I grew up in a lower-middle income neighborhood with immigrant parents. Education was the way up and out for not only my parents' upbringing, but also my own.
I was fortunate to attend Carnegie Mellon University for undergrad and UCLA on scholarship for grad school. Along the way, I encountered pivotal moments that shaped my trajectory, and a major factor in my success was the guidance of admissions counselors who helped me navigate the complex world of college admissions and career decisions.
I know firsthand how challenging it is to get into college, and the process becomes more competitive each year. That's why I started mentoring first-generation, low-income students and MBA students from my hometown as a volunteer.
Over time, I realized that access to the right advice and support can make all the difference. My goal is to provide students with the tools, strategies, and confidence they need to not only gain admission to their dream schools but also to build fulfilling careers beyond graduation.
I was never a vision board-type of person. I appreciate beauty and have aesthetic preferences, but I don't subscribe to magazines or collect stickers, where I can find the perfect visual asset to capture the essence of a 'soft life'. I journal maybe once every three months when I'm crashing out. My to-do lists sit on OneNote, post-its, napkins, Obsidian, and sometimes on my palm in smudged sharpie stains. When it came to setting and documenting goals, it was difficult for me to find something consistent until recently...
Speaking confidently, as much as it may seem, is not an innate talent but a skill that can be cultivated through practice, mindset shifts, and structured approaches. Whether speaking in meetings, giving presentations, or engaging in casual conversations, many people experience nervousness, self-doubt, and the pressure to communicate perfectly. However, confidence in speaking is a process rather than an inherent trait. By understanding how to manage anxiety, structure spontaneous speech, and shift one’s mindset, anyone can improve their ability to speak with confidence...
This message may resonate with you if you are a perfectionist and/or an overachiever often paralyzed by your own expectations. The pressure to meet impossibly high standards can lead to a cycle of procrastination, where the fear of falling short outweighs the desire to begin. You might feel immense shame for your inaction and label yourself as lazy or unmotivated. This harsh self-criticism only deepens your sense of inadequacy, making it harder to break free from the cycle...
Good advice is contextualized. It accounts and expands for differences. Parenting advice is often bad because kids are magnificently unique creatures and so are their caregivers. Gardening advice is worthless without piles of information on where someone is gardening, their soil type, their level of expertise, their access to various gardening tools, and the amount of time they have to deal with the problem.