It all started with a dubious drawing of a whale. 

I was five, and the anatomy was inexplicable—but I remember the thrill when my parents recognized it. That creative impulse followed me into a rigorous, STEM-oriented Ivy League feeder school, where I thrived until I didn’t.

Burnout (and the pandemic) hit hard. But alongside chem labs and calculus, I quietly pursued art—attending an extracurricular studio program and earning an Honorable Mention from YoungArts for photography. That was a turning point.

In a deliberate act of rebellion, I chose to attend New York University Tisch.

There, surrounded by the creative energy of my peers and New York itself, my instincts flourished. My work has since been exhibited internationally, from the Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum to online showcases by the Museum of Contemporary Digital Art and Niio.

The STEM-fueled discipline never left me, though. It led me to add a second major in Integrated Design & Media at NYU Tandon and a minor in Business of Entertainment, Media & Technology at Stern.

Outside the classroom, I worked as a gallery and digital media assistant at Bruce Silverstein Gallery and freelanced as a photographer, producing campaigns for clients like DIOR and individual social media creatives.

Lately, I’ve been shifting how I think about success—not as output or achievement, but as sustainability and creative clarity. I still work hard, but I’m learning to protect the part of me that started with that whale: curious, messy, and excited to make something that matters.

I pivoted from STEM to photography and adopted creative technology afterwards