About Me

STEM Initiative: One thing I'm passionate about is making STEM fields a more welcoming and friendly environment for women and minority groups. I found an opportunity to work towards this cause by volunteering with the University of Rochester's STEM Initiative Club. Every week, we went to a local elementary school and presented a STEM topic with a fun, interactive experiment. The goal is to get kids excited about STEM at a young age, and to inspire them to believe in their own capabilities.

I care a lot about this club, and served as secretary for two terms. As secretary, I coordinated the volunteer events and managed volunteer sign-ups as well as experiment resources. I also coordinated Family Science Day, one of the largest collaborative events on campus. Over 30 clubs and organizations on campus set up a table with a fun science experiment, and we invite members of the community to bring their kids for a full day of science fun.

Sadly, due to COVID, I wasn't able to participate for my last year of college.

It's On Us: Another issue I'm passionate about is making college campuses a safe space for all women. I joined It's On Us: a student board aimed at raising awareness and changing policy related to campus sexual violence. I served as the Social Media manager, and I was responsible for raising awareness on online platforms as well as advertising events. Each semester, I put together a spreadsheet of what I would post on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Each month had a theme, and each week, I would post articles, activities, and food for thought related to the theme of the month. While I'm no longer a part of the club, it's purpose still aligns strongly with my interests, and I hope to help make my workplace inclusive and welcoming whereever I go.

Boys and Girls Club of Rochester: STEM Initiative worked closely with the Boys and Girls Club of Rochester. Through STEM initative, I learned about the club and the services it provides for the community. I occasionally volunteer there, helping the kids with arts and crafts projects and generally hanging out with and supervising them I also donate to them regularly and support what they do for the Rochester Community.

Take 5 Program: My junior year of college, I was awarded a Take 5 scholarship that gave me free tuition for a fifth year of college. The scholarship allowed me to take 8 additional classes relating to a topic I was passionate about, but didn't have time to pursue due to my major coursework. I chose to explore how photography affects and manipulates our perception of the world. Through this scholarship, I took photography, art history, philosophy, and even poetry courses.

One of my favorite classes was Arts and Activism where I explored how art can reframe political events and influence public opinion and social justice movements. We were able to do a photovoice project where we collected photographs and interviews from people in the Rochester community and displayed them in a Rochester wide event called The Reckoning that encouraged people to vote in their 2020 election.

I also took multiple studio art photography courses including an independent study which served as the capstone for my project. Capstones usually end with a gallery of the project, but due to COVID, that wasn't possible. Because of this, I decided to create an interactive website that could be shared with people as part of the project. I learned how to code in HTML in order to create this project, and subsequently decided to make this personal website.

You can view and interact with the project at HOUSE-19

You can view my other work at my Photography Portfolio

Rock Climbing: I get a lot of enjoyment out of challenging myself to try new things and working towards new goals. My junior year of college, a friend introduced me to rock climbing, and I was immediately hooked. There's something so gratifying about getting to the top of a route that you've really struggled on and worked for. I love working on routes outside my comfort zone, overcoming my fears, and watching myself become a stronger, better climber.