Hall of Heroes

This post is dedicated to show my appreciation to everyone who has helped me along the way. It’s cliche, but I could’ve never achieved anything without these following people:

Cindy Nguyen (MY AWESOME GIRLFRIEND)

We have been together since 2018. Yup, that long. We have grown up together, laughed together, cried together, yelled at each other, and more, but the most important thing is that we are still together. Along my CS journey, I have struggled a lot with imposter syndrome, stress, and self-worth. My mental image of myself and my surroundings can get really dark sometimes, but she’s always there to brighten up my life. She has always had my back, silenced my doubts, and enabled me to keep pushing myself. I’m extremely fortunate to have been able to meet her so early in life, and my life-long mission is to create a fun, happy life for both of us :D

Kevin Ge

My lunch date buddy 🍔🍔 and my absolute inspiration. He reassures me that the grind and all the effort I’m putting in will eventually pay off. Even though he’s only one year older than me, he has achieved so much. I am inspired by him every day and I hope to be as accomplished as him. This personal website was even inspired by his :p

Farhan Jamil

MY FIRST MENTOR EVER! I honestly can’t describe how grateful and lucky I am to have Farhan as my mentor. He was the current Director of Projects and eventually became the president of ACM. (It’s so cool to say that my mentor is Mr.President). He reviewed my application and gave me advice that led to me getting accepted into ACM Projects. When I first came to UTD, I was extremely lost in what to do or what to learn, but Projects changed it all. It let me make so many new friends, build a cool project, and set a path for what I had to do. I honestly owe it all to him. I bothered him every week with random questions about ACM, internships, CS, leetcode, and anything I could come up with. Thinking back, I can’t believe he replied to every single one of them. I can’t thank him enough. He’s an inspiration and I hope my time here at UTD is as accomplished as his. I still owe him food tho D:

Jeshna Gupta

MY FIRST INDUSTRY MENTOR! Although she’s a busy person. She helped me so much in understanding the corporate world, how to build connections, and how to get an internship (even though I don’t have one yet). Just like Farhan, I also annoyed her with a bunch of questions and I’m shocked that she answered every single one. I don’t know where my future stands, but she has given me every resource to get the best chance to intern at JPMC. I will always remember the pep talk at the end of presentation night and I am eternally grateful for everything that she has done. :D

Abis Naqvi

My Co-Director Sir! Although I didn’t ask him for direct help that often, in my freshmen year, I reached out to him to get advice for my degree plan and learn everything that I could from him. Not only did he help me make a 4-year degree plan for me to CS Fast-Track at UTD, but he also gave me so much knowledge about internships, OAs, and companies as a whole. He was even gracious enough to let me join SAGE. So far, he’s been an amazing Director of Projects, a great person, and just like everyone else on this list, a huge role model. I have endless thanks and one day I wish to be as cracked at leetcode as him. :O

Abel Thomas

My Project Manager (PM) of DineOutBuddy for ACM Projects!!!!!! Although I didn’t ask for much guidance or advice from him, he introduced me to what ACM Projects was. He made sure I wasn’t stressed out, made me feel welcomed, and made me super excited to be a part of projects. He’s a really funny and nice person, and it made me extremely happy that I had someone like him that I could talk to. I can’t thank him enough, and it’s because of him I eventually became a PM.