Hi, I'm Emily

I’ve always found it helpful listening to other people’s stories starting from when they had nothing going for them to their current position. I hope you all find my story relatable and encouraging.

Before College

Before college, I was a lone-wolf creator girlie.

Most of my time was spent playing classical piano and painting. However, things took a turn when I moved from New Jersey to Florida.

I battled homesickness for years, leaving behind a life where my family ran an internet cafe with weekly concerts, I performed in venues like Carnegie Hall at age 12, showcased my art in galleries, and was a top student in the state.

Adding to the challenges, I had severe anemia and an eating disorder. For 4-5 years, I struggled to stand for long periods, overslept, and found it hard to engage in conversations.

I got kinda sick of this lifestyle, and I wanted to find something that was bigger than myself to do. I believed in myself but couldn’t execute anything.

This experience sucked but it motivated me to keep bettering myself so I will never feel “stuck” again, don’t feel bad lol.

Entering College

Entering college I’ve never been better. I chose computer science to combine creativity with technology, so I can execute my ideas.

I sought out people who had the qualities I wanted and learned from them. A select few were kind enough to give me their time and answer all the questions I had. And I made use of all their advice.

I got curious about blockchain and startups so I joined the Blockbeam team, a Boston-based Blockchain education and recruiting startup, where I managed an entrepreneurship accelerator for a year among other achievements.

It’s hard to explain the constant feeling I had, but whatever it was, I was constantly inspired by the people around me and driven to continue this path.

Not everything is perfect, but what I do know is that I have no choice but to move forward. To keep challenging myself. Every time I say I’m scared of something, I face it and end up achieving it.

I was scared to join a startup - but it worked out.

I was scared of the swe recruiting game - but it turned out fine.

I was scared to learn web dev and start a new startup - but I’m doing it anyways.

It’s not really about “succeeding”, it’s figuring out what you want and what’s stopping you and taking action despite the results.

And if you are stuck, find the right person to talk to and you will feel unstuck after one conversation.

Where I’m at now

Now I’m working on upskilling myself with new tech products and working to create a builder community at UF.

And I’m an incoming SWE intern at Microsoft ;)

In these next newsletters, I will share weekly updates on what I’ve learned, my startup journey, UF student founder stories, and be a source of encouragement for you guys. If I can do it, you can too :)