like, 'There's no point of taking another class, just take it. You can always complete your other classes.' So every semester, I've made sure to have that art class, and that has always been my favorite class in my entire schedule."
In a class called Art + Code, Rosario learned the basics of Python, a coding language, through drawing different shapes that became more complex as the lessons progressed. Rosario eventually animated her own interactive storyboard that allowed users to paint with digital brushes, pens and spray bottles.
"You may be a genius, but if you cannot express your ideas and thought process and you cannot tell others what you are thinking of, then your ideas will not go anywhere," Gray said. "You have to learn how to express, how to present. Your communication skills and all of those things are very important."
With a generation between them, Rosario and Gray engage in meaningful discussions around the fast-evolving world of technology and the implications of artificial intelligence in their work and the larger society.
AI automatically learns and updates itself without much human intervention, Rosario said, which is simultaneously scary and fascinating. For instance, in-person Amazon storefronts automatically connect to customers' Amazon accounts and charge them without having to scan a single item at check-out, Rosario said, which "is insane."
In Gray's line of work, AI has served as a useful tool, as it's able to recognize voices and replicate speech patterns, accents and personal vernacular. In the medical field, doctors and patients can capture their conversations in an effort to document visits, review patient history and medications and ask the machine questions in real time, Gray said.
That practical impact is something Rosario is interested in — her mother used to be a doctor, and her sister is pursuing a career as a physical therapist, so health care runs in the family, she said. In line with that interest, Rosario is taking a seminar class in the fall called Medical Injustice.
As she completes an externship with Citadel in New York — where she's exploring the interaction between technology and finance — Rosario is keeping her options open. Gray's influence, though, is playing a major role in that decision-making.
"I'm kind of overwhelmed with the choices that I have," Rosario said. "When I visit Nuance though, I'm amazed by the work that I do, and it's honestly what I wanted to go into originally, and I think that I'm going to stick with that right now because that was most interesting to me."
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