I’ve had my GIRLSGIRLSGIRLS YouTube Channel for a bit more than a year now (it officially launched last June) and it’s become a really big part of my life since then! My mom, who is an amazing entrepreneur, strong feminist, and my biggest inspiration, was one of the driving motivators of my initiative.
I turned to fashion to express my creativity and unique colors; I did not want to be written off as a mere “geeky” Asian girl in my predominantly Caucasian town. Fashion gave me confidence, and I yearned to know about other people’s distinct styles and stories. Thus, I created Jenzemi, a fashion blog that profiles people I encounter while walking the streets of NYC. Through Jenzemi, I have connected with people whom I would have never met before.
With a photo you can capture a moment, and have it forever. I think we take that idea for granted, with photography being so ubiquitous these days. But seriously, just take a second to appreciate that. If you took a photo in Ancient Greece, they’d call you a sorcerer. Or a god! I started a photography club in my school last year, and I am confident enough to say that it has topped thrice in ranking of clubs at my school.
Inspired by a YYGS seminar about information spread and social media, I continued research at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), working as an intern specializing in vaccine research. As we’ve seen on many fronts, social media can be a dangerous tool used to promote misinformation. This is especially true when it comes to vaccines. Social media has allowed false narratives about vaccines to gain traction, which has terrible consequences for the public health in our country. We’ve seen diseases like measles, long eradicated, now resurfacing.
Every time I sat by Lake Victoria, there was always that moment. That moment when I stop, and just glare at the watery world and the beautiful scenery around it. In early hours, it almost felt like I was in a tourist brochure, staring at the sheer beauty of the Bismarck rocks flanked by busy sailors and the deep blue sky emulated in the watery mirror, while in the afternoons, the lake lay silver in the bright light of the noon sun, not a perfect ovoid like a looking glass of old, but irregular like an ink-splat on aging concrete.
My favorite YYGS memory was the Science & Engineering Tour at Iwasaki Lab. I really enjoyed going into the lab and seeing how different machines work to collect data from various samples.
Currently, me and a friend I met at ATC 2018, Angelo from Hungary, worked on a project together. We aimed at developing a new type of photovoltaics technology, Agrivoltaics, which involves using the same land for both farming and photovoltaics system, with the plants cooling the PV array (increasing efficiency) and the array providing shade from too much sun. This idea can be implemented in Indonesia, where there is too much sunlight and the farmers live in poverty.
Having graduated from YYGS, I felt more motivated than ever to become active in the engineering world. I left with a new-found sense of personal discovery and ambition to do more and be more like the environment I had been immersed in. I thus scoured the internet for a work experience placement, and discovered a competitive program at BP (British Petroleum), where the accepted applicants would work between the geophysics and petroleum engineering department.
I am now working on a project that is called “Sacbé”. Sacbé means “Pathway of light” in Maya. And this is the perfect definition of what I and other special and important people to me in this group are trying to make, because we believe that everyone has a special sparkle that will help others.
Over the past three years, I have been fortunate to volunteer for the Glass Door Project, a homeless charity in London. Through the work which I have done and the relationships I have built with fellow volunteers and guests, I have benefitted enormously and have enjoyed myself greatly.
