If I were to describe myself in the fewest words, I would see myself as an eccentric, eclectic student.
Others would describe me as polarizing, passionate, poetic, and persevering.
When one finds a world where the sole focus is to be the best, it ruins the idea of being the best when everyone yearns for it so desperately. To be the best is to optimize every bit of oneself, and by the end of it, what part of you is really perfect when perfection isn’t what defines a person?
I like to live my life slowed down. I enjoy taking my time and spend hours on something productive, but not the fastest way. I would say I like to do things sub-optimally. That’s not to say I do things half-assed, but rather I see it through the end and take my time doing so.
While many may find things in their life to be a lifeline, they will find their whole life revolving around it and chase for that lifeline from days on end. If one were to consider that lifeline more as a resource, would their overview on life be any different?
Who am I?
First and foremost, I am a Master of Computer Science with a concentration in Software Engineering. My biggest academic accomplishment is my publication to the ISIITA 2023 conference.
I was never really a bright student. It took me until the end of fourth grade just to memorize my multiplication table, and even then, I struggled because I didn’t have help understanding how anything works. It wasn’t until fifth grade when I met a teacher who told me about how he built his own house and showed me the cool things math and science had to offer. I found learning much more fun. There was one day when the class and I were challenged to play a game of Connect4 with him. Most students lost but when I played, I won by an unsuspecting diagonal line. That win made me feel like that I’m capable of better things if I continue putting effort into my work.
I found passion in computer science first in a robotics club during middle school. I found my mentor in that club who helped boost my passion to build creatively and find logical solutions to a problem. My mentor gave me a trial and error mentality where I was able to apply that mindset to many aspects of my life. I was so passionate with robotics that I also helped supervise summer robotics camps, with a large variety of elementary and middle school students. I would assign challenges and coordinate with table leaders on making sure students get the help they need.
My passion for STEM carried over to high school. During my junior and senior years, I took part in computer science and robotics classes. At first, I struggled badly with computer science because I was not familiar with typed languages like Java, and had only worked with block coding. It wasn’t until I took the time to sit down to understand the concept of syntax and the order in which keywords go when the concept of a programming language came to me. After learning that sort of systematic approach to programming, it aligned with what I learned with block programming and helped boost my understanding in both robotics and computer science.
College year, I initially started with a Management in Information Systems degree, which was served as a business/finance degree. I did not perform well at all in Accounting and Macroeconomics and decided to switch to Computer Science instead.
I am a first degree black belt in Songahm Taekwondo and I have a passion teaching because of my instructors.