Lauren Ng - Husky 100

Hi, I'm Lauren

I am an outgoing, curious, and passionate student. I am very engaged with the Informatics community by being a peer advisor, researcher, mentor, and program assistant. I also participate in Husky Taekwondo, Dubstech, and work at the Foster Business School. Everyday from 8am to 10pm, I live, breathe, and study at UW.

But coming into college, I was the complete opposite. I was a quiet and reclusive Husky. I merely attended class, did my work in isolation, and spent the majority of my day in my dorm. I didn’t feel a sense of belonging and I spent countless hours contemplating if college was where I belonged. However, through the support of my Husky community, I was able to break out of this mindset and transform me into the person I am today. The husky spirit is contagious and I believe it has changed me for the better. Here’s how the story goes:

The Spark

At the start of my college journey, I had a handful of friends who were very engaged. They pushed me to join a variety of RSO’s, including SWE, Dubstech, and Taekwondo. However, a lot of the time, I wouldn’t attend because I was worried I didn’t fit in. But the times I did attend I met upperclassmen mentors who welcomed me with open arms. They made me feel like I did belong and had a purpose in their community. At my most vulnerable moments, small gestures from my mentors made a huge impact on me.

One of these gestures was an opportunity to join a research group in studying the experiences of Asian and Pacific Islander female students in programming courses. In doing this research, our group discovered a large majority of female students feeling a sense of not belonging thus being less motivated to succeed. And as an asian female student interested in tech, I realized that I was not alone. My experiences of being passed or ignored weren’t just a single case. There is a community of girls who had similar experiences. The findings that I wasn’t alone in my experiences was reassuring, but it also made me wonder why.

Confidence and Community

Why were female students feeling estranged in their courses? Why is there a gender gap? Why am I second guessing myself? I’ve always been a curious individual, but never outspoken nor confident to speak my opinions. But knowing there’s a community of other girls, I felt empowered to advocate and speak out. For myself and for my community. Research pushed me to ask hundreds of challenging questions. By feeling empowered to ask challenging questions instead of taking everything I hear as facts. I grew this confidence to speak out that I didn’t know I had within me.

This confidence led me to participate in a number of UW-hosted hackathons. Hackathons gave me an opportunity to ask questions and develop an impactful product with a community of hackers. Especially when ideating ideas with my peers and having my ideas be accepted, I felt a sense of belonging. My team and I continued to build on top of ideas until we landed on an idea that was a combination of everyones. And in doing so, we created a successful project that came in first place. These experiences made me realize together as a community, we can achieve and create more than just individually. That we are better together.

Importance of Inclusion

However from my classroom experiences, I realized that sometimes people could be unintentionally left out of the community. While taking HCDE 210, I met a friend who was deaf. She had an ASL interpreter with her at every class. But there was one time the interpreter didn’t show up. So I stepped up and I quickly started typing everything said in class so she would still be involved. It was a small task for me, but it meant the world to her. It showed me how small things can make a big difference, especially when it comes to creating an inclusive classroom community. It also highlights how easily someone could be left out of a community due to a physical limitation. It sparked this mission to be involved in making communities more inclusive and accessible so no one is left out of the conversation.

When I led Dubstech’s virtual design Hackathon, I knew creating an accessible community was crucial. This event attracted 800+ participants from all over the world. In the initial stages of planning, we asked our participants about their accessibility needs. From their input, we ended up hosting introduction meetings with closed captioning and screen-reading options. Creating a welcoming and accessible community helped get more participants involved and create amazing projects. It made me realize that communities to accommodate those with accessibility needs are not difficult. Being cognizant of accessibility issues are the first step in creating an inclusive community. Leaving individuals out of a community will leave invaluable opinions out. Thus having a less impactful and complete community.

Inspiring others

Now as a Senior, I have received all the love and support from a number of UW communities I have found throughout my college career. And from the initial support from mentors who helped shape my college career, I want to carry on their impact. So in my Junior year, I became a peer advisor for the iSchool. As a part of this role, I have the opportunity to mentor a cohort of informatics freshman direct admits. I strived to create a supportive and welcoming community to help them through their first year at UW. I was unapologetically outgoing and friendly so I could push them to their fullest potential, just like my mentors did for me. In having this experience, I have learned how to start my own little personal community and create one with high impact.

I also help out with a larger group of students to connect them to their own communities. As one of the organizers for the iMentorship program, I help connect iSchool students with alumni in industry. By working with the student to determine the right mentor, I get a deeper sense of what type of community and support the student is looking for. And in doing this, I see that every student sees community and mentorship differently. Everyone’s definition of a community and what should/shouldn’t be in a community is different. Communities are personal and we each carry our own definition of what makes a community.

What's Next

During my time as a Husky, I have learned how to step out of my comfort zone and be a leader. I have explored various angles of a community and what makes a community. I’ve especially learned what it means to lead with inclusion and curiosity. To create communities and make them impactful for everyone who's a part of them. Next up on my journey after graduation will be working full time at Microsoft as a Software Engineer. I’m excited to create ethical tools with the Microsoft community and be fully immersed on Day 1. I already have plans to be a part of their women groups and bring the values of community I learned at UW. These values of inclusivity, support, and curiosity. UW has taught me not only the importance of communities but also how to create amazing communities.