On July 25th 2021, AYLUS held the first national conference. Chapel Hill Branch member Alyssa Yuan participated in all of the eight sessions. Please find her report below.
Finance/Business Panel
Our speakers for the finance/business panel: Ms. Boyd, Mr. Chou, Ms. Zhi, and Ms. Gan started off by discussing their pathways throughout their careers, essentially landing them where they are now. Ms. Boyd is a recent 2020 graduate of NYU. However, during these unprecedented times, it was difficult for her to find a job as many businesses and companies were in the middle of a hiring freeze. Thankfully, she was able to obtain an interview from Goldman Sachs and later found a job there. Right out of undergrad, Mr. Chou joined a startup that focused on and developed surveillance technology that integrated imaging systems for detection and surveillance. Afterward, Mr. Chou decided to go to business school and later on had the opportunity to join a venture firm that he has been in for about four years now. Ms. Zhi is a first-generation immigrant who studied and majored in English in China. After coming to the U.S., Ms. Zhi studied and got a master’s degree in linguistics. However, Ms. Zhi needed to do something that could help her find a job so she found and decided to join a one-year accounting program. Following the program, Ms. Zhi was offered an intern position at a fairly large accounting firm that later provided her with a permanent job. She claims that at the beginning of her career she found no interest in taxing and accounting, it just felt like an ordinary job to her. However, as she grew and learned more in the taxing and accounting field, she gradually started to gain interest. Ms. Zhi then decided to move on to industry jobs in Silicon Valley and has been with the Electronics Arts company for more than 10 years. Ms. Gan started off with a market risk role with the chief investment office in JP Morgan. Through this experience, Ms. Gan was able to build and expand her professional interest and expertise. Soon after, she was offered a pricing role where she was capable of delivering her product knowledge as well as her technical skills. Of course, for everyone to get to where they are now, they had to overcome some obstacles that came up along the way. Ms. Gan stated that it was a challenge for her to learn everything that she needed for work fairly quickly. In addition, learning to prioritize was an issue till she started making prioritization lists based on expectations from her manager. Since Ms. Boyd had experience and a background in politics rather than business, it was hard for her to find finance/business-related jobs. Mr. Chou said that there was no set career path while working as a venture capitalist, therefore, there was a lot of applying to different roles and speaking to different people as he wasn’t always sure what he wanted to do. Ms. Zhi claimed that she had a lack of training on the law side and since laws and regulations are always updating, it can be difficult to catch up. Thank you, Ms. Boyd, Mr. Chou, Ms. Zhi, and Ms. Gan for taking time out of your busy schedules to come!
Med/Healthcare Panel
Our speakers for the medical/healthcare panel were Dr. Charney and Dr. Xiu. Dr. Charney is currently a professor at NYU, educating medical students in nephrology. Additionally, Dr. Charney does clinical research and trials to study drugs in hopes of curing a vast number of different kidney problems and diseases, as well as getting approval for these drugs from the FDA. Dr. Xiu is a clinical translational scientist who focuses on cancer biology, or more specifically, seeking treatment options for cancer through gene sequencing to find molecular mistakes in tumors. She is able to achieve this by looking at and comparing data from a wide range of previous patients. Both Dr. Charney and Dr. Xiu continued by discussing what success looks like to them while working on a daily basis. Dr. Xiu claimed that early on in her career, she measured her success fairly based on things like how many papers she published, how many presentations she had the opportunity to give, if she was the first or second author in a paper, etc. However, as she continued to grow as a clinical translational scientist, Dr. Xiu felt successful whenever she felt a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment, as she was able to help and contribute to a deeper understanding of science and medicine. Dr. Charney felt that having an influence on other people, anywhere from younger medical students’ future careers to his patients’ health, was his biggest success. In addition, loving his job and waking up excited to go to work every day is also what Dr. Charney sees as a success. Following this, Dr. Charney and Dr. Xiu spoke about the specific skill set needed in order to pursue a career in their fields. Both of them agreed that having an interest in science is very important, however, Dr. Xiu indicated that strong communication and public speaking skills are equally as important for her job. Finishing off the discussion, Dr. Charney emphasized a piece of encouraging advice for those of us that want to go down the pre-med track during college. He said that, contrary to belief, if you are considering going to medical school, you can major and study in a different field that you’re interested in, apart from a branch in science during your college years. In fact, he stated that almost 50% of incoming medical students chose to major in something other than science. Thank you so much, Dr. Charney and Dr. Xiu for taking time out of your day to come!
Law Panel
Our speakers for the law panel today are Mr. Lin and Ms. Cohen. Mr. Lin is a corporate lawyer at Cooley who mainly works with venture capital firms which are basically firms with a lot of money looking to invest in startups. Ms. Cohen currently works at Hershman Cohen which she founded herself with her husband. She works with small businesses by either raising money to help them grow, helping them with day-to-day contract needs or helping with mergers and acquisitions which is essentially when companies buy and sell other companies. Both Mr. Lin and Ms.Cohen have a pretty similar skill set needed; being able to express thoughts clearly, being a people person, being an enthusiastic and analytical thinker, and being able to write a lot. Ms. Cohen especially emphasized the point of being a people person and being nice to everybody you meet by revealing a personal encounter her husband had. Ms. Cohen’s husband had met a young man from India at his previous firm and was super nice and worked with him. It turned out that this young man’s family had a huge software company back in India and when he moved back to India, they wanted to start buying companies and doing business in the U.S. His family asked him if he met any good lawyers in the U.S. that they should work with and the young man mentioned Ms. Cohen’s husband. This opportunity ended up opening many doors for Ms. Cohen’s husband and substantially helped him get successful and to where he is now. A day in the life for Mr. Lin looks like having frequent meetings with clients to help them make the best decisions for their business as well as speaking with lawyers that represent the other side. A day in the life of Ms. Cohen looks very similar to Mr. Lin’s, however, she also does a lot of writing on a daily basis. Both Mr. Lin and Ms. Cohen gave us some tips and advice on what we can do right now to prepare for a future in law. Ms. Cohen suggested taking on some internship opportunities that deal with law or shadowing lawyers is also super helpful. Mr. Lin recommended speaking to as many lawyers as you can whether it’s online or in-person but also make sure that you have two things in common with them as it makes conversation much easier. Thank you Mr. Lin and Ms. Cohen for coming to talk to us about law today!
STEM Panel
Our speakers for the STEM panel, Mr. Shi and Ms. Yang started off the conference with a brief introduction. Mr. Shi is currently a hardware engineer who has been working on anything from semiconductors to consumer electronics to self-driving cars with different companies for the past twenty years. Ms. Yang is a recent graduate of Stanford University who focused on mathematics and computer science. Now, she is a software engineer in machine learning at Facebook where she is able to work with her team to measure how effective ads are. Of course, along the journey of becoming an engineer, there were some challenges that both Mr. Shi and Ms. Yang had to overcome. One of the biggest challenges for Mr. Shi was making the decision to move from Phoenix, AZ, to Bay Area, CA. Not only was there huge financial pressure on his family, as California is an expensive place to live, it also forced Mr. Shi’s wife to look for a new job. Additionally, Mr. Shi’s kids were compelled to readjust to a new environment and attend new schools as well as find new friends. A common misconception of being a hardware engineer is that they are considered “low tech.” In reality, there are many different aspects to being a hardware engineer, including a deep understanding across materials like physics, mechanics, optics, etc. One obstacle Ms. Yang had to face was constantly fighting the imposter syndrome; basically, a feeling where you think everybody around you is ahead of you and achieving much more than you. A misbelief of being a software engineer is that people in this field are all technology nerds, however, the software engineering field is very expansive with so many diverse people along with diverse personalities, thoughts, and ideas. Naturally, with challenges, there also comes success. Mr. Shi expressed that he feels a sense of success whenever he is able to delight his customers. Furthermore, managing to cut down costs anywhere from labor to materials, is always viewed as a success to Mr. Shi. To Ms. Yang, success isn’t perceived by your accomplishments but rather by what kind of position you are in. Thank you, Mr. Shi and Ms. Yang for joining us today in the STEM panel!
Personal Branding and Networking Workshop
For our personal branding and networking panel, Stephanie, a UC Berkeley student majoring in computer science spoke to us about her experiences with personal branding and networking as well as the benefits and a quick run-through of how to get started ourselves. Stephanie started off by explaining why personal branding matters and why it’s so important. Personal branding can help build your reputation and grow your network, increase your opportunities, and boost both your confidence and your organization’s brand. She proceeded by discussing the benefits that come as a result of personal branding including public recognition, connections with others, and being able to help those connected with you. Following personal branding, Stephanie introduced networking in addition to one of the largest networking platforms, LinkedIn, a great resource when you’re networking because of its complex algorithm that is designed to simultaneously spread your posts outside your network and reach your desired audience. Not only does LinkedIn help you reach a large audience, it’s also a great place to share sophisticated thoughts and help you stand out, as less than 1% of LinkedIn users create content. Even though LinkedIn is the ideal platform for networking, there are many others like Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok, and Youtube, each with unique benefits that can also help contribute to your networking experience. Networking is beneficial for a variety of uses including high school to gain insights and support in academics, career development, job searching, etc. Stephanie concluded this session by giving a short guide of how to get started yourself:
- Figure out who you are
- Determine what you want to be known for
- Define your audience
- Research your desired industry and follow the experts
- Learn about your niche
- Prepare an elevator pitch (“a short description of an idea, product, or company that explains the concept in a way such that any listener can understand it in a short period of time.”)
Scientific Research Panel
Our speakers for the scientific research panel: Ellen, John, Wenjun, and Lucy are all high school and college students who have had extensive research in different fields of science and have impacted the future of science. Ellen did her research in the translational medicine category where she studied ways to early diagnose Kawasaki disease, a rare heart condition. Her research was largely inspired by her sister who was misdiagnosed for the flu at first, due to its rarity and wide range of symptoms, but then was successfully re-diagnosed with Kawasaki later. John focused his research on tackling the cocktail party problem, which is basically when you’re at a restaurant and can’t hear the person in front of you because of all the background noise. The cocktail party problem is made worse for those with a hearing aid because of its hardware limitations. As a result, John and his friend developed software that could help counteract this issue. John was motivated to create this software to help those in need of a hearing aid because his father has always had trouble with hearing and utilizes a hearing aid to help him. Wenjun’s project was in the domain of quantum computing where he worked with a professor to develop a quantum algorithm that solves knapsack problems. His idea was inspired by a fellow colleague’s paper which used Grover’s algorithm to solve the graph coloring problem. Lucy’s research was in the category of biomedical health sciences where she concentrated on using natural chemicals like curcumin and capsaicin extracted from plants to tackle cancer cells but with minimally invasive side effects since common ways of treating cancer cells, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and the surgical removal of a tumor, usually end up affecting healthy tissue around the cancer cells. Lucy was influenced to conduct this research after a close relative was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and when she went grocery shopping for medication, she noticed that many medications included curcumin, a natural anti-inflammatory compound, as an ingredient. Following introductions of themselves and their projects, Ellen, John, Wenjun, and Lucy spoke on tips when doing a research project. Everybody agreed that having a storyline of why you decided on your research problem is key. Additionally, Ellen commented that if you treat it as a place to get feedback rather than a competition, it can make the journey much easier. Thank you, Ellen, John, Wenjun, and Lucy for talking to us about scientific research today!
Community Service Panel
Our speakers for the community service panel were Michelle and Jack. Michelle was a former AYLUS member who was a co-founder of the Columbus branch as well as the national AYLUS president in her senior year of high school. She strived to achieve 100-200 volunteer hours per year. Jack was very involved and dedicated to his community during his high school years as he volunteered at his local government, brought in speakers to educate and spread awareness to the youth on common problems in society, and even started a non-profit organization directed towards helping and preparing youth in their future careers. He claims that his volunteer hours add up to a couple hundred each year. Following their brief introductions, Michelle and Jack gave us a few words of advice and encouragement for getting started on volunteering. Jack emphasized an important point and that is to look at your passions and try to correlate them with your volunteer work, as time goes by a lot faster when you’re doing something you’re passionate about. An example of this would be if you’re passionate about keeping a clean community and environment, you might go to a local park and pick up trash. Michelle mentioned that volunteering with friends and at events where she could see herself making an impact really helped her when she first started. Of course, in order to get started, you need to find some opportunities. So, Michelle and Jack finished off the discussion by speaking about a few approaches when exploring opportunities. A few strategies brought up included finding inspiration from other AYLUS branches, cold emailing, and reaching out to local non-profit organizations. Thank you Michelle and Jack for taking the time to educate us about the volunteering process!
College Applications Panel
College application season is one of the most stressful yet inevitable times of a high school student’s life. So, today our speakers (all college students from some of the top prestigious schools in the country) Sasha, Areeb, Kaylee, and Sung spoke to us on advice and tactics that helped them get through the college application season. Since there are typically numerous highly qualified contenders for very few spots at top elite schools, it is crucial to stand out on your application. Hence, Sasha, Areeb, Kaylee, and Sung shared what they did on their application to help stand out to admission officers. All four of them pretty much agreed that having a very genuine application that showed who they were definitely helped them stand out. In addition, Kaylee commented that connecting her extracurriculars to her application as well as adding a personal touch also helped her. Following, our speakers were asked what they would’ve done differently if they had to go through the college application process again. Every single person emphasized that they would’ve definitely managed their time better in addition to starting their essays way earlier to reduce stress. College essays are one of the best ways to show admission officers your true self, not to mention one of the main parts of your application. Thus, Areeb and Sung shared their opinions and recommendations on essay writing. Areeb suggested starting the summer before your senior year begins as you have a lot more time during the summer and won’t be stressed out with school going on. Sung basically said the same thing but also mentioned that since common app essay topics stay the same every year, it’s a good idea to write them asap. In fact, he stated that starting in freshman year and revising/editing it as time goes on wouldn’t be a bad idea. Besides writing college essays, many of them also had to write essays when applying for scholarships. Sasha recommended applying to as many small scholarships as possible rather than larger ones as they’re much easier to win since fewer people apply to them. Sung advised us to reuse scholarship essays as they will save you a bunch of time in the long run plus allow you to apply to scholarships much more efficiently. With all the stress buildup during college application season, it can be extremely easy to lose motivation quickly. So, finishing off the discussion, Sung explained that thinking about his peers working hard motivated him to stay on track and keep working. Thank you, Sasha, Areeb, Kaylee, and Sung for coming to talk to us about college applications today!
Total participated hours: 7 hours
Reported by: Alyssa Yuan