Community Outreach and Involvement
Overview
Being involved in the community is a passion of mine. A large part of my experience comes from a variety of different events I’ve either participated in or had the opportunity to lead and organize. These include:
Various Robotics competitions
Science Summer Institute
Destination STEM
EmpowHER
Science Olympiad
TALONS
Auburn University Undergraduate Research Fair
Samford Middle School K-12 Outreach Day
Alabama Science and Engineering Fair
Various Chemistry Department Activities
On top of events, I’ve also participated in various clubs and organizations including the Younger Chemist Committee (YCC, President), COSAM Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Committee (ID&E, Co-chair), and Auburn Esports (Game Rep for Counter-Strike)
Scroll below to learn more about these events!
Science Summer Institute
One of the best opportunities I’ve had was being a counselor for the SSI in the Summer of 2023. This is a highly selective full week event for high school students to have the chance to learn about many different areas of STEM by participating in various activities (Tuskegee National Forest night hike) and lecturers by some of the best faculty that Auburn University has to offer.
During this event, I was one of four counselors that had to be with the students that the second they woke up until the end of the day. We facilitated everything they did all while answering questions and encouraging them to learn even more.
The pictures speak for themselves, feel free to see some of the highlights from this event!
Robotics Shenanigans
Since joining Auburn’s PhD program, I’ve had the pleasure of participating in 7 separate robotics competitions. These include 5 separate Alabama State VEX IG and VRC competitions (February 2023, November 2023, and February 2024) as well as 2 SCORE Showdown Signature Events hosted at the Great Wolf Lodge in LaGrange, GA (January 2023, December 2023).
In all 7 events , I participated as a judge for the robotics teams. We gauged their teamwork, robot building skills and how knowledgeable they were about their project. I love doing these events because I definitely see myself being a proud parent taking my little ones to events like these.
I’ve already have been apart of countless departmental events! A lot of them, I either organized myself, or had a heavy hand in their production! These events include two Halloween events (2022 and 2023), two multicultural potlucks (2022 and 2023), countless tailgates, departmental picnics (as the grill master for 3/4 of these), soccer matches, watch parties, visitation weekends and their accompanied social activities, poster sessions and more!
Chemistry Department
Auburn Esports
One of my biggest hobbies while being at Auburn is running the Counter-Strike section of Auburn Esports! I joined as a player in the Fall of 2020 and later became the Game Representative for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (and later Counter-Strike 2) in Fall of 2021. This role lasted until the Summer of 2024.
When I became the game representative, there was a very tiny community with 3 or so active players that were still interested in competing. By the next semester, I was able to grow the player base and community to have a full 5-player roster with multiple substitutes and active community members. The growth continued and by the Fall of 2023, I had three 5-man teams lead by three trusted leaders in my community with upwards of 10 substitutes and a community boasting over 150 members.
Throughout the 3 years, the teams competed in around 10 collegiate tournaments and made playoffs in most. We went on various trips, like IEM Dallas 2022 and 2023, and also competed at a LAN tournament hosted by University of Alabama (Huntsville). I’m very proud of the outcomes and extremely thankful for the friends I made during this time.
