Twitter! Medicine! Newborn Love! What do all 3 of these themes have in common? Lan! On this episode, the spotlight is on Lan Dao, a third-year medical student at the University of Montreal and a previous intern at the Mila - Quebec AI Institute. With her plethora of experiences, we talk all things health, philosophy, and happiness! There are tidbits for everyone to learn on this episode as we went about tackling questions like: "what is the best thing about medical school?" to "how do you differentiate work-life balance?" So catch this episode while you can, as season 2 comes to a close ;)! If you are on the bird website, you should totally follow @Lan_Dao_ for thought-provoking tweets! Lan also made some twitter shoutouts to a couple of lucky people, follow them if you'd like: @ashleydzhang, @nickcammarata, @altversachi. You can also follow me @yasmeenbrain for podcast updates. It's time to cue the spotlight to future Dr. Lan Dao, enjoy! Fun fact: Lan's secret talents include eating ice cream with her teeth and flying planes. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/studentspotlight/message

Beep boop beep in this EP, I am joined by three computer science friends, Alex, Andriy, and Peter, where we discuss all things esports gaming (and its connection with math!), as well as a classic Anime exposé! Here's a little sneak peek about this fun-filled episode's guests:  Alex Teeter is a first-year Computer Science student at the University of Toronto, Scarborough. His hobbies/interests include: Anime, Programming, Smash and Philosophy. He hopes to study and pursue a career in Software Engineering because he enjoys programming and likes the “logical flow” it has. Fun fact: his favorite language is Java, since it’s the one he started off with. Despite a hard year transitioning into university as a freshman,. he hopes to continue to work hard and achieve his goals! Next, Andriy is as 2nd year computer science student at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. His hobbies/interests include but are not limited to: programming, reading, and trying out food from different cultures. Andriy hopes to one day pursue research in how machine learning can be directly applied to our lives and what improvements it can provide. You can check out his weebness via his curated anime list: https://myanimelist.net/animelist/Tr_psin    Lastly, we are joined by a Pikmin Master! Speaking of, have you played Pikmin 3 Deluxe yet?! Peter is a second year CS student who is also an events coordinator for UTM's esports club. In terms of interests, he enjoys playing and competing in video game tournaments, as well as watching anime. His favourite thing about computer science is the art of programming and the application of theory in code. If you fancy gaming (especially with others),  join Peter's 1000+ member Esports server here: discord.gg/utmesports This episode was very informative in terms of the virtual entertainment industry, I'm glad we were able to explore this new virtual landscape with some friends (shoutout out to DSC [Google's Developer Student Club] for connecting us in vc). Poggers! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/studentspotlight/message

Long time, no see Spotlights! I have not fallen off the face of Earth in my absence over the last two months, just had a lot of big projects surface at the same time. In this episode, I update you on the various facets of this podcast as well as my invested endeavours in joining Twitter (and getting flagged lol), building artificial intelligence projects, doing lab research, writing a book, and making GAN art! A lot of things, I know. My gray hairs are amassing as we speak. If I make it out alive, I'll try getting this one super cool guest on the podcast for an episode you're sure to enjoy ;D Have a phenomenal start to your week with a listen to this episode! ✨ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/studentspotlight/message

Happy New Year! This episode features Alexander "Sasha" Skvortsov, a 2nd year computer science and math major at Pennsylvania State University! He first started programming through the International Youth Neuroscience Association (IYNA), a nonprofit that helps high school students explore their interests in neuroscience (where we met!). Sasha is currently working on Flarum, a free, open source forum software. Outside of programming, he enjoys pottery, cooking, and listening to music. You can connect with Alex via the LinkedIn(list) at https://www.linkedin.com/in/~alexander/. If you're interested in neuroscience, you can apply for membership at the International Youth Neuroscience Association via youthneuro.org.  To help contribute to the next-generation of forum software that makes online discussion fun, check out flarum.org. Enjoy this episode with the spotlight on Sasha! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/studentspotlight/message

To celebrate the podcast's one year anniversary episode, Sana and I discuss very important topics that come up with our transition to young adulthood! Sana Al-Bahrani is a sophomore student studying Justice, Political Philosophy and Law at McMaster University and TAs several Innovation courses. She is also the Vice President of Operations at the Rescue Our Kids Charity and McMaster Women in Pre-Law Society. She hopes to become a lawyer, human rights advocate and a professor one day. You can get involved with the Rescue Our Kids Charity @rescueourkids on Instagram to help children and their families live happy,  healthy, and full lives. If you're interested in law and empowering one another in the legal field, you can also follow @macwomenprelawsociety on Instagram. We hope you enjoy this thought-provoking episode for the last day of 2020 and have a happy new year!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/studentspotlight/message

Cue the Spotlight to an episode full of laughs as I am joined by 2 classic late-night conversationalists, Alex and Ibby! Our 1st guest is Alexandra, a fourth year Computer Science Specialist and Teaching Assistant at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) who also researches online classroom strategies and education in computer science as she hopes to go to graduate school, with the dream of becoming a teacher. Outside of her studies, she is the General Manager of the Computer Science Student Society, a community determined to bring awareness to mental health, technology resources and academic support to students at UTM. You can get in contact with Alex either through https://cssc.utm.utoronto.ca/ or her fabulous Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenalexthompson/. Our next guest is Ibraheem, a third year Physics major, with minors in Mathematics and Computer Science at UTM. He is also an enthusiastic researcher at the Continuum Robotics Lab and leads as an executive member of the Robotics Club. He currently aspires to enter a career involving research and education. More specifically, Ibby one day hopes to be able to visit CERN as a distinguished Physics professor! If the stars are aligned, you can contact him via https://utmrobotics.com/ or on Instagram @ibbylinkin. === As promised in the episode, here is a running list of recommended video games by the two super cool, pog, folded brain, late night gamers: Wandersong: A wholesome game about a bird who wants to save his friends through singing. Lots of twists and really smart game design on whose story is being told. Undertale: Games are about fighting monsters, but what if you want to be their friend? One Shot: Guide a child home. Save the world. You only have one shot after all. Hades: A rogue that is incredibly rewarding for all skills. You actually want to die and lose to interact with characters and progress the story. A Beginners Guide: A feels trip for the gamers. A story about the artistic approach to video games as you delve into the psyche of a developer through his games. To The Moon: Feels about travelling through a dying man's memories to artificially grant him his last wish. Night in the Woods: A game about mental illness, reconnecting with loved ones, and finding your place in the world. Celeste: Climb a mountain, overcome your anxiety. === This late night EP is definitely one for the books! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/studentspotlight/message

Can you guess which OG guest is featured in this episode? Hint, in season 1, we primarily talked about problem solving with technology and the software engineering space in startups and big corporations. Ok ok enough teasing, it's Arsala Bangash! Staying true to his technological problem solving roots starting from interning at Google and Vida Health, he is now the founder of Grey Software. An organization that pairs up mentors with students to create open-source software! If you are interested in the Grey Philosophy, get involved at https://grey.software/. In this enlightening episode, we talk all about the grey areas that exist within and outside ourselves. Better than that, it's just a good 'ol chat with a friend from the KP province in Pakistan. Cue the Spotlight on Sir Arsalot! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/studentspotlight/message

In the 1st solo episode of season 2, I give an online school update and how I navigated the academic realization that “oh wow this is actually getting kinda hard now”. Proposed solutions and anecdotes include online lectures (skipping some of them :''D), life saving TAs, professor effort, and accountability partners. I also discuss being a fan of Discord to combat social isolation! Since it combines the voice/video services with an IRC chat network really well. Enjoy this quick EP!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/studentspotlight/message

Cue the 1st episode of season 2 of The Student Spotlight, to kickstart this new season with a bang, today’s guest is Nameera Azim! She's a talented student studying statistics, computer science and business at the University of Toronto. Besides school, she is an artiste and paints scenic watercolour pieces that go for online auction. You can check out her art shop via instagram @warmregarts and order some art pieces at https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/WarmRegarts. You can also reach out to her personally @nameera18 on Instagram as well. In this thought-provoking episode, we discuss societal applications of data science, explore the world of student-driven entrepreneurship, and end off with a glimpse into an artist's world. There's truly something for everyone in this EP and I'm glad it could be with the one and only, Nameera! warm regarts xoxo --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/studentspotlight/message

Welcome to Season 2 (sophomore year)!!! The Student Spotlight is a podcast that explores the highs and lows of student life with guests and the host, Yasmeen, a psychology/computer science student at the University of Toronto. This podcast aims to help the student community connect more through stories. By starting conversations with students about their lives so far, we can each test-trial a pathway and learn from others (outside of the classroom)! To join the community: follow us @thestudentspotlight on Instagram, @thestudentspot in Twitter, and join our Discord Server @ https://discord.gg/2HyVPfGTQR. Cue the Spotlight! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/studentspotlight/message