True Interest Connect-a-thon (Dec 2025)
Goal: This monthly event series is designed to provide space for college students to explore “true interests” for potential academic and career directions. (We’ve experienced how challenging it can be to navigate one's career or academic path, so we hope to offer some care and support.)
What is “True Interest”?: We define it as the genuine desire to do something—not because of external rules, trends, or opinions, but because it authentically resonates with you.
Format: Online, 20-minute, one-on-one “speed-dating-style” office hours with mentors from diverse fields. You’ll have the opportunity to reflect on what excites you and gain insight into their journeys.
No need to worry about silence or awkward moments 🫠 (we’ve got this!). Before the event, you’ll complete a quick 3-minute survey about your interests so we can match you with a mentor and help spark a fun conversation!
Rules: Be respectful, stay curious, and pass along the joy and energy (that’s why we called it “Connect-a-thon”).
*Voluntarily organized by a group of professors and researchers with coffee and care.
This Month’s Mentors
Dr. Eddie Lin ✍ 💻 🧐
Eddie is an AI and Data Science leader specializing in workforce transformation and applied learning. As a former Staff Data Scientist at Meta, he led large-scale initiatives that combined AI innovation, human-centered design, and measurable business impact. Before finding his “true interest” path, he worked as a chef at an Italian restaurant, a manager in manufacturing that was in charge of ten thousand employees’ health and safety, and thought of driving UBER for living.
Dr. Yipu (Alison) Zheng 💻 🧠 🤖
Alison’s work centers on advancing AI for learning. She has co-chaired influential symposiums on AI in education and served on multiple program committees, including those for IEEE AI Standards and the ACM CHI community. She is also the founder of Curiously, an award-winning AI EdTech platform. Before finding her “true interest” path, she backpacked across Europe, brought Nobel Prize winners to local communities to inspire creativity, and learned how to make the world’s farthest-flying paper planes from the Guinness World Record holder.