Empowerly

Student profile

I always thought I would become a pediatrician until I saw the Big Hero 6 movie. The idea of Baymax, an adorable squishable healthcare robot, inspired me and ignited my interest in robotics and artificial intelligence.

When I joined the robotics club, I found myself imagining healthcare applications for the mechanisms we were working on. The robot’s long arm that extended over the two foot wall translates to a robot arm that grabs supplies for patients. The mecanum wheel intake system translates to an efficient medicine retriever. The endless possibilities of technology to revolutionize medicine excite me and I know this is a field I want to pursue.

The Threads program at Georgia Tech offers the perfect opportunity to combine my interests in AI and robotics. I would pursue the Computing and Intelligence thread to gain technical skills to understand computational intelligence. Computing and People will help me become versed in topics such as psychology and cognitive science, essential to creating intelligent and caring robots to help people. Weaving together these two threads or even a third possibility, Computing and Devices, will give me the necessary background to help create my own real-life Baymax. I would love to work with Professor Charles Isbell whose pfunk research group’s goal of creating artificial systems that work with humans aligns with my Baymax aspirations.  

Finally, as an aspiring female computer scientist, I appreciate the growing proportion of women in the faculty and I hope to join the Women, Science, and Technology Learning Community. (250)

In your application review, we want to get to know you better. One way to do that is to understand a typical day for you. Describe your typical day?

Every morning at 7:00 AM, I awake to my puppy scratching my blanket and playfully biting my fingers. After getting ready, I walk to school where I pass through the neighborhood park and see several puppies frolicking. I can’t help but smile. I love dogs. 

At school, I look forward to my Speech class because I can work on my public speaking. By braving through 5 minute speeches and practicing eye contact, tone, and rate, my self-confidence has grown. I used to stress over class presentations, but I now see them as opportunities to improve. 

During lunch, I go to meditation club with my friends Neha and Justin. I would love to join the Meditation Club at Georgia Tech. Meditation helps me relax and refocus. After school, I attend robotics club meetings before heading home to run with my dog. 

Some nights, I tutor my Junior friend Anureet, who I’ve been mentoring since we volunteered together at the hospital two years ago. I then have dinner with my family where we discuss our days, and I’m usually left alone since I’m a slow eater. I take this opportunity to watch some of my favorite shows, like Grey’s Anatomy. 

For the rest of the night, I chat with friends, work on homework, and write college application essays. To develop fluency, I listen to Spanish podcasts or to my “espanol” playlist on Spotify as I lay in bed. On Fridays, I teach a coding class at a local after school program.