other

Be curious, fail, and do it again.

Growing up, I have always been curious about the world around me. No matter how professional I am at work, by the end of the day, I am, a 21-year-old college student who is trying to figure herself out: who am I? what do I like? and where does that lead me?

Bio nerd…

In 2017, the ambitious freshman succeeded in placing out intro science courses but became the only freshman in her biology class (it’s usually destinated for sophomores). She struggled a lot with all those jargons, but at the end of that year, she proved that she was the best in her class. More than that, she was lucky – she met her advisor Mariska Batavia, a Berkeley graduated biologist who hosted the first ever science fair at her high school. Out of curiousity, she participated as a freshman. Although limited to literary research, she won the first prize.

Researching opened a door for her to see the world. No, not just see, but observe (quoted from Sherlock Holmes). Ever since then, she was devoted to scientific research, and won first place in science fairs every year. Throughout her high school years, she did experiments on the effect of ALAN (artificial light at night) on the reproductive systems of Drosophila, monitored how Chinese medication affect the growth of cancer cells on Mus musculus, and when COVID hit, taught the entire school on information about this virus and ways to prevent its spread.

And you might be wondering… Why am I coding now?

In 2021, the freshman in college continued with her interest in scientific research and successfully had three opportunities to work in labs for medical schools. While most work she did was on the wet lab’s end: pipetting, run DNA/RNA gel electrophoresis, and work with lab mice, she was also introduced to the other aspect of laboratory work – dry lab, aka data analysis. There, researchers code and interpret the data collected from the wet lab.

Curious to learn about the dry lab, she started to take introduction to computer science courses. As a sophomore in college who has never coded before, she was very behind. Even till this day, she vividly remember her first CIS course: she was already late because Engineering school proved to be farther than she expected, not to mention it was raining hard. By the time she entered the lecture room, the professor was already writing something on the blackboard. “ Proposition “ She had no idea what this meant, but apparently all the other students did, as they started to raise their hands and waiting to be called…

She became a frequent visitor to office hours; she worked ahead, very ahead, yet she still did not understand most of the concepts, and got below average on the first midterm. She failed. But she loved the concepts – they are so logical, so interesting that it offered another lens of understanding the world…No, not just understanding, but building your own world, making the world a better and a more efficient place.

Now, two years later, she is the person who TAs three CIS courses and encourage other students who are struggling gain more confidence in the field.

Other stuff…

She has been playing the piano since age of 4, but without any talents and a huge stage fright. Nevertheless, she is still doing it. Here are some videos of her playing as a part of Penn Chamber: Schumann quintet

So interested in string instruments, she started learning violin at age of 16 (which you are not supposed to…), and cello at age of 21. She hopes that by the time she works as a SWE, she can join the company’s orchastra as a violinst/cellist!

Admissions are not my friends

Yola moved to the US in 2014 as a freshman at a Quaker boarding school called Westtown School. She was rejected or waitlisted by all the schools she applied to, until Westtown finally gave her an offer in late May, 2014, that moved her out of the waitlist. Yup, she almost had no schools to go to. But he had a blast living and studying in rural Pennsylvania for 4 years. Then in college, she again was rejected by all but one school…I guess history does repeat itself by the end of the day…But life always works out, doesn’t it?