about me

Hi, I'm Octavia and dropping computer science from my combined major of Computer Science and Design was one of the best things I have ever done.

​

I'm a fourth-year Media Arts student at Northeastern University and I spent the first two of my college years exploring classes and having a crisis about my major almost every month. It went from linguistics and languages (American Sign Language, Spanish, Mandarin), to psychology, marine biology, and pre-med on the dental track, then computer science and English? I finally declared Computer Science and Design for around a semester and a half when I fell in love with the visuals and feeling design gave me and moved forward with that. I'm getting comfortable with design, video, and photo software and I find working on mechanical keyboards oddly satisfying. It's coding that I found less engaging.

​

Now I feel at home in my design and media classes where I know everyone's names and have professors who truly care about their students' health, success, and creativity. Class critiques with passionate professors and like-minded peers and improving my work throughout semesters have been the best way for me to immerse myself in the vast field. I believe in the intersection, diversity, and ambiguity of design and media while having fun and learning new skills. I love working with cameras and equipment and am passionate about conveying the human experience through storytelling in photography, videography, and graphic design. 

​​

Two activities that greatly influenced my life were cross-country/track and music. During my high school years, I trained almost daily as a member of the high school cross-country and track teams. I was passionate about the sport, and enjoyed the team relationship as well as the individual aspect of running. Music was part of my life since pre-school, when I first started studying piano. In grade school, I added violin study for a few years and enjoyed the Suzuki camps and group playing, but ultimately I decided to not spread myself too thinly and so I continued with just piano through high school. For several years, I participated in a summer music camp called “Chamber Music Intensive” in which I played the piano part for piano/string quartets and quintets. A favorite chamber music piece of mine was the second movement of Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, Opus 44. Debussy is probably my favorite composer for solo piano. I've played Arabesque No. 1 dozens, maybe hundreds of times. While I no longer spend hours daily running or practicing piano, they helped to shape my work habits and my skills working with groups to create something meaningful. 

​

Outside of school and work, I like to read romcoms (but be haunted by my middle school days writing cringey stories and making Canva book covers), research mechanical keyboards and cameras that I will one day (hopefully) be able to afford, compare film styles of East Asia to Hollywood, listen to the same playlist on repeat for two weeks and then not listen again for months, and keep a consistent exercise schedule and daily sunscreen application.