The Student Spotlight Podcast

Wow, it's been a year! A lot has changed as my 3rd year comes to an end and fourth year starts soon. In this episode, I fill you in on my updated mental models after I reflect along the last year and why I didn't podcast during that period. It was a challenging year and led to a breaking point but it's only up from here as I come to conclude this long episode with. If these topics resonate with you, I also outline beneficial action items and correct previous mindsets to help moving forward. This episode marks the end of season 3, we'll see you refreshed in the next season :D! 

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.

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! ✨

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!

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!

You know what, students face many personal obstacles besides obvious academic ones. Here, I attempt to tackle three of those in this episode. The first and main narrative is how to adopt effective sleep hygiene. I outline my strategies and things I've learnt from research! While explaining this, my brain naturally alludes to other fun topics along the way like, identity moratorium-ness and classic egocentrism. If any of these topics interest you, feel free to pop a listen! Also, if you think of anything remarkable, feel free to leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts :D Happy Amyloid Beta Plaque Cleaning! 

Cue the Spotlight to Vaneezeh Siddiqui, a 3rd year UofT student majoring in statistics, and double minoring in computer science and business. She is the Founder and President of the up and coming WiSC (Women in Science and Computing) club. In this heartfelt conversation, Vaneezeh brings light to her passions about leadership, people management, and empowering female-identifying students in STEM. I loved having this very well-spoken gal on this highly requested EP. You can check out her personable and educational blog @thisgalcodes on Instagram. For now, it's time to cast the spotlight on this phenomenal girl boss!

What does clarity and focus look like in today's digital age? We explore this topic with wisdom from Elon Musk, new york imagery, a guided meditation, and finally, a warning.