Elizabeth Sun, our founder of Illumony, is currently attending MIT after graduating from TJHSST’s (TJ) Class of 2021.
Her passion for STEM began after joining an afterschool club in third grade, and was welcomed into the exciting world of math and science. Starting in fifth grade, she began participating in math competitions such as MathCounts, the AMC/AIME series and Math Kangaroo, as well as science events such as Science Olympiad and the science fair. She previously served as the finance officer of TJ’s Varsity Math Team (VMT) and conducted her own research in biotechnology at TJ’s Jefferson Underclassmen Multidisciplinary Project Lab.
As an avid reader and writer, she was also an active staff writer of tjTODAY, TJ’s school- wide student news online and print publication. She published more than 22 articles on tjTODAY.org and in the monthly print magazine. In her final year at TJ, she proudly led the Social Media Team during. In her free time, she enjoys writing poetry, listening to music, and baking.
“I think the amount of exposure to STEM at a young age isn’t emphasized enough,” she said when she was interviewed by tjTODAY. “I was fortunate enough to grow up in an environment rich with opportunities that allowed me the freedom to explore topics I found interesting, but there are so many kids who don’t have those opportunities that I want to connect with.”
As the founder of Illumony, she oversees all projects and directs the team in carrying out their ideas. She recognizes that the next generation will lead at the frontier of mathematical and scientific innovation. Through her work in the community, she hopes to see her own drive and curiosity reflected in the eyes of the future.
Joshua Fu is attending University of Virginia after graduating from TJHSST. He was the Chief Community Officer for Illumony, which entails reaching out to schools as well as maintaining communication with them. Joshua has participated in academic competitions during middle school and including MathCounts, ARML, and the AMC's. Furthermore, he was involved in several volunteer groups abroad before pertaining to teaching and spreading cultural awareness. He enjoys reading fiction, particularly fantasy, novels and exploring new ideas in the modern world in his free time.
Ethan Zhang is a Senior at TJHSST and the Chief Executive Officer at Illumony. He is enthusiastic about the fields of
computer science and math, honing skills in various contests such as AMC/AIME, USACO, ACSL, Cyberpatriot etc. Starting from zero programming experience before high school, Ethan has earned USACO gold status and is versed in several programming languages.
He is a co-captain of a TJ Cyberpatriot team that he has co-founded from since middle school, the team are all attendeding the same high school and qualified for the platinium level three years in a row.
In his Junior year, Ethan starts exploring Artificial Intelligence, enjoys researching about machine learning theory and building AI models for solving some difficult problems.
Apart from the STEM enrichment endeavors, Ethan has also been interested in promoting STEM in business and finance. He is part of a high school team attending several of the technology innovation challenges, and anticipates
applying AI and data analysis knowledge in these business competitions.
When volunteering at elementary schools to help younger students with STEM, Ethan realized that the educational
opportunities and resources he received are not available to many students in the community. He joined Illumony to help share
his passion for computer science and math via tutoring, he is happy that his courses on Python, Java programming have influenced many young students to start on the computer science field.
As the CEO of Illumony, Ethan is responsible for working with the team to create and succeed in missions.
Outside of school, Ethan enjoys reading, playing saxophone, playing ice hockey and skateboarding.
Alexander Yao is a senior at TJHSST and Chief Technology Officer at Illumony. He has been passionate about STEM since elementary school and has become a long-time participant in math competitions such as the AMC and the AIME, occasionally representing TJHSST at high school math competitions such as MMATHS and Duke Math Meet. In addition, he also has a passion for artificial intelligence, excelling in both computer science courses at school and doing research at home, which he later published under the mentorship of a college professor.
Jeffrey Chen is currently a senior at TJHSST. He first delved into STEM in 6th grade, joining and competing with his middle school math team. He found his passion in math, and by 8th grade, he had become the captain of his middle school Mathcounts team, and placed statewide. Since he entered high school, he has continued to pursue his interests as a member of both the TJ Varsity Math Team and Physics Team, participating in nationwide competitions like the AMC, AIME, ARML, HMMT, and CMIMC. He is also a member of a Cyberpatriot team with fellow classmates, which has qualified for the platinum tier three years in a row. In school, he has furthered his education in math, physics, and computer science courses. Through Illumony, he hopes to be able to help his community, share his knowledge, and inspire the same passion that he discovered in middle school with young students.
Max Yan is currently a Junior at TJHSST. He loves math, and since middle school, Max has participated in numerous competitions, such as American Regions Mathematics League, HMMT, Carnegie Mellon Informatics and Mathematics Competition, and many more. He earned a perfect score on the 2019 AMC 8 and has qualified for AIME since 7th grade. He was on Mathcounts State Team for two consecutive years and earned first place in the 2019 VA Mathcounts State Championship. Max also loves learning and teaching higher-level math. He took AP Calculus BC in 8th grade, and he continued pursuing higher-level classes at TJHSST including Complex Analysis and Elementary Differential Equations. Furthermore, Max has tutored students in a wide range of math levels such as 3rd-grade math, Pre-algebra, and Calculus. Additionally, Max has been conducting Statistical Genetics research under the supervision of Prof. Ma from the University of Maryland since the summer of 2021. Max also started as a Data Analytics Intern in SLCG Economic Consulting in the summer of 2022. Max hopes to help and inspire younger children who have interests in STEM through Illumony. When he is not busy with academic activities, Max enjoys swimming, playing the flute, and playing chess.
Amy Chen is a Senior at TJHSST who hopes to increase young women’s love for STEM. In elementary school, she was a part of a Girls in STEM outreach program; the program conducted fun experiments, like the rocket lab, which contributed to why she chose to attend TJ in the first place. Now, almost a decade later, Amy hopes to share these same experiences with a new generation of young women. At TJ, Amy is the Engineering President for WISE, a volunteer program that conducts labs for fourth-grade girls from Weyanoke Elementary School. The program not only allows young girls to become interested in science but also exposes these young girls to female role models whom they will look up to as they grow up.
Amy believes that one important contributor to the lack of women in STEM is the idea that STEM is for boys, not girls. At Illumony, Amy hopes to create and conduct programs and experiments for young women to create a welcoming environment for girls interested in STEM. These programs will provide young girls the ability to gain new knowledge of STEM, ranging from Scratch coding to candy DNA helices, and gain new long-lasting friendships with other people who share the same interests.
Outside of STEM outreach, she is a member of TJ’s Policy Debate Team and a member of TJ’s Varsity Swim Team. These latter experiences, especially the debate team, have accelerated her personal growth through the learning of social inequity regarding women’s education, a meaningful message she hopes to share with others at Illumony.
Ruby Chen is a senior from McLean High School. Ever since she was young, she always has a passion for biology and computer science. In High School, she has taken numerous advanced courses such as AP Computer Science A, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP Physics 1. After taking almost all the available advanced STEM classes offered to her in school, she looked outside of school to fulfill her curiosities. However, she realized the difficulties of finding affordable opportunities outside of class for students that are interested in STEM. Having benefited tremendously from free online resources, she is passionate about spreading the knowledge to other students like her. Through Illumony, Ruby wants to share the joy of learning biology and computer science to other students, and encourage them to find their own passion.
Angeline Zhao is a tenth grader at Phillips Academy Andover. She is a USAJMO and National MATHCOUNTS qualifier, as well as the recipient of several mathematics awards including the Maryam Mirzakhani AMC 10 A award and the Two Sigma AMC 10 B award. She loves sharing her passion for mathematics with other students and encouraging more girls to become more involved with STEM. Outside of mathematics, Angeline likes journalism—she is currently a writer for The Teen Magazine—and playing poker with her friends.
Curtis Ji is attending College of William Mary after graduating from TJHSST. He was the Chief Technology Officer for Illumony, managed the website and the technical backend of the operation. Furthermore, he was a volunteer Computer Science teacher, and helped pass on his knowledge to the next generation of computer programmers. He was also an assistant instructor at Fairfax Collegiate, and was inspired by the love of learning he saw in his pupils to help spread that knowledge through free initiatives to reach more people. A Captain and Varsity level runner of the Thomas Jefferson Track Team, Curtis realized that a lot of people wish to learn more information, but simply lack the means to access reliable information. Thus, Curtis now works with Illumony to help provide knowledge in order to inspire the next generation of learners. In his free time, he enjoys reading nonfiction, particularly about WWII and keeping up with new technological innovations.
Kevin Zhang, attending Columbia University after graduating from TJHSST, was the Chief Marketing Officer of Illumony. He was a proud member of the math and physics team at TJHSST, which he utilizes as outlets to share the elegance of both fields. Encouraged by the excitement of new discoveries, he continues to explore STEM by reading books and adding numbers. He remarks that "even as children, we have an innate sense of the largeness of numbers or the blueness of the ocean, and science is a beautiful way of communicating these abstract ideas." Inspired by his academic upbringing, Zhang works with Illumony to spread scientific curiosity to a diverse audience by showcasing the joy/teamwork in STEM and empowering future pioneers. In his free time, he likes to count by 17s and solve the even-numbered clues to the daily NYT crossword puzzle.
Derek Dong, attending Yale university after graduating from TJHSST, was the Chief Strategy Officer of Illumony. He enjoys doing math for fun. Starting as early as
elementary school, he has been a participant in math competitions like MathCounts and the AMCs.
In high school, he has had the honor of representing TJ at math contests across the nation and
wants to provide the opportunity for more people to discover the allure of math often absent in
traditional curriculums. To that effect, he serves as the statistician of TJ’s Varsity Math Team
and is in his second year of co-teaching a middle school math club. Dong especially enjoys seeing
each student in the class energetically display their unique personalities as they learn novel and
unexpected mathematical concepts.
“To a lot of people, math is something mechanical that’s meant to
be memorized for a test and forgotten shortly afterwards. But it’s really a way of thinking that’s
objective and carefully reasoned out, while still actively involving a creative mindset,” Dong said.
Besides math, Dong enjoys working on computer science and more recently has become engaged in TJ’s
Urban Dance Movement. He attributes his success in the former, such as qualifying for the Platinum
division of the USA Computing Olympiad, to the fundamental reasoning skills he acquired from math.
Dong favors Python and Java, but he is also familiar with C++, C, and LaTeX typesetting. Dong recognizes
that he has had many opportunities afforded to him in his development mathematically and personally,
and wants to provide service to his local community in return through Illumony. In the future, he
wants to study mathematics and machine learning and additionally volunteer his services to the
competition math world he has enjoyed for so long.
Aaliya Hussain, attending MIT after graduating from TJHSST, was the Chief Finance Officer of Illumony. She appreciates all things biology- and chemistry-related. A proud competitor
in the Science, USA Biology, and US National Chemistry Olympiads, she credits public library summer programs
for her deep interest in science. “The kind librarians we ho madslime with borax and glue and volcanoes with
vinegar and baking soda were the ones who first inspired me to study science,” she recalls. Her mission at
Illumony is to repay the generosity she has received by providing STEM enrichment opportunities to underprivileged children.
In her spare time, Hussain enjoys skimming news headlines, searching for the next great novel to read, and flipping through science magazines.
Tiffany Cheng is attending University of Chicago after graduating from TJHSST and was an active volunteer of Illumony. At a young age, she was fascinated by the field of STEM. In order to pursue her interests, she started to focus on competition math, participating in competitions such as MathCounts and AMC/AIME series. Here at TJ, she continues this enthusiasm through her choice of classes and after school activities, signing up for advanced science-based courses in biology, chemistry, and physics, as well as lab-based courses such as DNA Science. Also a passionate presenter, Cheng is also the publicist of the TJ Public Forum Debate Team. Knowing that children in the same community do not have access to the same opportunities as she does, she currently sponsors the debate team at Holmes Middle School. Yet, hoping to introduce STEM to those in similar situations, she decided to volunteer at Illumony and provide them an opportunity to enjoy the activities she considers are worth a lifetime.
Mirza Hilal Hussain is attending MIT after graduating from TJHSST at 2022. He was the Chief Executive Officer of Illumony. Ever since he was chosen to be part of his elementary school’s math team, he has been intrigued by all the fields of mathematics. Throughout elementary and middle school, he participated in and earned distinctions for many math competitions, including MathCounts, the AMC series, and Mathleague. Now, as a co-captain of TJ’s Varsity Math Team, he is proud of being able to represent his school in various college contests throughout the country as well as grateful for the opportunity to spread his love of math to others.
As the CEO of Illumony, he was responsible for arranging and managing Illumony’s many programs, networking throughout the organization, and, of course, creating and teaching courses as part of the organization’s mission to support a multitude of communities.
Volunteering and math are just a few of Hilal’s numerous interests. He is a captain of the Varsity Football Team at his school and a co-founder of Macro Mania, his school’s macroeconomics club. Additionally, his fascination with the connections between math and computer science has led him to become proficient in many languages and qualify for the USACO gold division.
When he’s not busy with his schoolwork or activities, Hilal enjoys lifting, playing football, practicing his violin, and learning about the world’s economy.
Victoria Li is attending Harvard after graduating from Langley High School and a volunteer for history and humanities subjects at Illumony. Since the age of five,
she has been involved in studio art and has won regional and state levels of recognition for her art pieces. Her almost lifelong engagement with
the arts led to a passion for creativity and exploration, especially in reading and language, as reflected in Victoria’s participation in Speech
and Debate. As a captain of Langley Speech and Debate, she competes in both Junior Varsity Public Forum and Varsity Lincoln Douglas debates, as
well as Original Oratory speeches - placing first at regionals. Although interested in humanities, she is no less enthusiastic about math and sciences.
She is a Science Olympiad captain and the secretary of Math Honor Society.
Being fortunate enough to have access to resources and mentors, she recognized
the importance of opportunity and potential in the community, and she wishes to do her part in uplifting the community in the small ways she knows best.
In her non-academic time, she often helps out with her family restaurant, eat good food, listen to good music, and doodle creatures of the imagination.
Justin Chen is attending NYU Stern after graduating from TJHSST 2022. His main interests are computer science and economics. He is the public representative of TJ Quizbowl and TJ History Bowl, where he manages the clubs' Facebook pages and posts announcements to future recruits. He is also interested in statistics, algebra, web design, and finance.
Victoria Chen is attending MIT after graudating from TJHSST 2022. When the Covid-19 crisis began, Victoria realized she
is one of the privileged students who have access to medical help and supplies. As the
publicist of TJ’s UNICEF club and as a member of the global community, Victoria felt obligated
to help by offering her knowledge and expertise to Illumony. In addition to serving the community,
Victoria loves to teach. Being TJ Art Club’s Activities Coordinator allows her to conduct demos
and give presentations about her passions.
As a biology connoisseur, Victoria has taken AP Biology and is planning to take Neurobiology
and Marine Biology this coming year. She has also participated and competed in many biology-focused
Science Olympiad events, like Potions and Poisons and Bio-Process Lab. Further, Victoria is aware
of the difficulties that come with online learning and is familiar with many graphics programs and
applications that will combat these difficulties and enhance the learning process.
Janice Cheng is currently a Senior at Chantilly High School. She has always had a passion for mathematics ever since elementary school. Since then, she started to further improve on her math skills by doing competitions such as Math Kangaroo. Beginning in Middle School, she started to participate in various more competitions such as Mathcounts, AMC 8, AMC 10, and the AIME. She enjoys taking classes outside of school to further enhance her abilities. Beyond her free time, she likes to practice her coding skills. She hopes that she can be a better programmer for her school’s Robotics team.
Kai Wang is currently a Junior at TJHSST. He truly enjoys science and math and is highly interested in studying it more. Kai started competitive math at sixth grade. He continued to work hard and improve upon his logic and quantitative abilities. He has since competed in the AMC series, including the AMC 8 and the AMC 10. He has also competed in Mathcounts and the Math Kangaroo competition. He is very dedicated to STEM and hopes to use TJ’s amazing resources to help guide him along his chosen path. He hopes to do well in debate and other scientific clubs. Kai also has been playing instruments, including the piano and the cello which he now plays, since he was very young.
Andrew Sheng is attending CMU after graudating from BASIS Independent Mclean 2022. He is a natural team player with demonstrated leadership skills: highly dependable and diligent in building trust and consensus among teams. He is disciplined, focused, an avid listener and fast learner, creative, and solution driven. Andrew is always positive and enthusiastic no matter the situation. He hopes to serve and give back to the community as well as learn from the enjoyment of teaching others. He is also an active participant in the Model UN Club, Economics Club, and Biology Club at BASIS. He enjoys playing lacrosse, rugby, swimming, and wrestling. Andrew has committed to over 200 hours per year of volunteer/community service, including adopt-a-highway, food drives, Eagle Projects, and camping advisory.
Jeanie Qi is attending University of Michigan after graduating from TJHSST 2022. I have always had a passion for math and as a kid, I continuously sought out extra opportunities to improve my skills. However, I understand that not everyone has the accessibility to all the costly tutoring that I had the privilege to receive. That is why I would love to help out the community and share my knowledge and experience with younger generations to encourage interests in the mathematics field. I particularly love to teach Algebra I, but I am available to help tutor anyone below AP BC Calc, which is the math course I am currently enrolled in at TJ.
Sonny Chen is currently a student at TJHSST. He is friendly and helpful with the people around him as he has a great sense of humor and enjoys interacting with and teaching children. He is always enthusiastic about learning and always trying to be better. He's also a fast learner and a quick thinker. Sonny also has an AMC 8 score of 22, a Math Kangaroo score of 132/140, which demonstrates his proficiency of problem solving. He is currently taking Calculus BC in 9th grade, showing a strong foundation of school math. He is also passionate about computer science, and has achieved Oracle Java 8 Programmer 1 Certification with an 87%, showing mastery of the fundamentals of Java.
Taohan Lin is a Junior at TJHSST. He likes math and science. He received awards in math and science competitions, such as AMC, MathCounts, Math Kangaroo, and Science Olympiad. He volunteered at the Children’s Science Center Lab to help elementary and preschool students with hands-on STEM activities. He likes sharing knowledge and nurturing young minds in the love of math, a subject he has enjoyed for a long time.
David Cao is a student at Thomas Jefferson High School who is motivated and passionate to help others and is seeking volunteer opportunities to tutor math, science olympiad, or chess. Hehas won many awards including 2019 Science Olympiad school state champion, nationally 8th place, many 1st to 3rd awards for Science Olympiad state, regional and invitational competition.David has consistently been on the honor roll for AMC 10 and 8, and was also part of the Math Count school team to win regional 2nd place in elementary group and ranked 7th nationally in the 2018 Math Kangaroo. In 2017-2018 he was the Garden Chess Cup champion and was also an active member of the National Junior Honor Society 2019.
David Wei is a junior at TJHSST and is the Chief Academic Officer at Illumony. He enjoys solving math problems and exploring further in the field of mathematics. He was a dedicated member of the Mathcounts team in elementary and middle school. Currently, as an active member of TJHSST’s Varsity Math Team, David enjoys talking with friends about math and sharing the beauty of math problems with others. David’s love of math has driven him to participate in many math competitions such as AIME, USA(J)MO, HMMT, ARML, PUMaC, BMT, and Duke Math Meet. His passion for math has also motivated him to inspire others to enjoy math. In TJHSST’s Varsity Math Team, David enjoys teaching others about cool math topics and spreading his math knowledge to others. David has also found interest in Physics, seeing it as a perfect way of how math is applied in the real world. He has participated in physics competitions including the F=ma and the USAPhO. Currently, David is an officer for TJHSST’s Physics Team and is happy to have the opportunity to help students enjoy physics as much as he does. Math and physics are only a few of David’s interests. He also enjoys computer science, having participated in competitions including USACO and ACSL. He is proficient in Python, Java, and C++, as well as LaTeX, a math typesetting software. Outside of academics, David enjoys running, playing basketball, and playing the cello.
Punav Kheterpal is a Sophomore at TJHSST who has a great interest in STEM and an everlasting passion to teach other students. He was a member of the National Junior Honor Society and presented in many different science fairs. In addition, Punav has won numerous awards, including placing in the Top 6 in several Science Olympiad events and competitions as well as making the 2019 AMC 8 Honor Roll. Punav has displayed his willingness to help others by volunteering with First Lego League (FLL) volunteer organizations from 2016 to 2018 and tutoring for his school from 2016-2018.
Mackenzie Chen is attending UVA after graudation from McLean High School 2022. Since going into high school, she has taken many strides to enhance her appreciation for humanities and encourage others to do the same. She has won multiple awards at many writing competitions, including the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition, the Great Falls Optimist Club Essay Competition, the Virginia PTA Essay Competition, and the Chinese American Parent Association Asian American and Pacific Islander Essay Competition. She has also had experience tutoring many students in essay writing and reading comprehension skills. In school, Mackenzie enjoys writing for the magazine, The Highlander, and for the online publication website as a copy editor and an online opinions editor. During her first year of journalism, she became Editor-in-Chief, where she oversaw the articles of many reporters and approved them for publication. She is also a member of the National English Honor Society, one of the many prestigious honor societies at her school. Going forth, Mackenzie hopes to help future generations understand the importance of diversity and the universal beauty of language.
Mackenzie understands that many students her age do not have the same opportunities to enrich their knowledge in humanities. She understands that while they have the passion and the potential to achieve success, they might not have the chance to execute their goals for the future. Mackenzie understands that to foster the new generation of thinkers and leaders, everyone must be given a fair shot at their dreams. By joining Illumony, she hopes to help underprivileged communities and low-income families have the same chances to work towards their future as other more privileged families do. She hopes that her passion will give her the drive to expand education to children and teenagers from low-income families. One day, she would like to see a world where everyone can achieve their dreams without concern for their backgrounds, their gender, their race, or their social status.
Phoebe graduated from McLean High School 2022. She is interested in fashion and interior design, and she loves to travel and explore new things. Phoebe is also a coxswain for McLean Crew, where she has developed leadership skills and an optimistic mindset. She is an active member of her community as she has devoted much her time to clubs and school events. In her junior year, she became a member of the National Honor Society, a nationally recognized and prestigious organization, at her school. Furthermore, Phoebe is fluent in Cantonese and has been interested in foreign languages from a young age. She won the "Pride Award" at McLean during her freshman year for Chinese and a similar award in 8th grade.
Phoebe understands that there are many students in the nation who do not have access to the same opportunities as her, which may make it more difficult for them to follow their passion. Because of this, Phoebe hopes that joining Illumony will enable her to provide support to those less privileged than her. She hopes to make a positive impact on her community by offering them access to more opportunities that will help them achieve their goals. Ultimately, Phoebe hopes that her actions will benefit society and promote a sense of unification in her diverse community.
Oliver Tu is attending Brown University after graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) 2022. He has loved STEM from a very young age. He attended his first math competition in the 3rd grade and later attended some of the most selective math programs, including Math Enrichment Camp and Math Enrichment Weekly Mentoring Sessions, both owned and run by Mr. Vern Williams. He was admitted and completed the Awesome Math Summer Program, the top math competition program, at Cornell University.
He was a member of the TJHSST Varsity Math Team. His team finished 55 th in the nation at the American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) among all competitors in 2009. Since elementary school, he has attended 10+ math competitions around the nation, including ARML, Carnegie Mellow Informatics and Mathematics Competition (CMIMC), Lehigh University Math Competition, Carderock Math Competition, Berkeley Math Tournament, The Exeter Math Club Competition, and MathCounts.
He was also a member of the TJHSST Physics Club. He is proficient in Python and Java and has been volunteering at Hope Chinese School to teach computer science for the past two years. He has also self-taught HTML and Style Sheet.
Through Illumony, he hopes to provide his knowledge, skills, passion, and services to everyone in his community who is interested in improving their STEM skills, as well as hopes to inspire young learners.
He was a captain of the TJHSST Varsity Football Team and a key member for both the offence and defense of the team. He was also a Principal Second Violinist in The Capitol Symphonic Youth Orchestras. In his free time, he enjoys finding new recipes, cooking, and trying different cultural foods.
William Jiang graduated from TJHSST 2022. He has always enjoyed math since he first participated in a math club in 5 th grade. He has participated in many math competitions including MathCounts, the Exeter Math Competition, ARML, and the AMC/AIME series. When he was in Longfellow Middle School, he was the captain of the school’s MathCounts team. He has earned many awards including being a qualifier for the USAJMO. In TJ’s Varsity Math Team, he has lectured several times on various topics. At Illumony, he hopes to inspire children with his passion in math and expose them to topics that they may not have the opportunity to learn in a traditional math class. In his free time, William enjoys reading (in particular history), programming, and hiking.
Patrick Ying is a Junior at Langley High School. He is friendly and helpful to others around him. He enjoys taking STEM courses and participates in competitions like AMC, Math Kangaroo, Stanford Math Tournament, and Science Olympiad. He is fluent in Chinese, having grown up in China and moving to America two years ago, and has thus obtained complex Chinese knowledge like classical Chinese, famous poems, reading comprehension skills, and more. He likes to play Chinese Go, ping pong, and basketball. By joining Illumony, Patrick hopes to share his knowledge and interest in Chinese language and culture with his community.
Suhas Nandiraju is attending NYU after graudating from TJHSST 2022. He is a programmer fluent in Python, C++, and Java and also has experience with Javascript, HTML, and C#. He starting coding in Python at 11 years old, participating in competitions like ACSL. At 12, he worked at his first internship at eSolutionsFirst. As he transitioned into high school, he began developing interests in AI and Machine Learning, as well as engineering. At the age of 16, he interned as a Data Scientist for Nu Borders, helping them develop their first commercial product for the private sector. He also worked as an ML researcher for WSGMarkets in developing a profitable algorithm to trade FOREX currencies. In pursuit of his interests in cs integrated with engineering, Suhas has also joined the TJ Remote Operated Vehicle and TJ Unmanned Aerial Vehicle clubs as a computer vision programmer.
Outside of clubs and internships, Suhas also researches new upcoming technologies and participates in competitions. He participated in the Conrad and Diamond challenges in his junior year and regularly participates in competitive hackathons. Occasionally, he participates in competitive programming competitions like USACO, in which he is in the Gold division, and plays chess. Recognizing that he had access throughout his education to many resources that other aspiring computer scientists do not always have, Suhas hopes to provide to his community through Illumony. In the future, he seeks to further pursue computer science and engineering and continue to support aspiring STEM students.
Justin Yoo is a Senior at TJHSST. From a young age, he has enjoyed math, and from elementary school, he participated in competition math through his school’s math team. Throughout his middle school and high school years, he has participated in many math competitions such as MathCounts and AMC/AIME Series and is currently on TJ's Varsity Math Team. He also developed an interest for coding and later in competitive programming, such as through the USACO competition, in high school. Justin in his free time enjoys playing many sports. He has been a varsity starter in lacrosse since freshmen year, football since sophomore year, and is on the JV basketball team.
Gabe graduated from Mclean High School 2022. He is heavily interested in the stock market and economics as a whole. He currently trades stocks under two accounts and has become an educated stock trader. Gabe also has a passion for plants and gardening, working at Merrifield Garden 3 days a week. In addition, he placed third in DECA districts this year and was a finalist for states this year. He is a member of 4 clubs, all of which are centered around economics. He is the Co-founder of one of those clubs and the chairman for another. Gabe also plays soccer and basketball, enjoys fishing, and going to the gym.
Joaquim Das is attending UVA after graduating as class of 2022 at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. He leads an economic club at TJ which works on exploring economics in the modern world, in the past, and in theory. In addition, he works for the Healthy Climate Initiative (HCI), which is working on solutions to climate change. HCI, particularly, focuses on restorative solutions and Joaquim's project focuses on synthetic limestone, which produces building aggregates in the process of its creation and also removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Joaquim is a proud captain of the Thomas Jefferson Track Team, where he sprints and pole vaults at the state level. There, he also helps underclassmen learn the ins and outs of the sport and lifts weights as well. Joaquim enjoys discussing ideas and learning from others and appreciates the opportunity to help others learn about the subjects in which he finds himself engrossed.
Srimann Ramachandruni graduated from TJHSST 2022. He enjoys being involved in his community, working with its members, and sharing the experiences and lessons he has learned. His academic interests are primarily in biology and computer science, but more so biology. He has done biology olympiad for the last three years as well as USACO. When he is not studying or doing work, he is usually playing basketball with his friends at the court near his house. Srimann has been part of the varsity track team and junior varsity basketball team, so he really enjoys team-based and collaborative events.
Garrett Heller is attending MIT after graudating from TJHSST 2022. He has many interests, such as math, chess and teaching.
He was a statistician officer of TJ’s Varsity Math Team, for which he participates in various competitions, lectures on many topics, and is in charge of maintaining rankings. He always focuses on the “why” of mathematics and is working on a year long math research project.
Garrett was also a co-captain of the TJ Chess Team and leads all of the weekly activities. He has previously been a chess coach for both an elementary school and a middle school and loves the joy that the game brings to his students.
In his free time, Garrett enjoys playing frisbee and watching sitcoms.
Jun Hee Lee is a Senior at TJHSST. He loves playing football and lacrosse. He also loves teaching students. Jun Hee used to be part of many different competition math groups and is fond of science. He also loves playing video games!
Charles is a Senior at McLean High School. Starting from a young age, Charles began to develop a strong interest in the Business and Finance world. He read books and attended stock-oriented courses throughout his teenage years, contributing to his knowledge and passion for finance. When the Stock market crashed in March 2020, Charles seized the opportunity to jump in the stock market. Over the next few months, he became familiarized with the world’s financial markets and began to explore the world of complex financial derivatives in order to find the most lucrative opportunities possible. Due to his success in this field, Charles decided to found a club at McLean High School called “Financial Market Analysis Organization”. The purpose behind the club was to improve personal financial literacy among his school and educate others about technical/fundamental stock analysis. While his club was gaining traction, Charles got involved with business and marketing, placing first overall at his District’s DECA (Business club) competition and went on to compete at the State-wide competition.
“I realized that many people in our community have little to no understanding of the stock market”, Charles explained. “When someone gains a basic comprehension of investing early on, It indefinitely benefits their financial future. That’s why it’s so important to teach this information to kids at a young age.” Through Illumony, Charles hopes to work with young, aspiring kids and stimulate their interests in the world of Business and Finance.
In his free time, Charles enjoys teaching himself acoustic guitar, playing basketball and tennis, and developing his cooking skills.
Gavin is currently a Senior at Thomas Jefferson High School. He enjoys learning a wide variety of subjects and wants to pursue a medical career in the future. As a part of Illumony, he is excited to help spread his love of learning to others and hopes to be a role model for younger students.
Gavin is also a captain and quarterback of his school's varsity football team and enjoys lifting and practicing in his free time.
Christian is currently a Senior at TJHSST. He participates in a wide variety of academic activities, including founding a book club and participating in the Spanish Honor Society and Macro Mania, his school's macroeconomics club. Additionally, he enjoys volunteering and helping others whenever he can. His mission at Illumony is to not only be able to give back to his community through teaching, but also to be an inspiration for others who seek to participate in community service.
As part of his school's Varsity Track and Football teams, Christian also has many interests outside of the classroom. In his free time, he enjoys playing football; working out; and, of course, volunteering wherever he can.
Sam Esteban graduated as class 2022 of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. He has been truly passionate about math ever since discovering competition math at a young age and would like to share his knowledge and inspire other students to see why math is exciting and fascinating. He has participated and won national and state awards in several math competitions including AMC/AIME, MathCounts, and Math Kangaroo, and since joining the TJ Varsity Math Team, he has competed as a team member in ARML, the Carnegie Mellon Informatics and Mathematics Competition (CMIMC), the Duke Math Meet, and the U.C. Berkeley Math Tournament. Besides learning math, Sam's hobbies include playing piano, watching shows and movies, and playing fetch with his dog.
Henry He is a Senior at Langley High School. He is a hardworking and dependable problem- solver, and enjoys practicing Tai-Chi in his free time. After school, he participates in several math and computer science clubs, and also competes in the AMC series and various Tai-Chi competitions. In international Tai-Chi competitions, he earned one gold and two bronze medals, and in national competitions, he earned four gold medals in total. In the past, he has worked as a volunteer for several organizations. He works as a teacher assistant for local Chinese schools in Fairfax County and has volunteered for nursing homes and a wild animals’ charity.
Emma Hu is a Senior at McLean High School and an enthusiast in the field of social sciences and humanities. She developed a strong interest for history and political sciences at a young age. As an active member of the Model UN club at her high school, she has won many awards from numerous conferences, and participated in national level competitions such as NAIMUN and VAMUN. Furthermore, she enjoys computer science, as she is currently taking AP Computer Science A at school. Emma believes that it is the duty of all members of the community to contribute and help others, and she is always willing to reach out to anyone who seeks assistance.
Michael Li is a Senior at TJHSST who has a great interest in computer science and math. He has been active in many STEM competitions, such as Math Counts, CyberPatriot, AMC/AIME, USACO etc. Inspired by these competitions, Michael wanted to share these experiences with other students. Michael is passionate to help out the community through sharing his knowledge. He and his friends organized a summer long camp for his community and was highly appreciated by working parents and his students. Michael also taught Algebra, AMC 8 and Challenge Math in different organizations. Currently, he is also a TA for another AMC 10 class and teaches Computer Science with Java as well. In his free time, Michael enjoys playing video games, tennis, swimming and crew, and volunteering wherever he can.
Sanne Wu is a Senior at TJHSST and the Chief for Girls in STEM Officer. One of her many interests is chemistry. From the onset of middle school, she has explored her interest in the subject through competing in Science Olympiad, winning medals in states and competing in nationals in events like Potions and Potions and Anatomy. She rediscovered chemistry when she took TJ Summer Chemistry in the summer of her sophomore year, and she ranked first among the program. Since then, she's committed herself to teach chemistry each week at Hope Chinese School, earning several volunteer awards including the Congressional Award. In addition to competing in USNCO, she was also part of the top team representing TJ at the Washington University Chemistry Tournament, where they ranked fourth place. As a teacher, Sanne loves to see people gain a greater understanding of subjects previously confusing. Chemistry is only a part of Sanne's interests. She loves computer science, language, economics, and art. In her free time, she freely pursues art, winning several awards at the regional level, including a gold key in the Scholastic Art Awards. Creative subjects like art can always draw her attention. In addition to art, she also devotes her time to learning languages like Chinese and Japanese. She enjoys translating her favorite Chinese novels online and has represented TJ at the National Japan Bowl, winning fourth place in the level two competition. Numbers have always been fascinating to Sanne. She loves to catch up with the market and crunch numbers for her favorite games by writing programs and creating excels. Among the programming languages, she enjoys Python the most (mainly due to the logo), but she is also versed in Java, C#, LaTeX, and Golang. From arts to humanities to STEM, Sanne enjoys it all. Through Illumony, Sanne aims to spread her passions to the wider community.
Jeb Cui is attending Yale as a TJHSST class 2022 graduate who has always been passionate about STEM. Since middle school, he has participated in various math competitions and received awards in Mathcounts, AMC, and other contests. Jeb also loves to code. He does competitive programming, such as USACO and ACSL, and has represented TJ nationally in ACSL. At TJ, he was an active part of the Varsity Math Team, Computer Team, National Honor Society, and Chinese Honor Society. Additionally, Jeb enjoys volunteering and teaching Computer Science, Math, and Biology. By teaching, Jeb hopes to inspire the next generation of STEM students. In his free time, Jeb loves to read and play Cello.
Hyunjae Chung is currently a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Having taken several computer science courses such as Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision, he has a passion in programming. Being a USA(J)MO qualifier, he is also interested in learning more about mathematics. He is an active member of the TJ Varsity Math Team and Computer Team, having participated in various competitions, such as ARML, HMMT, CMIMC, KSEA, AIME, Purple Comet, and more. He has honed his STEM skills since middle school, and he is happy to share his experiences and knowledge. He has lots of experience tutoring, especially mathematics, and he is more than happy to help anyone who is interested. Aside from academics, he enjoys playing basketball, playing/listening to music, playing video games, hanging out with friends, and is open to trying various new activities.
Gabriel Xu is currently a student at TJHSST. He is a hard worker with a passion for mathematics and computer science, and hopes to use his skills to teach others. To assist students in meeting their academic goals, he strives to be friendly and understanding. Gabriel has participated in many competitions such as the American Computer Science League (ACSL), Math Kangaroo, Mathcounts, USACO, and the AMC 8 and 10, earning medals, high placings, and honor roll.
Evan is currently a sophomore at Langley High School who is motivated and passionate to help others. He has won many awards including 5th and 7th place nationally in separate Science Olympiad events, and many 1st to 3rd places in Science Olympiad state, regional and invitational competitions. He has served as Den Chief of Cub Scouts and Patrol Leader of Boy Scouts. He has scored competitively on the USABO open exam. He plays basketball at Langley High School, and enjoys fishing and cooking in his free time.
Daniel Qiu is a junior at TJHSST. He first learned how to code in his freshman year of high school and has loved it ever since. Due to his love of programming, Daniel has found himself competing in many coding competitions such as USACO, Berkeley’s Calico competition, Upenn’s Pclassic competition, and many more. Since the beginning of his high school programming career, Daniel has won many awards such as USACO gold level, and first place at Berkley’s Calico competition, as well as represented TJHSST in its annual VCU high school programming contest. As an active member of TJHSST’s computer team and computer security club, Daniel loves to solve coding problems and participate in hacking competitions. As an officer at TJHSST’s computer security club and co-captain of TJHSST’s intermediate computing team, Daniel enjoys hosting coding competitions and writing problems for others to solve. He has organized competitions such as TJHSST’s annual summer in-house competition. As a teacher at Illumony, Daniel hopes to bring his passion for computer science to younger students. During his spare time, Daniel enjoys playing Tetris and watching Minecraft YouTubers