Hey! I'm Ciara, a 14 year old interested in how the combination of AI and VR/AR can create an innovative impact on the education system. I am a part of a youth-accelerator program, TKS, that develops young people like myself to solve some of the world's biggest problems. Besides that, I love to play basketball, read, and learn new things.

November has come to a close and December is just around the corner! I can’t wait for all the snow and fun things that await next month, but nevertheless, let’s not forget about November! November was filled with learning, memorable experiences, and growth! So, let’s jump back into the leaves and see what wonders November brought for me!

This month at TKS has been very eventful! I've been continuing to go to brain pods, have brain dates, and go to some amazing cohort and velocity sessions (if you don't know these terms, check out my previous newsletters)! Besides those things, I've also gotten the chance to participate in the TKS explore hackathon!! For this hackathon, we had to create a product that solves a real problem using emerging technology. So, I worked with Selin Filiz, Sanah Tatla, and Rohan Daggubati to create a concept company called NutriArc. The company is focused on synthesizing resistant starch out of CO2 to combat malnutrition in infants. Even though working on the solution and making the presentation spent a lot of time, and was a very tiring process, overall, it was an amazing learning opportunity. It was so great getting to know my teammates better and working towards one goal as a team. The first two rounds of judging were on the 14th. Those two rounds were judged by our director and judges including Bobby Green, Nguyen (Nathon) Vo, Ravi Soin, Manuj Aggarwal, Holden Beggs, and Daniel Giguere. Our team came out of those rounds winning best presentation. On the 17th, the best teams from the individual cohorts went to the TKS global finals, which were judged by some TKS directors and founders. Selin did an amazing job presenting both rounds!! Our team went on to win best overall globally. As I mentioned above, the overall experience was amazing! I’m super excited to participate in another one!

So far I'm making pretty good progress with my focus. Most of November I've been trying to really take my time and understand the coding and math behind AI, specifically Neural Networks. Earlier this month, I wrote an article about how CNN's can help build an AI tutor. Since then, I've built some regression, classification, and clustering models, as well as an NLP (Natural Language Processing), ANN (Artificial Neural Network), and CNN model with the help of the course I'm taking. Earlier this month I also started taking an AI math course, that TKS alumni, Madhav has been hosting. As of now, I'm starting my first replicate stage. For this replicate, I want to make a facial expression classifier using CNN’s.

There was no way I could write this November newsletter without including some things I’m thankful for! Below is my list (this isn’t everything):

• Family

• Meaningful friendships 

• TKS community

• Easy accessibility to information

• Having all basic necessities (food, water, shelter, etc)

• Publish Learn article

• Start replicate project for focus

• Complete 60+ Braindates

• Record and publish at least 2 more episodes for the podcast

• Reach + Have a meeting with at least 2 AI professionals

• Finish my first replicate
• Publish two more articles
• Publish podcast website + two or more podcast episodes
• Finish making my personal website