In the start of a new half, the score is always zero-zero. I knew making the team last year meant nothing now. As I ran down the endless path along the Hudson River, I was faced with my final challenge at the yearly lacrosse tryouts. This was the same mile that got me cut from soccer the year before. I had watched in envy as the soccer girls flaunted their new pinnies, while I felt unwelcome--so I closed myself off....

As a safe place for thought, Columbia welcomes students by exposing them to new experiences, such as tutoring kids in Harlem. My environment in Chinatown shelters me in both good and bad ways. I long to explore Harlem, which I imagine shelters kids in similar ways. Columbia offers a third environment between these two worlds, creating a bridge. Reading Twelve Angry Men in 6th grade was the first time I realized the justice system doesn’t always serve the best...

My first memorable encounter with computers was through my high school computer science class--staying up late to debug my homework, and feeling immense gratification after my code ran smoothly. As homework got harder, I’d visit The Dojo, a computer lab in school, where the “senpais” (TAs) explained solutions. I viewed them as mentors and became one when I was selected to be a senpai this year. I also joined the Girls Who Code chapter at my school and, again,...

Despite all the social progress that has been made, our society is still plagued by gender inequalities. I am a Girls Who Code mentor and on the first meeting of my school’s chapter, in a room full of girls, I asked, “How many of you have felt like the dumbest person in the class?” Every hand in the room rose. This is called imposter syndrome, when people think they are never good enough, and it is most prevalent in...