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On my desk sits a five-subject notebook. It has neither a front nor a back cover as a consequence of the wear it has endured in my backpack. Diagrams, equations, and small-print notes sprawl across the pages. Two sections are dedicated to academics, whether in my high school, at my local community college, or self-studying AP Chemistry and AP Computer Science A. One section is used for tutoring. While I help others understand math, they show me new perspectives on even simple

I’ve been using Desmos not only as a graphing calculator to build tools and games, but also as an opportunity to interact with people who share my passions. The Desmos Discord server is a place where people with different levels of experience ask questions, share creative projects, and give and receive feedback. Through those interactions, I’ve found how much our community appreciates learning with others. One of the things I admire most about the Desmos community is that it

The word “ cleave ” fascinates me. It can mean to split apart or to cling tightly together. The same word describes both separation and attachment. For a long time, that contradiction felt uncomfortably familiar. Growing up, I was both deeply rooted in my family and always on the edge of leaving it. I spent much of my childhood helping care for my grandfather, learning how to tube-feed him, reposition him, and stay calm when things went wrong. Responsibility anchored me ear

One of my everyday challenges has been navigating cultural differences with my mother, a first-generation immigrant who holds tightly to the traditions she grew up with. In her culture, parents feel deeply responsible for their children’s lives, and discipline is an expression of love. Still, I often resisted when that love felt like control over my personal choices. Over time, we learned to meet each other in the middle. She began to trust my decisions, and I learned when to

Before we meet, there are a few things about me that might make living together easier, and maybe a little entertaining. First, I love walking and biking in light rain. Drizzly weather makes the world feel quieter, almost like nature is whispering. If the sky turns soft and blurred, don’t be surprised if I ask whether you want an umbrella-free walk or a slow bike ride to reset our minds. Second, you’ll probably hear me talking to my bird, Irah. She weighs 90 grams but acts li

“Mom, are you sure this is a baby? It’s just a Button-no arms, no legs.” My sister named me “Button” after my first ultrasound. My grandmother, unable to pronounce it, shortened it to “Tin.” Following Chinese tradition, my nickname doubled into “TinTin.” Over time, “TinTin” became the bell my mother rang whenever she worried. In answering, I discovered who TinTin truly was. “TinTin, what’s the difference between rare and rear? Why can’t I tell chicken from kitchen?” I became

Recreational Math Activity: In addition to courses and competitions, I often think and find content online about math problems independently. In my 5-subject notebook, two of the subjects are dedicated to recreational math and physics problems and proofs, most of which I came up with. I independently explore recreational problems and proofs I come up with. I enjoy the problem-solving process, dead ends and all, even if I can’t solve them. I’ve stumbled across many ideas I now

I’d teach Selected Topics in Pure Mathematics. The main math track skips many topics I love, such as fractal dimension, integrating techniques, and paradoxes, and it would be nice to organize them.

I tend to get distracted by origins. When a formula or algorithm appears in front of me, my instinct is not to memorize it, but to trace it back to first principles and ask whether it could be built differently. I am drawn to the moment when an idea feels inevitable rather than imposed—when structure emerges from reasoning instead of rules. That instinct came alive during an engineering project on voice-controlled windshield wipers. While working on a control-system problem,

Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory has fascinated me ever since middle school, when I first started wondering what mathematics is built on. As I learned how theorems depend on earlier results, I kept asking myself where the chain begins. I doubted it was turtles all the way down. Eventually, a YouTube video introduced me to Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory. Its simplicity surprised me: a small collection of axioms, carefully chosen, powerful enough to support nearly all of modern mathema