YES April Meeting

The April meeting of the Youth Entrepreneurship Society was held at the Scottish Rite Hospital, consisting of the YES launch program and the YES college application panel. The panel brought together four YES members who have been accepted to various universities ranging from UT Austin to Columbia, and was led by Mr. Ted Su, one of our YES advisors, a mentor and entrepreneur. 

The meeting started off with our YES launch program, where every team was given a chance to prepare for a five minute pitch in front of the audience. The presentations were impressive across the board, with standout concepts including an e-paper product, a curriculum-based music theory app, and an adaptable insulin pen tracker. Following each pitch, audience members posed questions and offered feedback, helping teams think more critically about their ideas and refine their products.

After a short break, the meeting shifted to the YES college application panel. Mr. Ted Su interviewed four senior members of YES about their experiences navigating the college application process. Annie Chen, Gabriel, Matthew Tian, and Josephina Qiu offered thoughtful insights, covering topics such as the application timeline, what mattered most, and nuances about recommendation letters.

Accepted to Columbia University, Annie Chen was the president of the speech and debate team, president of the National Honor Society, and earned many awards and placement in major debate competitions. Some of her advice was to be proactive during the first three years of high school, get more involved in clubs and become an active member of the school community. She would also advise to ask questions to upperclassmen when you need to, as they are a good source of information, having been through the experience themselves. 

Accepted to UT Austin, Rice, and UCLA, Gabriel founded a nonprofit, organized activities with his school, and engaged in real estate management as well as a shoe reselling service. He advises others to be intentional with everything you do, especially picking classes and not having too much of a slacked courseload senior year. In addition, Gabriel recommends writing essays and personal statements earlier, and crafting your own story around your passions. 

Matthew Tian, who was accepted to Texas A&M, participated in All-Region Choir, received a Bronze President Volunteer Service Award, and was a clinical observer for dentistry. For picking majors or the path that he chose, Matthew mentions reading a book called Fooled By Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who described a metaphor of a dentist versus a janitor who won the lottery. The end result for both is the same amount of money, but the journey was far more different, with the janitor only winning the lottery in one out of a million simulations. Matthew believes that stability is important for him, and decided to choose to go the dentistry route. 

Accepted to UT Austin, Rice, and John Hopkins, Josephina Qiu made it to TFA state for debate, was a TMEA all region member, and was the president of an English tutoring nonprofit. She advises students to be involved in class for junior year, get to know their teachers, and to do something you are passionate about. Josephina also mentions that once you cross a certain threshold, miniscule differences in gpa do not matter as much anymore.

All of the members spoke of their experience at YES as well, as many of them have been members for more than 3 years. Annie listed YES as one of her top three activities, and found it really valuable to talk to people with different aspirations and different backgrounds. Gabriel and Matthew both described YES as an important place to forge meaningful relationships, and Josephina found the access to various industry professionals through YES very helpful to finding the path which she wanted to take. 

The April YES meeting was a resounding success, offering younger members a rare window into the college application journey straight from those who had just lived it. For anyone feeling overwhelmed by the process, the panel served as a practical guide to navigating the often daunting waters of college applications.