New York, New York, United States 

This is usually the place for a motto. Well, I do not have one yet, as beliefs do change from time to time. However, I constantly draw inspiration from statistics and learning algorithms, which have at times functioned as important guidance for life decisions. One of my favs is the trade-off between "exploration" and "exploitation" (an innocuous concept being unfortunately named) in reinforcement learning, which succinctly summarises my endeavour as a young soul trying to find the best way to contribute to the society. My life so far has been filled with intervals of exploration and exploitation (perhaps with a relatively large epsilon for exploration). To me, exploration is to push oneself outside of the comfort zone to entertain different perspectives and disciplines, while exploitation means putting one's heart and soul in the process using the best skills and knowledge one has to produce value. As a mathematics undergraduate student, I took part in a Joint Bachelor's Degree programme, which offered liberal arts education alongside technical and rigorous mathematical training. The seemingly eclectic approach created many unexpected venues for innovation. To date, I still remember getting up at the mid of the night just to jot down sparks of inspiration for my art history class at Columbia, which eventually turned into a full-scale research essay. Researching in a once unfamiliar realm demonstrated to me the shared spirit of the scientific method, and the trained skills strengthened my confidence in thriving under uncertainties. Yet, more importantly, the liberal arts education left me with a lasting refuge to ground myself when needed in an increasingly involutionary world. My ideal of a scholar is someone who not only expands the frontier of knowledge in their field but also partakes in shouldering the social responsibilities required of our time. In the future, I hope to become a data scientist who harnesses the power of data, theories and behavioural insights to help create and forge trust in innovations that better people's lives. — Penned on Nov 3, 2022