Throughout my life, I have made several decisions that have required me to let go of my past accomplishments and reassess who I am. Each time taking on new challenges, I've realized that my accomplishments do not fully define me and that I am capable of continuing to grow and achieve my goals, even in the face of setbacks and failures. Through these experiences, I have discovered what truly belongs to me - my resilience, determination, and belief in myself. These qualities have allowed me to persevere and continue striving for the excitement and fulfillment I desire.

Growing up, I refused to accept the limitations others were trying to place on me. In secondary school, I was told by my teachers that girls didn't need to excel in math, and I was determined to prove them wrong. Three months later, I scored perfectly in math and rose to the top of my school overall. But that was just the beginning. When my dad suggested I take the easy route and get a diploma in management, I refused. Instead, I applied to study science and engineering, something I had always been passionate about. Six months later, I received an offer from Imperial to study engineering, finishing high school a year early and committing to university.

It wasn't until I got to university that I encountered another challenge. My fellow students believed it was impossible to balance our major courses with non-credit computer science courses, and gave up on the idea of exploring AI. But I was not convinced, and I set out to prove them wrong. I devoted myself to learning math and statistics for machine learning, reaching out to the computing department to attend AI courses and participating in a series of competitions to hone my practical skills. And one year later, my efforts paid off, as I received offers from both the industry for data mining and the computer science department for a research assistant position.

Throughout my journey, I have always been motivated by the desire to prove others wrong and to achieve my own goals. As I work on creating AI-enabled applications, I have found a sense of fulfillment that goes beyond just the technical challenges. It is the AI's most valuable gift to me. The awe and gratitude of the users who benefit from my work gives me a sense of purpose, and the respect I have earned in the workplace, regardless of my gender and identity, is something I am deeply proud of. AI has become a source of joy and inspiration for me, and I am grateful to have found something that allows me to easily enter a ‘flow state’ and feel truly alive.