About Me
Fun Facts
I love figure skating (watching and doing), creative writing, walking, and reading in my spare time. My most recent read is Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archives, a series I highly recommend. I took a day off when Silkson released just to play it. I love blue and the number 36 and I collect rings and rocks like each one I see will be the last.
I’m a lover, a writer, a skater, a gamer, a reader, a Trader Joe’s cocoa truffles addict, a fiancée, a golden doodle lover, a night owl, and a programmer.
Journey
Want to know how I went from an elementary school student making Scratch projects to a NASA intern to a Master’s student? View my timeline below.
2011
I started using Scratch to make my own projects.
After watching my brother and experimenting with his Scratch projects on our shared janky laptop, I wanted to make my own. One of my first projects was a game where a fire breathing dragon had to collect gems (poorly-drawn blue dots) without touching the spikes (random squiggles).
2013
I created my first website.
I helped organize a fundraiser called The Animal Olympics, with the proceeds being donated to the World Wildlife Fund. I made a website for this fundraiser using an online website creator. We raised over $300, exceeding the wildest dreams of my eleve-year-old self.
2015
I took my first computer science class.
During eighth grade, a new elective dropped: computer science. I took it eagerly. Although much of the class was modifying existing Python code, I was able to create my own programs, as well as add several new features to a game.
2017
I attended Emagination STEM Camp and DePaul University’s Summer Academy.
In the summer after my freshman year of high school, I attended Emagination Tech Camp at Lake Forest College. There, I spent several hours each day learning programming fundamentals in C#. My final project was a text-based interactive Pokemon game where the player adventured around a map to eventually defeat and become the new champion. After this, I attended DePaul University’s Game, Cinema, and Animation Summer Academy, where I used my newly learned C# skills to code in Unity. A team and I created a first person shooter where the player had to defend their island from an income horde of evil snails.
2018
I attended Emagination STEM Camp and a Girls Who Code Mobile App Development program.
After my sophomore year in high school, I returned to Emagination STEM Camp once more, this time learning Java. Because of my time learning C# the summer before, I had no trouble picking up this new language. My final project was another text-based adventure game where the player would adventure, collect items, fight enemies, and become stronger. Then, I attended a Mobile App Development through Girls Who Code, where I learned the basics of Swift and XCode.
2019
I attended the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program.
Before my senior year of high school, I participated in the 11-week Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program. There, I learned valuable coding skills, industry knowledge, and networked with many experienced professionals. We learned Python, robotics in Arduino C, and the basics of web development. Towards the end of the program, three other participants and I developed a web application designed to be a free tool for high school seniors to help with the college application process. I was in charge of much of the back-end functionality, including using the College Scorecard API to get the most recent information. We presented this project to dozens of peers, parents, professionals, and employees at our location’s company.
2019-2020
I took AP Computer Science.
In my senior year of high school, I took AP computer science. Aided by my several previous experiences with code, the class was relatively easy for me, so I sometimes made it a challenge to complete labs and machine problems faster and more accurately than all my peers. We used Java and BlueJ to learn about programming fundamentals and basic algorithms and data structures.
2020
I enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, majoring in Computer Science.
Summer 2022
I PARTICIPATED IN DEPAUL UNIVERSITY’S MEDIX RESEARCH PROGRAM
During the summer of 2022, I participated in DePaul’s summer REU program called MedIX, where I conducted research into predictors and risk factors of the disease ME/CFS. In addition to hands-on experience with research and machine learning algorithms, I also got to publish my first two papers: one in IEEE’s ICMLA 2022 and one in the journal Psych.
Summer 2023
I JOINED EPSILON AS A SOFTWARE ENGINEER INTERN
My first internship at a company was an exciting journey. I worked in a building with the fastest elevator I’ve ever been in and even got my own ID badge. Along with a fantastic, nurturing team, I was able to sharpen my skills with Angular, JavaScript, Cypress, Agile development, Jira, and more. I also learned how to work within a large codebase, code review processes, and so much more. We interns even were allowed to use the fancy coffee machines.
May 2024
After four difficult yet rewarding years, including a pandemic, new friends, countless hours in the library, several internships, and much more, I graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.
August 2024
I ACCEPTED MY NASA INTERNSHIP
When I first got the email asking for an interview, I was stunned. Imagine my excitement and elation when I received the offer letter telling me I could have the opportunity to intern at NASA’s very own Kennedy Space Center, the place where the Apollo missions were launched, where the Vehicle Assembly Building lives, and where the upcoming Artemis programs would be based from. Trust me when I say I ran home to accept that offer.
I worked with tools like Python’s Robot Framework and C++ to develop tests for the Artemis II’s fault detection system. Learning all of NASA’s acronyms and ancient version control software proved challenging, but a challenge I rose to with joy. It’s not every day you can look outside and see a rocket launching.
Yes, I do have videos. Just let me know if you want to see any.
January 2025
I enrolled in DePaul University’s Master’s in Health Informatics program to pursue my interest in the intersections between technology and healthcare.
What am I doing now?
I continue to pursue my master’s degree while engaging in research developing an application to help support care for people living with dementia. Read more about it here!
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