What is the CDS Leadership Circle? 5 Minutes with Yiran Xu
Yiran Xu, the president of the CDS student-run organization, the Leadership Circle, shares her plans for the upcoming year
Yiran Xu is a second-year Master’s student in Data Science at CDS.
1. What is the Leadership Circle at CDS?
It is a student-run organization at CDS that represents the student body, and helps to build the CDS community. Through hosting events like the Last Summer Panel and Game Night, the Leadership Circle helps first-year and second-year students to get to know each other, have fun, relax, and take a break from our heavy workload. Moreover, the committee members of the Leadership Circle have the opportunity to develop skills in leadership, time management, and communications by organizing the various events and activities for the students throughout the academic year.
2. Why did you apply to become President, and what are your plans for the upcoming year?
After having completed an internship over the summer, I’ve realized how important it is to connect with other people in the data science community so that we can all help each other grow. Having fun social events where people can get to know each other in a relaxed setting is usually the best way to build relationships, so this is why I am passionate about working with the rest of the Leadership Circle to organize great events for our students.
During my first year here, I have actively participated events held by the previous Leadership Circle, and really enjoyed them. Thus, I would like to contribute this year. I am also really looking forward to developing my leadership and communication skills because I know how important it is to my future career. I see the Leadership Circle as a great opportunity for me to do so.
The plan for this year is to hold three events per semester. For example, we recently hosted our first event, “Last Summer Panel,” where we invited eight second-year students to share their internship/research experiences with other students.
3. This is your second year at CDS! What has been your favorite experience so far?
I really love everything that is happening at CDS! It’s hard to say which is my favorite one. If I had to choose, I would list three workshops that I love the most.
The first workshop is the Networking and Recruiting workshop where three professionals came and did mock interviews, helped us with our elevator pitches, and taught us how to prepare for interviews. The second workshop was also about preparing for interviews, where I received much information about what data science related interview are usually like. what interviews will test on. The third workshop was a series presentation workshop where a professor came to teach us how to give strong presentations. That workshop in particular really helped me to correct my bad habits and gain more confidence with public speaking.
Interview conducted by Cherrie Kwok
