autumn quarter 2020
This quarter, I applied for a research position with the Svoboda Diaries Project. Although it has only been one quarter, I truly feel as though I have learned so much already! I hope this artifact will be helpful for other UW Honors students seeking opportunities to fulfill their Honors Program experiential learning requirements or other undergraduate students in general, seeking to engage in more hands-on learning opportunities outside the classroom. I was initially nervous to take INFO 340 because I had no experience with web development before, and I honestly wasn't quite sure what web development even was. However, I am so glad I took INFO 340 because I learned so much! Throughout the course, I learned HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React. I also learned a bit about using AJAX requests with JSON data, and Firebase hosting. The main project of the course was to create a functional web app with some interactivity features implemented. The idea I proposed for my group's project was inspired by my personal experience with scheduling appointments with advisors for different departments at UW and the shortcomings I noticed. The goal of our project was to create a web app that would serve as a centralized database to access all things advising-related, with a focus on ease of use for scheduling appointments with advisors. My contributions included most of the CSS styling for the web app, designing + creating the splash page, designing the tile layout for the advising page, and the advisor availability filtering interaction. Our Project Proposal Project 1 Deliverable (Dynamic Information App) Project 2 Deliverable (Complete Web App) |
Sometimes, good enough is good enough, and moving forward is important." - Amber Lucas Early this fall, I attended session 1 of the Women in Tesla speaker series. The main speaker was Amber Lucas, a Senior Manager in Design Engineering and Technical Programs, and the first woman in the drive unit team. Amber shared her journey from working in the cycling industry--specifically electric bikes--to getting recruited by the Tesla CTO. She also shared how her passion for art unexpectedly complemented her engineering skills, which was a great reminder to me about the importance of interdisciplinary learning. Something really cool that Amber shared during the Q&A was that she was one of the first people to own a Model 3 of 30 people selected by Elon for their work on the team. Another fascinating thing she shared was that when her team was testing the Tesla truck, they discovered that it was able to accelerate from 0 to 60 faster than any of the other existing models! My biggest takeaway from this session was honestly just how forward Tesla is as a company and community. I love that their mission truly is to build a sustainable future, beginning with promoting a sustainable lifestyle. Because they are doing things that no one else in the world is doing, they are working on problems that no one else in the world have encountered. I also think it is pretty cool how Elon Musk personally reviews each full-time hire. I love that Tesla's drive has never been to make more money. They've used their revenue to create more affordable products. Their market value has increased because they've stayed true to their ultimate mission and focused on the "next important thing". Their human-centered, data-driven approach and their values are responsible for their success. This quarter, I rushed for Phi Alpha Delta, the pre-law fraternity at the University of Washington. While going through my first year of university, I was just trying to find my way around campus, take some cool classes, and meet some good people along the way. As I entered my second year, I had a clearer vision for what I wanted to do and what I wanted to learn. I always had an interest in studying law throughout high school, but I never really had the courage to take any steps toward this interest, especially not while I was simultaneously taking steps toward a technology-centered career path. However, Phi Alpha Delta encapsulated everything I wanted to be a part of, because it allowed me to further explore my interest in the law and gain connections to a diverse network of legal actors. I was excited to be part of a professional community of people passionate about the law. All in all, I joined Phi Alpha Delta because I was looking for an interdisciplinary community of people to spur me on in my professional goals, as well as a community of similar-minded individuals with a vision of a world where law is mobilized for good. |
I began Autumn Quarter (my second year!) at UW hopeful, determined, and ready to immerse myself in new experiences, despite all classes and activities being virtual. Since I had not been admitted into Informatics in the Spring, I planned to apply this October as I had all my prerequisite courses for Informatics complete, and if I waited till Spring to apply, I would be required to take another English Composition course before applying. (Informatics was no longer accepting the Honors English Composition course I had taken last fall, HONORS 345) All this, and the fact that if I applied in October, I would have more time to plan for the future. As a "backup", I found Human Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE) to be a close match to the very core of what drew me to Informatics, so my Autumn Quarter classes were filled with HCDE prerequisites, plus INFO 340.
I spent hours upon hours of my last few weeks of summer preparing my essay for my second Informatics application, and I still remember the very moment when I read the email stating my denial from admission. I was in the middle of a Zoom section where cameras were on, and I was utterly devastated--I had to shut my camera off and grab a whole bunch of Kleenex, and I tried to quickly compose myself in order to return to class discussion. It felt like last Spring all over again, except even more heartbreaking because I knew this was my last chance to apply (due to the 2 application limit) and I felt like I never even got a chance at studying something I was so very interested in at the University of Washington. I knew if I really wanted to, I could try and register for remaining spots in INFO courses, or I could try and find majors with courses similar to INFO courses, but in that moment all I could feel was a sense of unbelonging and inadequacy.
A few weeks before the end of Autumn Quarter, I experienced a loss so painstaking, that my sadness regarding my academic setbacks seemed so trivial. On December 3, 2020, my Grandma passed away at 92 years old. It was sudden, completely unexpected, and I still feel as though a piece of my soul has gone and can no longer return. It's hard to describe in words what the loss of a loved one feels like, especially if you've never experienced it. I felt so helpless--all my memories with her were scattering like raindrops, and I was running around with cupped hands trying to catch them all. I have peace knowing that she is in Heaven now because she believed in Jesus Christ. I just can't help but wonder if she knows how much we wish she were here with us right now, how much I would give to say "I love you" to her one last time, to hear her laugh, and to hold her hand. If you're one of the very few people I imagine who actually look through this portfolio and read this far into my reflections, please, use this as a reminder to give your grandparents a call and tell them you love them :)
I spent hours upon hours of my last few weeks of summer preparing my essay for my second Informatics application, and I still remember the very moment when I read the email stating my denial from admission. I was in the middle of a Zoom section where cameras were on, and I was utterly devastated--I had to shut my camera off and grab a whole bunch of Kleenex, and I tried to quickly compose myself in order to return to class discussion. It felt like last Spring all over again, except even more heartbreaking because I knew this was my last chance to apply (due to the 2 application limit) and I felt like I never even got a chance at studying something I was so very interested in at the University of Washington. I knew if I really wanted to, I could try and register for remaining spots in INFO courses, or I could try and find majors with courses similar to INFO courses, but in that moment all I could feel was a sense of unbelonging and inadequacy.
A few weeks before the end of Autumn Quarter, I experienced a loss so painstaking, that my sadness regarding my academic setbacks seemed so trivial. On December 3, 2020, my Grandma passed away at 92 years old. It was sudden, completely unexpected, and I still feel as though a piece of my soul has gone and can no longer return. It's hard to describe in words what the loss of a loved one feels like, especially if you've never experienced it. I felt so helpless--all my memories with her were scattering like raindrops, and I was running around with cupped hands trying to catch them all. I have peace knowing that she is in Heaven now because she believed in Jesus Christ. I just can't help but wonder if she knows how much we wish she were here with us right now, how much I would give to say "I love you" to her one last time, to hear her laugh, and to hold her hand. If you're one of the very few people I imagine who actually look through this portfolio and read this far into my reflections, please, use this as a reminder to give your grandparents a call and tell them you love them :)