From Student to Advisor, Two Summers at ARISE.

Note: Names of students have been changed to protect privacy. (This does not apply to Professor Neill, Luann, and names in the footer)

There are two stories of an ambitious high schooler in New York City.

The first is the one we all know: the story of the kid with a well-crafted childhood. The one whose discipline is ingrained from hours of private tutoring. The one who carries the heavy weight of expectations, and whose brilliance is defined by their ability to meet them. The one whose high-achieving parents understand the precise, unwritten rules of the academic and social game, unlocking hidden doors that others don’t even know exist.

The second story is quieter, but it’s just as powerful. It’s the story of the kid from the city’s outer boroughs. The one juggling work, helping their parents run errands, taking care of siblings, and cooking dinner on top of their academic workload. The one who self-learns through Khan Academy and SAT books from the public library. The one whose academic and career dreams are sparked from words on internet forums instead of scientific lectures at the dinner table.

They are often pushing against a headwind of well-meaning, practical resistance from their family and themselves, who urge them to mend their personal financial circumstances by using their time and energy to work instead of training to pursue the luxury of thinking. They have a fanatic desire to fulfill their potential, but have no platform, no connections, and no one to open the first door.

I know this story intimately because it was mine. I went into the ARISE application process as that kid, just wanting to escape summers working at the family dry cleaners and the embarrassment of running into my classmates while delivering laundry (I am now grateful for it). I had only a few self-taught Python programs and a head full of dreams of AI from reading from researchers like Melanie Mitchell, Andrej Karpathy, Yann Lecun, and Andrew Ng. My parents, who graduated from middle school in a fishing village in China, couldn’t offer guidance. I just knew I wanted to do something productive and dream big.

For a student like me, being passionate, resilient, and decent at academics is not enough. We still won’t be able to compete with the well-sculpted, stellar resume and web of connections of other kids. This is why we don’t just need an opportunity; we need a signal.

For me, ARISE was that signal.

It was more than just a summer program; it was the first true platform I ever had. Joining Professor Daniel Neill’s Machine Learning For Good Lab, I was immediately exposed to real, high-level research. I was assigned to a project that had stalled. With the generous and amazing mentorship of Professor Neill, I was able to help get it moving again, building a working model and gaining an understanding of its inner workings. It was the first time I saw my passion translate into a tangible result. I still remember the high from Professor Neill’s feedback, “great work in such a short amount of time.”

But the most transformative part? The validation. For a random no-name kid, uncertainty is a constant companion. That recommendation letter, that confirmation from a professor that I was good at this, was life-changing. ARISE didn’t just give me skills; it gave me confidence.

I would not have ended up at a great university without ARISE. Academic talent means little if you never get a chance to show your passion to someone who can open a door.

This past summer, I returned as an advisor, and I learned that ARISE’s impact goes even deeper than the lab work.

I saw it in my advisee, Nathan. He reminded me so much of myself – an immigrant from Jamaica, a dream of being an electrical engineering researcher, and a quiet, respectful shyness. (I was, for the first time, “Mr. Zhang”!) In our initial meetings, he was reserved, soft-spoken, and avoided eye contact. But by the end of the summer, I watched that same student confidently presenting his research at the American Museum of Natural History, surrounded by a new group of friends. ARISE gave Nathan, a regular kid with a big dream, an opportunity to shine and a community of like-minded peers to shine with. He has ambitions to obtain a PhD EE.

I could see my younger self in many of my students – timid, nervous, but brilliant. I shared my own research struggles, hoping to give them the confidence to be ambitious, to work through the code, and to embrace the uncertainty of research. It was a privilege to watch one advisee, Jonathan, who would physically shake from nervousness in our meetings, go on to present his research confidently in front of a full classroom at the final symposium. He found his own voice. I saw another group, devastated after a tough meeting with their PI, find the resilience within themselves to make a one-week turnaround to build a full, working project. My role was simply to remind them that this uncertainty was the work, and that they were capable.

That is the magic of ARISE. It changes the lives of kids with unseen potential, kids who just need a chance to demonstrate their merit.

This utility – to recognize and nurture unseen, ambitious talent – is not something you can easily measure on a spreadsheet. The impact isn’t just individual; it’s communal and national. Generosity received teaches generosity that must be practiced for the next generation.

ARISE is a signal for all normal, ambitious kids that there is an opportunity for them, that America is not just a society where you get ahead only through connections. It is the embodiment of the American Dream.

For this area of impact, only the sky is the limit. I urge the continued support of changing the lives of low-income students.

Many thanks to Luann William Moore, the director of the ARISE program. Having worked behind the scenes, I now understand the immense effort that goes into running these programs. Luann’s passion and vision, along with her dedicated team, are what made ARISE a great experience. I am also grateful to mentors like Professor Neill, who are willing to offer their mentorship to high school students. Finally, I want to thank the Pinkerton Foundation for making this all possible.

Thank you Celine Cotran for reading the drafts of this entry.