My first interest in science was through teaching. When I was younger, my grandfather spent hours teaching me about different science concepts, from Pascal’s triangle to quantum physics. As a physicist, my grandfather told me a lot about Albert Einstein and his work: I was fascinated by the paradoxes of relativity and Einstein started being my figure of science.

Beyond just learning from my grandfather, I was always very excited to teach what I had just learned to my brothers and to my friends. I just loved to be able to bring new knowledge to the table.

This interest continued with me through middle school and high school. I routinely helped my friends with their homework, and I taught makeup math and science classes during lunch periods. What I loved from teaching is that I was able to make other people see how exciting science is by helping them understand it. More than just helping with homework, I wanted to get people to love science as much as I did, to see the beauty in the math that we were covering in class.

“If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.” -Albert Einstein

When I first got to Stanford, however, I wasn’t very confident in my abilities to teach in English as well as I could do in French, my first language. It was my first time being thrown in a completely English-speaking academic environment, and I felt like I was behind in terms of writing and speaking abilities.

In my classes, I focused on writing the academic papers that I was assigned, not really thinking about how to communicate to my audience most appropriately and effectively, but just thinking about whether or not the TAs would like my writing and give me a good grade. And outside of classes, I stopped pursuing teaching-related activities, focusing more on another part of my identity, sports.

My transition into science communication was rather sharp, and happened over the course of just one quarter. When I took the second segment of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric my sophomore fall, I learned how to effectively communicate research through an oral presentation, and at the end of the quarter I felt like I had gained some confidence back in my public speaking abilities. I was very proud of the presentation I had given, and that really boosted my will to get back into teaching science. That same year, I became a section leader for the introductory Computer Science classes, and taught a class on code-breaking to high-schoolers during Stanford Splash.

From there, I decided to explore science communication more through the Notation in Science Communication program. I wanted to spend the rest of my time at Stanford exploring new media through which I could teach, making science more accessible. I spent time making data visualizations and explainer videos, but also perfecting more academic styles of communication like literature reviews and research papers, and posters. 

Over the past two years, I really feel like I have gained a lot of experience in science communication, both in the light of teaching and in the light of sharing academic research. I’m excited to continue teaching as I start my master’s next year, and to apply everything I’ve learned so far. In the future, I feel eager to try new modes of communication in the future, and to keep balancing my time between teaching lay audiences and conversing with experienced peers.

In this portfolio, I hope that you can understand my journey at Stanford, starting from my very first paper to branching out into new genres, modes and media. Although my path is far from being finished, I’m excited to use this website as a tool to guide you through the changes I’ve experienced at Stanford. Enjoy!