"When it comes to my career, I love every bit of it — the good, the bad and the ugly. I can talk about how fulfilled I feel when I finally set up and built my first set of servers, or when I first developed my first virus, and mastered various programming languages. But I always meet the same issue: No one sees me as an IT specialist or as someone moving to the cybersecurity field. They see a woman, and an Asian woman at that.

"Due to this, I become of value not for my work or my years of experience, but for my sex and my race. I am advertised as a solid investment by recruiters because of a company’s diversity requirement. I am talked about like my work and experience is second to my appearance. And as a result, that’s all I’m seen as.

"Although it’s rare to have my story unaltered and be regarded as both an Asian American woman and a passionate participant in STEM, the silver lining in all of this is the opportunity to change this perspective of purely being one or the other. It’s the chance to show the world that we exist beyond our complexion, but down to our very core where our knowledge and passion burns and walk confidently as role models for those who want fairness in treatment and opportunity to grow.

"In short, being an Asian American woman in STEM means that you’re invisible, but visible at the same time. But to me, this title represents me in its entirety. It tells everyone my story in five words."