Personal Statement #1

What impact do you want to have on the world and why?

Watching YouTube every day during middle school, I was amazed at how influencers could create videos from just their bedrooms. I was inspired. In hopes of making strangers on the internet laugh, I took my family’s camcorder and started making funny short films myself. After downloading Adobe Premiere, all my free time was spent trying to master the complex program. My skills improved with each film, and I later taught myself the remainder of the Adobe Suite.

In 11th grade, I used these Adobe skills to design a board game for families to come together. Later at University, I became the designer/cofounder of Mezzo (a meeting scheduling platform), so friends can spend their time with each other, rather than planning. In addition to Mezzo, I joined the Executive Team of UW’s Lavin Entrepreneurship Program (under the Foster Business School). My goal as Outreach Director has been to build community and bring people together. This year, I’ve raised the standard from 6 fireside chats per year to over 30.

Being around people you love is such a positive feeling, and that's why ‘community’ has been the core of every project I’ve worked on. It’s such an amazing feeling to brighten someone’s day simply by making a joke or smiling. Laughter is contagious, which is why I want to use Mezzo to help people connect. I might not be able to impact everyone in this world, but at the very least, I want to make those around me laugh every day :)

Photo on the left is with the The Bear Team. Photo in middle is the Mezzo Team. Photo on the right is with the Lavin Executive Team.

Personal Statement #2

Describe your most meaningful experience(s) and why they matter to you.

At the pandemic's peak when everyone felt isolated, I wanted to create something for families to get closer. I assembled a team, and our end product The Bear Game did just that. Our board game was a success: kids loved the eye-catching colors and cute bears, while parents and teens enjoyed the game's strategy.

Growing up, I was unaware of entrepreneurship. Nobody around me had launched any startups. The thought of starting my own business wasn’t present. I always had the mindset to continue the cycle, study to become an engineer like my dad, and stay at a stable company for the rest of my career.

But working on The Bear Game revealed what entrepreneurship really was. I had complete creative freedom. This ownership meant that there was constant problem-solving. No matter how hard I worked, and how much I learned, I could always do more. There was no slacking off or doing the bare minimum to get by. Working on The Bear Game never felt like work—I loved it. From researching UTC barcodes, to child play-testing, to pitching to game stores… our team embraced each new challenge.

This experience allowed me to fall in love with entrepreneurship and stumble into the world of product design. The Bear Game was my own discovery of why I’m pursuing an entrepreneurial career as a designer. In the end, the best feeling wasn’t selling a copy of our game, but seeing people come together, laugh, and create memories through a product I built.

Various photos from The Bear Game.