2026

This past year at UC was a really big adjustment for me. When I first came here as a freshman studying Computer Science, I was honestly pretty quiet. I usually just preferred sitting behind my laptop screen, working on coding projects by myself. But being in the University Honors Program made me step out of my comfort zone in ways I did not expect. It made me realize that being a good student is not just about hiding in a room and writing code. I also need to learn how to talk to people, handle real responsibilities, and see how the things I build actually affect the real world.

On the school side, I tried to work on some really hard coding projects that actually scared me at first. Instead of just doing the basic homework assignments, I spent a lot of late nights figuring out how to make a fraud detection system using Graph Neural Networks. I also trained a 12-layer AI text model from scratch on Kaggle using a couple of GPUs, and spent weeks learning a language called Rust to move huge amounts of data into a cloud system. There were so many times my code crashed or my computer ran out of memory. I had to just sit there, feel frustrated, and slowly figure out how to fix the bugs and tweak the settings. Getting through those annoying moments taught me not to give up so easily and showed me that I can handle hard technical problems if I just stay patient.

But my biggest growth this year did not even happen alone at my keyboard. It happened when I had to work with other people and pitch my ideas. A huge highlight was winning 2nd prize in the P&G Crest Innovation Challenge. I had to come up with new, on-the-go oral care ideas like Oral Pods and Aligner Mists and pitch them in just five minutes, explaining how they would actually help people. Competing in a cybersecurity contest called Capture Ohio '26 with my teammates was also a big turning point. We had to talk and solve problems together under a lot of time pressure, and our team got 21st place out of 68 teams. These successes gave me the confidence to apply for club officer roles. Next year, I am going to be the Treasurer for ACM and the Director of Sponsorship for the CubeCats satellite project. Taking on these roles is pretty scary since I have always been on the shy side, but I know it's exactly what I need to do to become better at public speaking and leading teams.

Even outside of computers, taking the honors trip to Savannah, Georgia, with UC International and the iPALS program in March was an amazing experience. Traveling with a group of students from all different backgrounds helped me learn how to listen to different points of view. It reminded me that the programs I want to build in the future are ultimately meant to help real people, not just run on machines.

Looking forward, my main goal for next year is to find a good software or AI/ML co-op job for the fall where I can use all this hands on practice. I also want to focus on doing a great job managing the money for ACM and finding companies to help fund the CubeCats project. I am really thankful for my friends, teammates, and parents who helped me stay on track this year, and I am excited to keep building my confidence in 2027.