Resume
Middle School Debate tutoring (2023-2025)
Starting as a middle school debate tutor in 10th and 11th grade, I worked to teach middle schoolers at the local Falcon Cove Middle about Lincoln-Douglas Debate, my specialty. Then in 12th grade, I was elected to the position of Middle School Liaison, and I organize and run monthly tutoring sessions for high school debaters to volunteer to tutor middle school students in debate.
Summer Springboard Computer Science course at Columbia University (July 2024)
Over the summer of 2024, I attended Summer Springboard @ Columbia Computer Science intensive for 2 weeks in north Manhattan, New York, on the campus of Columbia University. I learned from University professors how to code at a high level using Python, and implemented my learning with a series of class group projects.
Summer Springboard Coding & Web Design course at Cal Poly (June-July 2023)
Over the summer of 2023, I attended Summer Springboard @ Cal Poly’s Coding & Web Design course for 2 weeks in beautiful San Luis Obispo, California, on the campus of California Polytechnic State University. I learned about industry best practices for how to design a website with ease, practicality, and accessibility in mind, then implemented it by designing this website!
LD Debate camp at University of Minnesota (July 2023)
In the summer of 2023, I attended NSD’s summer LD camp for 3 weeks in Minnesota! I learned so much about new ways to debate, and took all this back to my school to teach other new LD debaters. I had lab leaders Rose, Darius, and Vik that were all super accomplished in LD debate (huge shoutout to them), plus rotations of other mentors and teachers interspersed with nearly daily practice rounds. At the end, we had a huge camp-wide tournament, and got to dye our lab leader’s hair pink!
First job: BodyTek Weston HIIT gym (June 2022)
In the summer before 10th grade (2022) I got a job working at BodyTek Weston HIIT gym, gaining experience with sales, customer service, studio management, front desk duties, technical support, and more! It’s my first official job, and I enjoy the work as well as being able to be more independent and start paying for my own things. I’m still working there now, usually 10 hours a week.
Etsy shop ‘KiraGizmos’ (July 2020)
I got my first 3D printer over the summer of 8th grade hoping to be able to print out a few gimmicks and gizmos for myself, but I began seeing these awesome designs online that I just had to share with the world; I even took classes on how to use the printer and how to 3D model and design before opening my Etsy shop that same summer! I called it Kira (my name) and Gizmos (I like the sound of the word, and it’s a sufficiently vague term to cover the span of what I was selling!).
I got a few orders at first, and I learned how to use the software and keep up with demand, and then the orders began to pile up- and I learned customer service and how to maximize efficiency while working- and finally I had a full-fledged business that I was using to make money on the side!
There were a few issues, like my 3D printer breaking (this happened 3 times, actually), and my shop getting shut down because I was a minor (I rebranded to be under my dad’s name, but resumed operations with myself still at the helm), and in the end every time something came up I faced it head-on and came out on top!
Charity sewing project (2018)
In 5th grade I took sewing classes, and as part of the class we sewed colorful dresses (together, we made hundreds of them) to donate to third-world countries and to other little girls in need.
Lotus House volunteer project (December 2017)
On Christmas in 2017, I volunteered at Lotus House with my family for a few days- Lotus House helps homeless women and their children get a free temporary apartment, as well as helping them find work and enrolling their children in school. I led a kids’ crayon coloring table, and my family and I spent a day cleaning the vacant apartments that were almost done being built.
Acting work (July 2017)
I dabbled briefly in acting, including two roles in 2017 (I was 9), one as a lead actress in a Celebrity Cruiselines training video (left), and the other as a supporting actress in a student film at Full Sail University called Ultra Attachment! (right)
MeCoCity visionary project (2018-2019)
In 6th grade science class we were asked to design and build an eco-friendly model city, and I went above and beyond on this project. I named it MeCoCity, and is hypothetically located near Lake Okeechobee in Florida.
Among other things, the city uses heat from inside the Earth to warm the water, wind turbines and solar panels to power houses and buildings, a hydroponic greenhouse to provide fresh produce, a large recycling program, and even an efficient underground mailing system! I wrote an 8- page document on this futuristic city, scoring 108% on the project!
I put a lot of effort into envisioning, designing, and constructing a realistic model of this futuristic sustainable city. I really hope something like this can someday become commonplace, rather than the nasty, polluting cities of today!