TV: What are you most proud of so far?

CY: Watching the growth of PixelHacks attendees and seeing the girls’ eyes light up when they accomplished new technological feats. Right after PixelHacks I, I saw many familiar faces from PixelHacks I at other local hackathons and tech events. A mother of a PixelHacks II attendee told us she had hoped her daughter could meet new friends and come away with an appreciation for computer science at our event. After the hackathon, she was shocked to hear that her daughter decided to pursue a career in programming. Being able to observe the tangible impact of my work on so many girls and seeing their interest in computing and technology grow is my proudest achievement.

TV: Given that you operate at an advanced level, how did you make your high school experience enriching and challenging enough for you?

CY: It’s been an unexpected whirlwind. I’m currently in my second year at Stanford Online High School, unique for its virtual environment. I decided to transfer to OHS in the middle of high school to challenge myself academically and interact with students of numerous backgrounds and talents. Many of my classmates live across the globe, so it’s fascinating to hear diverse viewpoints and insights during our class discussions. The academics at my school are extremely challenging, but being at an online school also gives me the flexibility to pursue my own interests and projects like cold-calling hundreds of corporations and local stores for PixelHacks sponsorships and pursuing research opportunities. Last year as part of the Spirit of Ramanujan Fellowship and under the guidance of Emory University professor Ken Ono, I got to work with another student on producing infinite families of polynomials that satisfy the Riemann Hypothesis.

TV: Can you describe the app that eventually earned you the WWDC Scholarship?

CY: In eighth grade, my friend and I developed “Letter Pop,” an Android game where players tap colorful balloons to spell valid words for points. Our goal was to help students learn and increase their vocabulary. The entire process was fascinating. I learned to identify a problem and targeted beneficiaries, research a solution, code the algorithms, strengthen the visual graphics and user inferance, and debug. In the following two years, I continued to work on and improve Letter Pop. I taught myself Swift and XCode to implement Letter Pop in iOS and strengthened the app functionalities.

TV: What did you take away from the 2016 WWDC?

CY: It was inspiring to meet other developers and see how Apple interacted with the worldwide developer community. As someone who mostly worked alone on her projects at home, I was completely blown away by how much Apple valued developers using the company’s products and features. It was incredible to have the opportunity to learn and test new functionalities, APIs, and skills at the WWDC Labs. I had a fantastic time meeting Apple employees including Tim Cook and Craig Federighi and networking with other student developers. The developer community was much larger and more supportive than I ever imagined, and I still keep in touch with many developers and WWDC scholars I met.

TV: Where do you think the gender disparity in the tech industry comes from?

CY: I strongly believe that all women are equally talented in technological abilities, and mostly definitely just as talented as men. The problem of the enormous gender disparity lies in the lack of exposure to programming and engineering for many young women. Having access to opportunities to learn about technology can greatly increase a young woman’s interest and confidence in her skills. It is also extremely important to find mentorship and community — I am extremely grateful for the many women in mathematics and tech who have helped mentor me in my projects and ventures.