Dear Bronx Science: Recent Episodes
Victoria Li
Matthew Kesselman '15 is a novelist and has published 2 books: Finding Bryan and Buried Vapors. In this episode, we learn how his interest in reading and writing began and what prompted him to write his first novel. We touch on the importance of story telling and owning your narrative. In addition to being a novelist, he is a corporate strategist, having previously worked as a Strategy Analyst at Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. He graduated from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. At Bronx Science, he was the Quiz Bowl President and Vice President of the League of Presidents (LOP). ---Connect with Matthew Kesselman '15--- YouTube: http://youtube.com/user/Matt100020/ ("Matthew Kesselman" on YouTube) Website: matthewkesselman.com Purchase his books here: Finding Bryan and Buried Vapors (or reach out to Matthew for a digital copy) ---Connect with Dear Bronx Science--- Instagram: @dearbronxscience - instagram.com/dearbronxscience Sign up to be a guest: forms.gle/KmSKBQRi9Vujo7M1A Leave a voice message: anchor.fm/dearbronxscience (click on the message icon)
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Jerry Won '01 is a storyteller, brand builder, and community leader. He is the Founder & CEO of Just Like Media, an Asian American storytelling company whose podcast brands include Dear Asian Americans, MBAsians, The Janchi Show, and Asian Podcast Network and have partnered with McDonald's, US Census 2020, and US Dept of Health and Human Services. We learn about his unconventional journey to and from Bronx Science, which ties into why it's important for us to also understand the origin stories of Bronx Science community members. Most importantly on this episode, we discuss the importance of story telling and owning your narrative, especially for Asian Americans. ---Connect with Jerry Won '01--- Jerry's Website: www.jerrywon.com Just Like Media: www.justlikemedia.com Dear Asian Americans: www.justlikemedia.com/show/dear-asian-americans Mentioned by Jerry: Pew Research Report: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/29/key-facts-about-asian-americans/ Dear Asian Americans' #WeAreAPA campaign with McDonald's: https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/en-us/our-stories/article/OurStories.We-Are-APA.html Support Dear Asian Americans: Merch: https://www.bonfire.com/store/dearasianamericans/ Buy Jerry a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jerrywon ---Connect with Dear Bronx Science--- Instagram: @dearbronxscience - instagram.com/dearbronxscience Sign up to be a guest: forms.gle/KmSKBQRi9Vujo7M1A Leave a voice message: anchor.fm/dearbronxscience (click on the message icon) ---#WeCanDoThis COVID-19 Vaccine Campaign--- Find a COVID-19 vaccine near you at Vaccines.gov Dear Bronx Science supports the Department of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 education campaign We Can Do This efforts to increase education and awareness about COVID-19 vaccines. Whether due to language barriers or lack of access to healthcare, many Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders face unique challenges to getting accurate vaccine information. We hope that amplifying these resources, especially in other languages, will help reach and protect our most vulnerable communities. Please visit Vaccines.gov for more information.
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Samama Moontaha '21 is the Editor-in-Chief of the Science Survey and Director of Wolverine TV. Earlier this year, Samama reached out to publish an article on Dear Bronx Science for the Science Survey. On this episode, we're going full circle by sharing Samama's story on the podcast. We learn about her interests in media and why it is important for her to pursue her interest, even if that means steering away from the conventional science path at Bronx Science. Listen to this episode to catch up on what Bronx Science is like for a current senior.
Dear Bronx Science article in the Science Survey: https://thesciencesurvey.com/top-stories/2021/05/02/dear-bronx-science-remember-me-the-podcast-of-victoria-li-12/
---Connect with Samama Moontaha---
Linkedln: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samama-moontaha-723a4318b/
WTV (Wolverine TV): https://www.youtube.com/user/BxSciWolverineTV
Science Survey (newspaper): https://thesciencesurvey.com/
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---#WeCanDoThis COVID-19 Vaccine Campaign---
Find a COVID-19 vaccine near you at Vaccines.gov
Dear Bronx Science supports the Department of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 education campaign We Can Do This efforts to increase education and awareness about COVID-19 vaccines. Whether due to language barriers or lack of access to healthcare, many Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders face unique challenges to getting accurate vaccine information. We hope that amplifying these resources, especially in other languages, will help reach and protect our most vulnerable communities. Please visit Vaccines.gov for more information.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dearbronxscience/message
Ken Katz '86 owns and runs La Bodega Market and Pupuseria in Atlanta with his wife. He's from The Bronx and attended Emory University. On this episode, we explore what Bronx Science was like when Ken was a student. Unsurprisingly, the jokes about a pool on the 4th floor were still thrown around then and we discover that Victoria Li '12 and Ken's experiences at Bronx Science were remarkably similar. This is a great episode to learn about a Bronx Science alumnus' career in hospitality. If you're in Atlanta, check out Ken's restaurant La Bodega!
---Connect with Ken Katz---
La Bodega (Ken's restaurant): www.labodegaatl.com
Article on his restaurant: https://www.ajc.com/things-to-do/atlanta-restaurant-blog/atlanta-orders-in-buenos-dias-cafe-owners-offer-a-pupusa-walk-up-window/DLBZQXJX2ZAALGJZJI4RIAI25Q/
Kosher Guacamole Podcast (Ken and his wife's podcast): https://www.audible.com/pd/Kosher-Guacamole-Podcast/B08K56T9YV
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-katz-1b1b898/
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Anna Bao '13 is the founder of Kleido, which matches early professionals to high school students for career exploration. Anna shares how attending Bronx Science was a fulfillment of her parents' wishes. Despite not getting into Cornell the first time when applying, she perservered and attended Cornell as a transfer student. Through a Cornell mentorship program, she was paired with an alumna and developed a strong mentor relationship with her. With Kleido, Anna is excited to expand mentorship opportunities to high school students and is excited to share her program with the Bronx Science coommunity. If you're a student interested in participating, sign up at kleido.co
---Connect with Anna Bao---
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baoanna/
Medium Article - "What I learned about mentorship as a first-gen student": https://abannabao.medium.com/what-i-learned-about-mentorship-as-a-first-gen-student-f7d1cbafe6c6
Kleido: https://www.kleido.co/
Check out how to sign up for Kleido's beta at the end of this description. Kleido matches early professionals to high school students for career exploration.
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---Get involved with Kledo---
Kleido matches early professionals to high school students for career exploration. They are on a mission to make mentorship and advising more accessible and flexible, curating personal advice from personal experiences.
Their private beta is live and their are currently enrolling students! Sign up at kleido.co and fill out a short questionnaire to participate. Once matched, you will receive a notification from Kleido for a short call with a mentor.
Their are also actively looking for young professionals who would love to share their stories with high school students. If this interests you, please sign up at Kleido.co.
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Navya Voleti '13 is a first-year internal medicine resident physician at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center. She completed a 7-year bachelor of science / doctor of osteopathic medicine (BS/DO) at the New York Institute of Technology. In this episode, Navya shares that in high school, she felt overwhelmed and was worried about her college outcomes. She knew she wanted to be a doctor but was burdened with imposter syndrome. Since then, she has grown into a confident young woman pursuing a career in cardiology. When dealing with imposter syndrome, she advises to have faith and keep at it. While Bronx Science was a challenging experience for her, she looks back on it with appreciation and gratitude.
---Connect with Navya Voleti---
Navya would love to be a resource for you and is happy to connect on topics such as medical school, medical exams, etc. You can message her via the below links.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navya-voleti-d-o-8b85331a6/
Email: nvoleti@nyit.edu
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/innavative/
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Frank Chiang ’13 works in consulting in NYC and graduated from the University of Chicago in 2017 with a degree in economics. On this episode, we discuss our experience of navigating college and consulting with a public school and immigrant family background. Outside of work, Frank is an avid runner and is part of several running clubs. When he was a Bronx Science student, he was part of the Speech team.
---Links for Frank Chiang---
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-chiang/
HS students: Frank mentioned participating in UChicago Splash, where college students teach classes to high school students. Check out other Splash programs at: https://www.learningu.org/current-programs/
Get involved with a running club like Frank: https://www.nyrr.org/GetInvolved/Club?fbclid=IwAR0KsOMjUECaperCM1pCpV_vfY_2FwrnRak6QMzkhz95qje-uur9nfjDzA4
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Juno Lee '15 is a Curriculum Developer at Databricks, a data and AI Company. She began her data science career when she dropped out of college and moved to Denver to attend a data science bootcamp at Galvanize. Outside of work, she hosts a podcast called Two Addys and a Coffee, Please with Nelly Lin '15 (check out Nelly's Dear Bronx Science episode!). While at Bronx Science, she was a part of FeMaidens, an all-girls robotics team. ---Links for Juno Lee--- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/junol/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buddhistgrape/ Two Addys and a Coffee, Please (Website): http://twoaddys.com/ Two Addys and a Coffee, Please (Instagram): @twoaddys - http://instagram.com/twoaddys ---Links for Dear Bronx Science--- Instagram: @dearbronxscience - instagram.com/dearbronxscience Sign up to be a guest: forms.gle/KmSKBQRi9Vujo7M1A Leave a voice message: anchor.fm/dearbronxscience (click on the message icon)
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Hassan Hamade '12 is currently a medical student at Albany Medical College and graduated from Brown University with a degree in biotechnology & physiology. In this episode, we reflect on how the rigor and resources there provided us the stepping stone to achieve greater things. Coming from an immigrant background, we recognized how crucial it was for us to attend Bronx Science so that we could be well-positioned to attend our respective colleges. Hassan also shares how his various internship experiences helped him decide a medical career was where he saw himself in the future. ---Links for Hassan Hamade--- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassan-hamade-4b7a5a88/ ---Links for Dear Bronx Science--- Instagram: @dearbronxscience - instagram.com/dearbronxscience Sign up to be a guest: forms.gle/KmSKBQRi9Vujo7M1A Leave a voice message: anchor.fm/dearbronxscience (click on the message icon)
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Julie Lin '21 is a current student in her senior year at Bronx Science. At school, she runs on the cross country and track team and is the VP of Technology for the National Honor Society. She was recently selected as a Regeneron Science Talent Search 2021 Scholar for her research on vocal development in zebra finches. On this episode, we learn about her journey at Bronx Science, where she grew from a shy student into a leader. Take a listen to catch up on what life is like at Bronx Science for a current student! ---Links for Julie Lin--- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-lin-41b92a1b4/ ---Links for Dear Bronx Science--- Instagram: @dearbronxscience - https://instagram.com/dearbronxscience Sign up to be a guest: https://forms.gle/KmSKBQRi9Vujo7M1A Leave a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dearbronxscience (click on the message icon)
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Nelly Lin '15 is a Senior Associate Product Manager at Wayfair and the co-host of "Two Addys and a Coffee, Please", a podcast in which she and Juno Lee '15 (another Bronx Science alumna!) talk about mental health as 2 Asian American women with ADHD. Nelly graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Economics. In this episode, she shares the importance of being in tune with what you want, which can mean making scary decisions. For her, that meant changing her major senior year and making a career pivot into product management.
---Links for Nelly Lin---
Website: http://nellylin.com/
Two Addys and a Coffee, Please (Website): http://twoaddys.com/
Two Addys and a Coffee, Please (Instagram): @twoaddys - http://instagram.com/twoaddys
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Nicole Calace '12 is a product designer at Facebook and graduated from Cornell in 2012 with a degree in Information Science (Human Centered Design). At Bronx Science, she participated in FeMaidens (All-Female FIRST Robotics team) and was captain during her senior year. In this episode, we reminesce about our time at Bronx Science and how it taught us how to work hard. While that has helped us in our careers, it is also important to be kind to yourself when you transition to new roles or learn new things. Outside of work, Nicole roller skates and this activity has taught her to set reasonable expectations in her career and life. Hope you enjoy this episode as you learn about Nicole's story.
---Links for Nicole Calace---
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolecalace/
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Angela Choi '08 is an International Life Purpose and Career Coach. She helps driven professionals who feel stuck and unfulfilled to discover their purpose so they can have both the impact and income that they want. Her coaching stems from experiences and lessons learned over 10 years of finding her purpose in the corporate, startup and non-profit worlds in the U.S., Africa, Asia and Europe, all whilst dealing with self-judgment, familial pressure and societal expectations.
---Links for Angela Choi---
Website: https://www.angelachoi.co/
Sign up for her FREE guide 6 Steps to Living Your Purpose at www.angelachoi.co/6-steps-to-purpose
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Bhargava Chitti '12 is a resident physician. He graduated both college and medical school from George Washington University. He shares how he overcame adversity and the importance of persistence, from his high school Intel research project almost failing to him repeating his first year of medical school. While these were challenges, he believes failures are stepping stones to greater achievements. We also learn about his love for boba - he hopes to one day have his own boba shop, a place to encourage and welcome others!
---Links for Bhargava Chitti---
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhargava-chitti-513b3869/
Twitter: @BhargavaChitti - https://twitter.com/BhargavaChitti
Instagram: @drbobamd - https://www.instagram.com/drbobamd
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- Timothy Gao '13 graduated from Carnegie Mellon University and currently is a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh. Between college and medical school, he completed a Fulbright teaching English in Taiwan. In this episode, we touch on what he wished he did in high school and how he pushes his comfort zone, from leaving New York City for college to going to live in Taiwan, especially because he hadn’t traveled to Asia before.
- Featured High School Program: The Rockefeller University’s RockEDU Science Outreach has programs for high school students to become exposed to science and research. There are several programs, one of which is their Summer Neuroscience Program. It’s a two-week course that gives high school students a look at the most current research in neuroscience to understand how our brain works and how it relates to our daily life. The program will take place August 16-27 and applications are due March 21. https://www.rockefeller.edu/outreach/
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- Ramansh Sharma '19 is a computer science student and machine learning engineer. He shares how he discovered his passion for computer science at Bronx Science, when he participated in AtomHacks as a freshman. We also discuss how he combats imposter sydrome, which I believe is a topic that many can relate to and is important to acknowledge.
- Links for Ramansh: Website: ramanshsharma2806.github.io/ || LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ramanshsharma
- Featured High School Program: Computer Science for Cybersecurity program (NYU) is a 3-week full-day summer program providing an introduction on the fundamentals of cybersecurity and computer science. No background or experience in cybersecurity or computer programming is needed in order to apply, only your enthusiasm. Applications are due April 21, 2021. Learn more at: https://engineering.nyu.edu/academics/programs/k12-stem-education/nyc-based-programs/computer-science-cyber-security-cs4cs
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- Kamila Hoe '12 is a model, content creator, creative producer, and coach. In this episode, we talk about stepping out of our comfort zones, pursuing your passions, and saying yes to things, but also acknowledging that saying yes doesn’t mean you’re committing to it forever.
- Links for Kamila: Main Instagram - @kamilahoe || Community Instagram: @confidentlyempowered || Website: kamilahoe.com || Join the Confidently Empowered Facebook community, a community focused on empowering womxn to confidently love themselves so they can create the life of their dreams. www.facebook.com/groups/confidentlyempoweredcommunity
- Featured High School Program: Step Up believes all girls should have the opportunity to fulfill their potential. Step Up mentorship programs are open to girls, young womxn and non-binary people ages 14-25 who are comfortable in a space that centers the experience of womxn. Fill out their online form to sign up for mentorship. Step Up programs are currently offered virtually, taking place via Zoom and Instagram Live. Some upcoming free events include: Feb 17 - So you want to work at an iconic brand, Feb 25 - prioritizing yourself: finding balance, and March 4 - power lunch: a Womxn's History Month virtual conversation. Learn more here: http://www.suwn.org/programs
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- Amy Hsiao '12 is the founder of Kitsby, which sells baking kits online and desserts at their Brooklyn shop. She studied business management and entrepreneurship at Babson College. At Bronx Science, Amy participated in Science Olympiad and founded Silver Mist Jewelry, a business selling handmade engraved rice grain jewelry. You can visit Kitsby at www.kitsby.com
- High School Program Feature: The Bossgirls program at the Zahn Innovation Center is a free NYC summer program introducing female high school students to entrepreneurship. You’ll identify a problem, research the market, prototype a solution, build a business plan, and pitch your idea to a virtual audience, like a friendlier version of Shark Tank. Applications for Bossgirls 2021 are due May 3, 2021. Learn more at: http://www.zahncenternyc.com/bossgirls/
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- Olivia Munk '12 lives in London, where she is a theatre producer and director. She founded Part of the Main and co-founded Part of the Night. She graduated from Harvard and attended University of Oxford for a master's degree in Modernist English. At Bronx Science, Olivia co-founded Bronx Science S!NG, a competition between under- and upperclassmen to put on two student produced musicals. You can learn more about Olivia at oliviamunk.com
- High School Program Feature: The Creative Arts Team Youth Theatre is a free, award-winning after school program for young people to create original plays while learning life skills through theater games, improv, scene work, rehearsal, critical reflection and group discussions. There are no auditions required, just a commitment to be an active participant. Learn more at: https://creativeartsteam.org/programs/cat-youth-theatre
- Links for Olivia Munk: Website - oliviamunk.com || Part of the Main - partofthemain.com || Part of the Night - partofthenight.com
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- Jessica Chan '13 is currently a medical student at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine and attended Case Western Reserve University. We discuss the importance of taking the lead, expanding your boundaries, especially when attending college outside NYC, and pursuing a medical career. Stay in touch with Jessica via her blog Weathering Medicine at https://weatheringmedicine.blogspot.com/
- High School Program Feature: Weill Cornell Medicine offers different programs to expose high school students to medicine. Weill Cornell Medicine is the medical school at Cornell University and is located in Manhattan. For example, the Health Profession Recruitment/Exposure Program allows 10th and 11th graders to meet medical professionals and be paired with a medical student to guide them in their college application process. Learn more about this and other programs at https://medicaleducation.weill.cornell.edu/student-life/student-groups-community-service/pipeline-programs
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Christina Huang '12 attended Binghamton University and currently works at IBM as a Program Manager for Data Science Elite. Christina is a first-generation high school and college student. If you identify as either, this episode can provide you with insights as you progress through Bronx Science and beyond. Important themes we touch on are getting comfortable with the uncomfortable and erring on the side of curiosity.
High School Program Feature: Bank of American Student Leaders places community-minded high school seniors and juniors in paid internship with local non profits. In 2012, your host Victoria participated in the program and interned with the Food Bank for NYC. 2021 applications are due January 29, 2021: https://about.bankofamerica.com/en-us/what-guides-us/student-leaders.html
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Introductory episode for you to meet the host, Victoria Li '12. To set the scene for Dear Bronx Science, she will share with you her background from high school to now. She focuses on the importance of putting herself in unfamiliar spaces, especially after leaving the familiarity of Bronx Science and NYC.
High School Program Feature: Sadie Nash Leadership Project promotes leadership and activism among young women. Check out their programs for high school students at: https://www.sadienash.org/
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