In May of 2024, I started the Software Development and Network Engineering (SDNE) program at Sheridan College. I've picked up so many new competencies -- functional programming in Python; OOP in Java; exposure to JavaScript frameworks; navigating the CLI; writing boto scripts for AWS services; and so much more! With the passing of every semester, I only grow more excited for the challenges to come.

Started learning Python for fun and absolutely fell in love. Learning coding had me waking up everyday excited to be alive!! I made the obvious decision to embark on this new journey full-time and go back to school at 30 years old!

Post-COVID and post-AI, my tutoring business was rapidly winding down; my Airbnbs were fully automated. I wasn't sure what my next steps would be... I decided to take a couple of months to travel in Asia & visit my grandparents.

Thanks to COVID, I was able to save up seed money from my first business to buy assets & start an Airbnb business. I designed & renovated three properties -- from furnishing to patching drywall to laying flooring!

As soon as I graduated, my tutoring business absolutely exploded when COVID hit due to high demand and shifting landscape for online learning. It wasn't time for me to let it go just yet!

Following two semesters of course work, I secured a 6-month internship at the UNICEF headquarters in NYC, working with the UN Girls' Education Initiative. It was an incredible experience to be able to partake in global policy-making at the high-level arena.

A couple years later, I started my MA in Global Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs! During my time there, I was particularly interested in investigating intersectional deprivation (i.e., poverty & gender equality). I completed my master's research paper on the indicators which measure deprivation from a gender-reponsive perspective.

After graduating, I continued running my steadily growing tutoring business, but knew that I wanted to pursue further education in global affairs & international development...

In my final years of uni, I found an intense passion for global affairs. I took one human geography course and was hooked & decided to minor in geography! I went on a summer exchange/internship program to Kenya, and the experience completely shifted my perspective my own privilege and duty as a global citizen.

I quickly realized that I wasn't crazy about becoming an investment banker... but something I did discover to be extremely rewarding through school was helping others. In my third year, my friends encouraged me to start a tutoring business, leveraging my bi-lingual language skills to help Chinese international students.

When I was 17, I had no idea what I should do with my life. I had always excelled at maths and physics; I loved problem-solving; but I also lived for creative self-expression. As a young girl, I chose to go into finance.