Isadora Grasel grew up surrounded by medicine. Her parents are doctors, her uncle practices medicine and her great-grandfather was a World War II physician in Germany. She thought she might follow the same path. Saving lives and serving others was something she felt called to do.
But the more she explored, the more she realized medicine was not her fit. She wanted a versatile career, one that could cross industries, adapt across borders and still impact lives.
Computer science became that answer.
鈥淚 might not be saving lives the same way my parents do,鈥� Grasel said. 鈥淏ut technology can save lives too. That鈥檚 what excites me.鈥�
She grew up in Brazil and a family visit to the U.S. helped set her path. While attending her cousin鈥檚 engineering graduation, Grasel was inspired by what she saw: hands-on learning, student clubs and the promise of applying technical skills to real-world challenges.
She considered going to school in Canada, but applied to Florida schools, too. USF won her over with financial support, a thriving Brazilian student community and an invitation to the Judy Genshaft Honors College.
Changing majors
At USF, she explored majors beyond medicine.
鈥淚 looked at law, finance, banking, everything,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 wanted to do something that was meaningful but would allow versatility, so that I could work at a bank or a hospital or almost anywhere.鈥�
That鈥檚 when she found computer science. She soon discovered that USF鈥檚 new Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing would give her a front-row seat to one of the fastest-growing fields in higher education.
鈥淐omputer science was a little bit of a bet,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 didn't know for sure what I was getting into. USF let me explore every area and narrow down what I wanted my life to look like.
鈥淎t first, I worried that tech lacked humanity, but I discovered computer science is about more than being good programmers. You must understand people鈥檚 needs and use technology to solve problems.鈥�
Early classes were daunting. Computer science wasn鈥檛 just difficult, it felt abstract compared to anything she had studied before. Grasel had to start from scratch.
鈥淵ou see people who have been coding since they were 10 but that wasn鈥檛 me. After freshman year, once you hit programming-heavy theory and hardware courses, it鈥檚 a steep learning curve. You have to push through the complexity before things start to click. Some abstract concepts were really hard for me.鈥�
She almost gave up.
Her breakthrough came when she earned her first 鈥淎鈥� in a core computing class on data structures.
鈥淭hat was the moment I thought, 鈥極kay, I can really do this,鈥欌�� she said.
Breaking into big tech
Around the same time, Grasel landed her first major internship. With Apple.
She connected with Apple鈥檚 recruiters at a SHPE event. SHPE is the nation's largest association dedicated to fostering Hispanic leadership in the STEM field and USF鈥檚 chapter is strong. Grasel attended the SHPE conference in Salt Lake City, Utah and that opened doors.
In 2024, she received a summer internship offer to work on Apple鈥檚 internal tools team. While confidentiality agreements limit what interns can share about their work, Grasel says that the experience was very meaningful and allowed her access to experienced peers and managers who welcomed, encouraged and supported her. They tasked her with identifying problems and Grasel developed solutions to make the everyday work of engineering project managers easier.
鈥淚t was about solving real problems, not over-engineering them,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat project ended up helping the whole team, even with it being technically simple. Simplicity sometimes is what can bridge business and technical teams seamlessly.鈥�
The next summer, Apple invited her back and she returned to juggle multiple AI-powered projects.
"Working with multiple groups in different projects at the same time allowed me to gain even more insight into the daily work of engineers and project managers,鈥� she said.
Preparing students for roles with global firms
Grasel credits USF with preparing her to succeed. She points to rigorous courses, supportive faculty and the student organizations that sharpened her skills. BRASA gave her a home base, while SHPE pushed her into conferences, GitHub projects and leadership roles.
鈥淟uck is part of it,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut luck only helps if you鈥檙e prepared. I kept my resume updated, built projects, got involved in clubs. When the opportunity came, I was ready.鈥�
Her favorite course? Mobile Biometrics with Associate Professor Tempestt Neal.
鈥淒r. Neal鈥檚 class gave me hands-on experience with real world problems, and I could see how computer science can actually save lives, detect health conditions and protect user data from attackers. It can make systems and data secure and directly improve health and security,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat was a moment when I realized 鈥� yes, this is how I can make a difference.鈥�
She has also been exploring ways to participate in research 鈥� and she found a way to combine computer science with medicine.
Her honors thesis applies machine learning and, through USF鈥檚 close partnerships with health and research institutions such as Moffitt Cancer Center, she鈥檚 exploring how AI trust can impact patient care.
鈥淭here are computer science opportunities that might be overlooked or only considered by pre-med majors.鈥�
Grasel plans to continue at USF in the accelerated master鈥檚 pathway in computer science after her May graduation, with the goal of becoming a machine learning engineer. She hopes to return to Apple one day 鈥� or to apply her skills in health care or another field where technology can make lives better.
鈥淚 want to solve problems that matter, on a big scale for those who need it the most,鈥� she said.