Reflection on the G.O.A.L.S. for my Honors Contract :)

Global Awareness

So far, I’ve cultivated my appreciation for diversity and different cultures through my French and English courses. For example, this semester (SP21), I am taking French 5403, a course on Albert Camus. I learned a lot about Algeria and its political situation with France, and I also gained exposure to Algerian music and films. Before this class, I knew actually nothing about Algerian politics and culture. Another way I’ve developed my global awareness is through participating in cultural student organizations and events. Last year, I went to Taste of OSU, which introduced me to foods from all around the world, and I also went to watch Dancing with J2K, which introduced me to K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop dance. Moreover, I attended Chinese Conversation and Culture Club, where I learned about current fashion trends and education in China, as well as ancient traditions such as calligraphy. I even got to try writing some calligraphy with a brush and ink.

To further develop my global awareness, I plan on studying abroad at the University of Laval in Québec City, Canada through one of the programs offered by OSU’s Office of International Affairs. I hope to use my STEP money for this experience. Another study abroad opportunity I’m considering is the English Department’s literary locations trip in May.

 

Original Inquiry

Last September, I joined Dr. Chris Stewart’s ReRout Lab, and I’ve had the awesome opportunity of working with his Ph.D. student, Eduardo Romero. Currently, I am still working with Eduardo on the same project involving speeding up inference times for random forests, but this project should be wrapping up soon. Additionally, in summer 2020, I participated in the Polymath REU and in an informal research project involving Lean theorem prover. At Polymath REU, I worked with mathematics students across the world. My group worked on the Explorer-Director game (a two-player game on a graph) with Dr. Pat Devlin from Yale, Dr. Abigail Raz from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Dr. Erin Meger from University of Montréal. This experience was my first math research experience, and afterwards, I had the opportunity to co-present our work with Jonah Allen Nan from the University of Michigan. We gave a talk at OSU’s Young Mathematician’s Conference, and I also worked with him, Mohammed Lotfi from Topala, and Elaine Danielson from University of Florida on a poster presentation for the 2021 Joint Mathematics Meetings. Furthermore, I worked with Elaine on a poster presentation for the 2021 Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics. For my informal project with Lean, I joined the Xena Summer Project group led by Dr. Kevin Buzzard at Imperial College London. I learned how to use Lean by first playing through the Natural Number Game (proving the beginning of Math 4181H in Lean), then I decided to explore happy numbers. This led to my small contribution to Mathlib’s digits API, where I formally showed that a natural number with equal or more digits is at least as large. Later, I revisited Lean during winter break 2021 and created Tower of Hanoi and Fifteen (the puzzle game) in Lean.

Moreover, since coming to OSU, I’ve realized I love writing and thinking about literature (shockingly… this would’ve been 100% unfathomable to my high school self. Thanks Dr. Galvan!). I went to the undergraduate English research panel hosted by the English department, and I hope to further pursue this interest through courses that involve research papers or creative production. I’d like to try a creative writing course before I graduate, and I’ll be taking a digital media class for my IMME major, too (hopefully it involves Arduino again or Photoshop when I have the chance to take it). Maybe I’ll try doing a thesis, but I’m currently pretty blank on ideas, and I’m already planning to do another project in computer science with Chris and Eduardo.

 

Academic Enrichment

My Honors contract and four year plan aligns with my interests in computer science, mathematics, French, and English, eventually concentrating on my primary interests in theoretical computer science and English literature. I chose to pursue a French minor because I would like to visit a francophone country one day (perhaps through TAPIF, the Teaching Assistant Program in France), and also so I can enjoy francophone literature and cultivate an appreciation for a different culture. I originally started as a computer and information science major because I mostly enjoy coding and am open to software engineering as a career. However, I’m staying in the major because I found Chris and Eduardo’s work very interesting, and I enjoyed learning about operating systems. In addition, my interest in math translates well to the theory focused CSE classes. I decided to double major in the Integrated Major in Mathematics and English because I enjoy both fields and the different challenges and types of thinking they offer. My English coursework will offer a different perspective from my other coursework and improve my writing skills. Although I might go into software engineering after graduation, I do want to go to graduate school and become a professor some day (not sure in what yet). As for my GEs, they mostly concur with my majors and minor. Overall, my planned curriculum allows me to explore my different interests and determine what I’d like to focus on in the future.

 

Leadership Development

I joined the Women’s Chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery at OSU last year, and this year, I served on their executive board as a community outreach coordinator. This experience developed my leadership skills as I had to organize volunteering events and reach out to a diverse population including OSU students, off-campus organizations, K-12 schools, and parents of K-12 students. My involvement with ACM-W aligns with my personal goals of becoming a more confident and clearer communicator and a more proactive member of our community. I had a lot of opportunities to explore my interests before college, and this position allows me to bring some of those opportunities to others.

 

Service Engagement

Last summer, I volunteered for OSU Math Department’s Beyond the Classroom math summer camp. I virtually met with high schoolers and discussed math concepts such as tessellations, polytopes, and Euler characteristic with them, and had them share their own tessellations. I also helped them explore Python Turtle on CoCalc. I hope to volunteer again this summer. Additionally, I’ve been in touch with Monica Delgado Carrillo, the math outreach coordinator, for some ACM-W events, and I hope to take her service course on math outreach in SP22.

As ACM-W’s community outreach coordinator, I organize and participate in volunteering events for K-12 STEM outreach. Through ACM-W, I work with Cool Tech Girls, a non-profit organization in Columbus dedicated to providing STEM opportunities to young girls. This year, we virtually organized the TechnoFashion Design Challenge, a program to teach middle school girls about electronic sewing and Arduino programming. I also organized a virtual Python Turtle workshop where OSU volunteers taught students how to draw a fractal tree in Python using Turtle, and I hope to host this workshop again next fall. Working with Sara Miskus, Bhavya Jayashankar, Milly Mason, and Jing George (other ACM-W eBoard members), I wrote a grant proposal for the Ford College Community Challenge to fund our Makey Makey: Unleash Your Creativity program to pair OSU mentors with middle school students. We won the grant and held a mini program this spring, where OSU mentors worked with students to create STEM projects using the Makey Makey kits that we provide and the coding language Scratch. This program is meant to be recurring, so I will plan to organize this again for the fall. Moreover, I worked with Joy Voorhees from 4-H’s Whetstone chapter for their two National Science Day events, where OSU volunteers virtually met with 4-H students to explore Scratch. I will continue these events for next academic year, as well as our annual Code I/O Scratch programming event that we jointly hold with OHI/O. For next year, I am planning to collaborate with Texas Instruments to host an event where students can program their own calculator-piloted rover.

Moreover, I joined OSU Pen Pals this semester as a volunteer to write letters to elementary school students in Columbus City Schools. This was a very fun experience, and I will continue to volunteer next semester in AU21.

About Me

 

 

Hello! I’m Angela Li and I’m intending to major in Computer and Information Science and to minor in French. In the future, I would like to study abroad in either a French-speaking or Chinese-speaking country. Furthermore, I’m interested in art and I love using Photoshop and Blender during my free time. I also play tennis and enjoy going to the gym.

G.O.A.L.S.

Currently, I am engaged in the first three letters of goals. For global awareness, I am taking French and in the future, I am planning on continuing my studies to obtain a minor. Outside of coursework, I love attending events such as the Study Abroad Expo, the Asian culture fair hosted by APIDA, and the culture fair outside of Hagerty Hall. If I find the time, I would like to join French Club or some other francophone club, or a club to speak Chinese and explore Chinese culture. Perhaps in October, I will attend an organization that cooks and enjoys Chinese cuisine. Within the next four years, I would like to study abroad in a francophone country. Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to join a May trip to France or maybe to Quebec. Even outside of the opportunities that OSU offers, I am speaking to native French speakers through Snapchat to practice my French and to gain a better understanding of French culture. I also keep in contact with my relatives in China to better understand Chinese culture and my identity.

Considering original inquiry, I have recently joined an undergraduate computer science research opportunity presented by Dr. Stewart. Although I’m not doing original research since I don’t have the skills yet, I am building on those skills by reading and analyzing published research papers. If I enjoy this experience, I hope to further pursue research and maybe pursue a PhD. If I continue with research, I would like to study computer graphics and animation or agriculture and the environment.

As for academic enrichment, I’m currently taking challenging courses such as honors English, mathematics, and French. Even with general education requirements, I would like to challenge myself and to dive deeper into and explore a variety of topics. Right now, I am also a part of ACM-W, a computer science student organization, and EcoCar, a student organization that competes in a challenge to make a car more fuel-efficient. Both of these organizations help me build upon my communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills. I’m learning more about networking, programming, and different branches of computer science such as cybersecurity and machine learning. I chose computer and information science as my major because I’ve always loved computer science. Combined with my love for art, I would like to specialize in computer graphics, animation, and game design. Additionally, I would like to take courses in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Moreover, I want to minor in French because I want to have a more fulfilling experience in the future when I visit a francophone country.

As for leadership development, I’m applying to various summer computer science internships. Hopefully, in the future, I will be able to intern for a company and gain experience working in a team and perhaps even taking charge. Undeniably, I will improve my communication and organization skills, which will aid in my leadership skills. My current undergraduate research opportunity also gives me the chance to present a paper in front of a small audience. This will help me become a better presenter and overall communicator. By developing my presentational and oral communication skills, I am as developing as a leader.

Currently, I am not involved in any continuous community service projects, but in the future, I would like to help with STEM outreach in younger generations. In the past, I helped organize and volunteered at a robotics and engineering workshop for elementary school students. I would love to volunteer my time to get more students interested in STEM through either creating more accessible online educational resources such as educational games or through special in-person events such as high school hackathons and the robotics workshop.