|
|
Michelle was captain of the world-famous New York City Math Team during high school, during which she also squeezed in two years of research at The Rockefeller University. Her family moved to Manhattan from Nanjing, China, when Michelle was 13. “My mother got her Ph.D. after I was born," she says. "She’s my real role model, my biggest inspiration." “I chose Cornell because, first, it has a great engineering college," says Michelle, "and next because my dream school was a well-rounded university where I could learn things other than math and science.” Michelle has had a few favorite classes so far. One is Mechanics and Special Relativity. “That class taught me how to solve problems, to develop a strategy of using everything you know to approach a problem logically,” she says. Another is General and Inorganic Chemistry. “Professor Widom taught chemistry from the inside; he made the chemicals come alive,” she says. She also really likes Ancient Philosophy. “That class makes me happy!” she says. It’s teaching me to behave like a human being should.” Michelle is active in numerous organizations on campus, including the Engineering Ambassadors and Society of Women Engineers. She also serves as an Academic Excellence Workshop Facilitator and an Engineering Peer Advisor. She’s been thrilled to find Cornell a very diverse place. “‘Anyone, any study,’ as Ezra Cornell said. Last year I lived with two girls, one was an architect, one an Asian studies major,” she says. “And I love the food; especially the chefs on North Campus. I visited a friend at MIT, and their dining halls…Well, I really can’t comment.” “Cornell gives you so many opportunities to challenge yourself,” says Michelle. “For example, when I got here I didn’t know how to swim, but I knew this was my chance to jump in the water. Open your mind; you don’t know how much you can actually achieve. And open your door; you have no idea how many kinds of amazing people are out there.” | ||||||||||||
