Where are they now? Jasmine Chen (2017)

Memories of my years at the College

It’s hard to believe that I graduated from Pymble three years before COVID-19; those days feel like they belong to a completely different lifetime. Looking back now, my time at Pymble was both challenging and fulfilling. Despite school ending at 3.00pm, I always found a way to fill my afternoons with activities, whether it was dance, cooking or coding. I’m especially grateful to Dr Spence for creating the Tinkering with Technology program (which later evolved into the FRC Robotics program), because it gave students like me the space to explore and experiment and discover passions we might not have uncovered otherwise. I’ve always enjoyed building things and figuring out how they work, and I still remember the hours I spent in the Science building fiddling with Arduinos, waiting for the lights to finally blink in the right pattern, then immediately dreaming up the next project I wanted to try. Those small experiments offered a glimpse of where my interests could take me and gave me direction for what I wanted to pursue next.

From Year 8, I knew that I wanted to study in the US. I wanted the freedom to explore different fields before committing to a single path, and the US system encourages this flexibility. I also knew that if I were to go into the tech industry, there were far more opportunities in the US, and having a degree there would make both the job search and visa process much simpler.

Year 13 and beyond

In September 2018, I packed my life into a few suitcases and flew across the world to Philadelphia to begin my degree at the University of Pennsylvania. Over the next four years, I completed a dual degree program, studying Computer Science in the Engineering school and Finance at the Wharton School. To keep myself sane amidst all the coding and problem sets, I also pursued a minor in Music, which made for some of the most unique and memorable moments of my time at Penn. In a class called Recording Music, for example, we created a piece entirely out of three recorded sounds: water, a leaf and a vocal. In another class, Performance, Analysis and History, we studied a composer in depth each semester and analysed their works. We were placed into chamber groups to learn pieces from that composer, and during class, we were coached by professional musicians in the Daedalus Quartet. My favourite part was watching the performances evolve through the guidance of the coaches, gradually transforming week by week and culminating in a final concert at the end of the semester. The university’s newsletter even covered this class given its multidisciplinary and unique nature; here’s the article if you’d like to learn more about it.

Outside of academics, I brought a little taste of home to Penn through the Australians and New Zealanders student club, where I introduced my friends to Milo, fairy bread, and sausage sizzles. I was also actively involved in a business fraternity, where the friendships I built became some of my strongest support systems, whether it was preparing for an important interview, spending a quiet evening just hanging out, or heading out together on a Friday night to celebrate the end of a long week.

Beyond campus life, being in Philadelphia meant I had extraordinary access to world-class music. With the Curtis Institute of Music and the Philadelphia Orchestra just 15 minutes from campus, both offering affordable student memberships, I had the chance to hear legendary musicians like Hilary Hahn, Evgeny Kissin, Emanuel Ax and Daniil Trifonov bring music to life. In fact, during my senior year of college, I spent almost every Friday afternoon in the concert hall, taking advantage of all that the city had to offer musically. Those hours became a way to pause from the chaos of college life and lose myself in the music.

Graduation marked the start of a new chapter in New York City. I thought my future was neatly mapped out: a software engineering role at Meta to gain a few years of experience in big tech, then the tech world is my oyster. But life rarely goes as planned. Just two months into the job, I was swept up in Meta’s first mass layoff, part of the 11,000 employees suddenly left without jobs. I was thrown into one of the most tumultuous markets in the tech industry with only five months of experience, all while facing the possibility of losing my visa if I couldn’t secure a job within three months.

It was a very dark winter. Companies everywhere were laying off, and every open position demanded at least five years of experience, not five months. Each day was filled with a blur of applications, cover letters, and automated rejection emails. I sent out more than 500 applications in the span of three months, and at night, the application forms I had filled out that day lingered in front of my eyes. Eventually, spring came, both figuratively and literally, bringing with it a long-awaited sense of relief. I received offers to work at JPMorgan as a software engineer and to pursue graduate studies at Columbia. A year later, I found myself at my current fintech company, Affirm, continuing to build my career as a software engineer while also studying part-time for a master’s degree in Machine Learning.

Since graduating from Pymble, life has been anything but predictable. Looking back, the twists and turns have taught me many lessons, but two in particular stand out.

The first lesson that has stayed with me is to always be ready for opportunities and for challenges. As cliché as it sounds, change truly is the only constant. Readiness isn’t about predicting the future; it’s about putting yourself in the best shape possible. Keep an open mind as you continue learning and sharpening your skills, so that when opportunities arise, you’re prepared to jump at them and grow. At the same time, readiness means having the strength and tools to face challenges head-on and tackle whatever obstacles life throws your way.

The second lesson is to not be afraid to reach out for help. The support of my community gave my journey a sense of fulfilment it never could have had alone. During the Meta layoff, my friends showed up for me in countless ways: dropping off pastries and ice cream, keeping me connected when I might have otherwise withdrawn, and listening patiently when I needed to vent. Alumni I had never even met went out of their way to help, offering referrals at their companies, connecting me with their networks, and even taking time out of their busy schedules to help me prepare for interviews. Their advice reshaped how I approached the process and gave me the confidence I needed to succeed. Whether it’s reaching out to an upperclassman for advice, asking a professor for a letter of recommendation, or seeking guidance from professionals on LinkedIn whose career paths inspire you, taking that step to ask is almost always worthwhile. The worst you can hear is “no”, but more often than not, people are willing to help, and that support can open doors you didn’t think possible.

What’s next for me?

The journey from Pymble to where I am now has been filled with cherished memories and unexpected turns. I could never have predicted it all, but I’m deeply grateful for each step and for the people who have walked alongside me, and I’m excited to see how the next chapter unfolds.

If you read it all the way to the end, thank you for sticking with me and my rambles. Here’s a hello from my COVID-19 kitties: Timmy and Tammy 🙂