Tell us about your background.
I am a junior at Homestead High School in Cupertino, CA, with a strong interest in pursuing data science. Over the past few years, I’ve applied my skills to several projects exploring topics such as the impact of COVID-19 on both education and pediatric dental health, as well as marketing through Google Ads analytics during my internship at Opera San José. I’m now focused on making data science education more accessible to other students in my community.
At school, I’m actively involved in the Data Science club, currently serving as Program Manager and recently elected as President for the upcoming school year. Our club regularly hosts data analysis workshops at school, participates in Kaggle competitions, and connects to the broader community through STEM fairs. Outside of school, I serve on the Wellness Council for the Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD). I’m also actively involved with the youth committee at CompassPoint (CP) Mentorship, where I previously co-chaired for the Data Science for Social Justice Committee and now serve as co-chair of the Wellness Committee.
How did you get interested in data science?
I first became interested in data science in the summer of 2021, right after we heard the exciting news that we’d be going back to school in-person. A couple of friends—Jesse and Alex—approached me about joining a Kaggle competition that focused on the impact of COVID-19 on digital learning. From there, I learned Python and data analytical skills. Seeing that just a few lines of code could tell such intricate stories from data through visualizations, models, and graphs amazed me, especially the disparities I noticed across regions with varying economic conditions. We found that the areas with a high percentage of students qualifying for free lunch got impacted the most when the pandemic first hit, and those students had very limited access to online learning platforms. That experience really opened my eyes to how data can be used to understand and solve real-world problems. You can access the project we worked on here.
How did you you first discover WiDS?
I discovered CP Mentorship from being introduced by a friend to attend a free Toastmasters club session hosted by CP Mentorship in 2019, where people got together to practice public speaking and network. From there, I started my first data science project with a fellow student I met through the CP Mentorship program, which also led me to attend the WiDS Stanford Conference in 2023. Being a mentee in CP Mentorship has opened doors to numerous opportunities and helped me realize my potential to grow and make a meaningful impact on my community.
In 2024 at the WiDS Stanford Conference, I had the opportunity to present my paper, “The Impact of COVID-19 on Pediatric Dental Health: a Difference-in-Differences Approach,” during the Poster Blitz session. At the conference, I discovered the vast potential of data science across fields such as science, wellness, technology, and beyond. From there, I became a WiDS ambassador and began organizing various events in collaboration with WiDS.
Have you been involved with WiDS since that first experience? If so, in what way?
Yes. Since spring of 2024, I’ve organized and hosted three WiDS Datathon workshops across multiple cities in Silicon Valley: Cupertino and Santa Clara in 2024, and Alviso (San José) in 2025. I have also invited several friends to join the ambassador program who have since become ambassadors, and supported their participation in the WiDS Datathon competitions in both 2024 and 2025.
How has WiDS made an impact on your life and/or work?
WiDS has connected me with an amazing community of women across many fields in STEM and shown me the endless possibilities of data science. Hearing the personal stories of different women at conferences and networking events has been extremely inspiring for me, and has played a significant role in my decision to pursue data science in college.
What comes next for you? And what are your hopes for women in data science in the future?
I plan to major in Data Science in college and continue promoting data literacy among youth and peers. I hope to keep creating spaces where other young people can work together to explore AI, tech, and data, and build a network of students and professionals who learn from each other and open more doors for the next generation of women in data science.
Interested in becoming a career mentor, or finding one? Sign up below for the WiDS Career Catalyst.