How Did You Get Your Start?

I was working odd jobs in the gig economy in the transition between high school and college – DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates – to save up for college. 

Between work, I audited physics classes at a local college in my area, following my interest in the subject. My professor there encouraged me to apply for a research role at Georgetown, but to temper my expectations because it was highly competitive. 

A quantum mechanics professor at Georgetown named Jim Freericks took a chance on me, and brought me on as a researcher for the summer.

He taught me a new way to think about science, research, and the pedagogy behind making complex ideas accessible that I carry with me to this day. More than anyone, he showed me that if you're intentional about what you're trying to solve, and you collaborate enough, anything's possible. 

That role inspired me to continue researching and to pursue a college education. I received a full ride from UVA, where I studied Computer Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. I had a growing interest in how markets and systems operate, which shaped a lot of how I thought about the world. 

When I came to UVA, a professor, Rider Foley, was my first mentor. 

He introduced me to policy, to people, and to resources. My goal was to understand where I stood in the larger ecosystem of university life and in a professional sense. He gave me the opportunity to research a problem I cared about, specifically informal job markets, and guided me to a publication at the United Nations

This set the stage to working at NASA, MIT, and the U.S. National Science Foundation. 

I love fast-paced engineering, but research is inherently slow. I was trying to find something in the middle. 

I couldn't get my break at NASA for a long time, until one day Rider told me a UVA alumni from NASA was coming to speak at Darden. It was 8AM on a Wednesday and I was the only one from my cohort who showed up. So, I took a front row seat. 

I introduced myself to the speaker, who was high up in AI at NASA, James Villarrubia, and we ended up having dinner afterward. He became a friend, and then my boss for a very long time. 

It was all just a matter of going up to someone and introducing myself. Take a front row seat to meaningful opportunities.