Computer Science and public policy
When I was younger, I had a dance-off with Usher at a dance camp.
During the summer of my Junior year, I took a shot in the dark. My Scout Master had referred me to a program called Data Science for Social Good and urged me to apply. It was a six-week summer program intending to provide 19 students intermediate level Data Science, Coding, and Social Entrepreneurship skills. Before then, I had no real experience but decided to apply because I felt that I could use Computer Science to bridge the interests that I had in other fields. I was right.
From the beginning, the work was intense. We met every day for 11 hours a week, and at first, struggled. I dove headfirst into a language consisting of random assortments of letters and numbers, but I couldn't give up because I was hooked. I loved the feeling that proceeded when my code ran, and I loved exploring random libraries in search of new ways to write code, but above all, I loved the ultimate freedom that the art of Computer Science offered.
This newfound passion eventually expanded in the direction of Data Science. As someone who has always been intrigued by how a number can tell stories, how the dots and lines that make up graphs can hold the same complexity and value as pages of exposition, I began to explore that relationship. During my last two years of high school, I interned at Hoskins & CO, where I worked with company data to find effective ways to manage and present financial data. Also, around this time, I started an ongoing web development project that aims to chart how differing factors like race, income, and location have affected the severity of COVID19 for different groups around NYC.
Given these past experiences, I plan to major in Computer Science and Public Policy. I hope to gain a better understanding of our current relationship with data with the end goal of creating technological solutions that change society equitably.
Outside of the classroom, I am a research intern at Silliman Lab, on the sponsorship team of HackDuke, and am working on joining the SWE team through DAML.
So far, the main thing that I like about Duke is the number of recourses that are available to explore a topic of interest and the freedom/encouragement to study what you are passionate about.
