Prakash, Manya

FY, RD, Fall 2024, 10/11/2004

CEEB: CAID: 38269170
FERPA: Not Waived

Submitted: 01/01/2024

Barnard College writing supplement

Barnard College Writing Questi
Our backgrounds and experiences shape how we navigate the world and see ourselves. Tell us
about when, where, or with whom you feel your most authentic, powerful self. How might
Barnard further cultivate this version of you?

I feel bold pursuing a dream that my community’s conventions tag ‘unaffordable’ for me.

In India's oldest city, I discovered myself within a multi-faith, eight-language, close-knit cultural
community, where "social differences seamlessly meld into identities." Like the fearless Barnard-
women who carry the legacies of Trailblazers, I feel empowered when extending my community's
values to those affected by gender and resource-disparities.

In the realm of Robotics, as the sole female, yet leader, I assumed a role echoing the fearlessness
of Barnard-women- majoring in unafraid. I raised my voice, challenging conventions stifling
normative reasoning and igniting discussions. The empowering noise fueled my commitment to
take action, proudly embracing the "rebel-tag" and addressing taboos within a Community-
Sensitive framework.

As an aspiring Barnard-women, I resonate with the potential of a sincere approach in genuinely

transforming lives. Coupled with my STEM-obsession, I extensively invested in research-projects
aiming positive-impact for inclusivity of specially-abled-groups. Empowered by empowering
others- I dedicated to aiding people grapping with resource-inequality. Post-COVID, it centred to
urgent issues of digital-unawareness.

Barnard, with its resources spanning liberal-arts, expert role-model faculty, 'personalized-research',
can harness my will and dedication- amplifying my voice. The careful interweaving of interests and
essential skill-set, coupled with real-world 'impact-training' through unique internships for every
skill-development - Will 'hand-craft' me into a confident woman ready to transform the world
alongside support from fellow 'unique-yet-equally-over-enthusiastic' sisters.

What I individually strived for, spanning two cities- reached over 300 stories already. With
Barnard's community embodying change itself- WE can provide affordability and quality to
millions.

Barnard celebrates intellectual risk-taking, and we believe that academic inquiry starts with bold
questions. What questions do you have about the world around you, and why do they matter to
you?

WS Prakash, Manya CEEB: Fall 2024 1 FY RD CAID: 38269170

Med-Tech can automate surgery to critical life-saving precision. Fin-Tech can revolutionize
economies, making financial services affordable and accessible. Clean-Tech can save the world
from the negative repercussions of human greed, and AI and ML can solve the rest. The 'can' in
tech, often a portrayal of applaud-worthy abilities or exciting potential, intrigues me. While the first
three examples pose no critical issues, our fascination has often overlooked the bigger stakes for
which we must be responsible. The underrated questions that urge me are: How reliable and safe
is AI in tackling sensitive matters when slight ambiguity in instructions 'can' lead to immortal
results? (COMPAS AI predicting biased risk-evaluation of offenders).

In large-impact research projects aided by AI and ML, I grappled with this concern. Previously, I
worked with technology driven by my love for the transformative process it promises. I questioned
why I, along with millions, subconsciously assume that every state-of-the-art development is
foolproof, dismissing potential risks. Conducting a survey, I found many believed themselves to be
unfair when weighing options.

'Can' is also uncertainty, as guilty as innocent until proven. Researching the confidence we can
have in instructing machines and bridging differences between human processing and machine
understanding revealed concerns for a technology at its revolutionizing potential. Our parameters
for estimating pattern recognition outcomes often rely on hit-and-trial methods.

These questions transcend my "tech-interest" into purpose and deepen my motivation everyday. At
Barnard, cultivating these inquiries into bold questions will empower me to contribute
meaningfully to the evolving tech-landscape.

Optional Essay Prompt
Selection
As a college for women, “Barnard embraces its responsibility to
address gender issues in all their complexity and urgency to help
students achieve the personal strength that will enable them to meet
the challenges they will encounter throughout their lives.” How have
you thought about gender in your academic life thus far and how has it
shaped your learning experiences?

Optional Essay

My pivotal academic interest thrust me into the realm of Robotics, where I found myself navigating
the challenges of being an outlier in a predominantly male field from day one. Initially daunting, the
group dynamics pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and assert myself boldly; I prioritized
robotics despite the natural inclination to shy away. Today, collaboration and brain-picking in
STEM research are my favorite aspects, a transformation fueled by the initial challenge.

Early on, my perspective on gender dynamics was shaped by the absence of women in STEM
academia within my community. I found myself idolizing male-figures while viewing women with
comradeship only. Even with maximum efforts, I secretly felt held back by my gender when fellow
male peers enjoyed the liberty to travel for far-off academic events with school, and I couldn't. But
then I met Ritu Kharidal—the rocket woman of India steering the wheels of STEM innovation. Her
story truly transformed me- compelling me to see challenges as opportunity to grow by push
further. Working with women like her—filled with tangible passion and a powerful aura—has made
me more excited about STEM.

Advocating for women-in-STEM, I realized underlying issue was conventional society leading to
females unintentionally ignoring STEM options. But all change needed was raising a voice. Upon
joining, women enhanced discussions and collaborations, as if the untapped potential was high-

WS Prakash, Manya CEEB: Fall 2024 2 FY RD CAID: 38269170

pressure steam pushing to escape.

Today, working as the only-female in IBITF technical-team, I view myself as representative

advocating for each potential 'pushing-the-boundaries' somewhere.

Applicants to the Science Pathways Scholars Program for Underrepresented Minority and First-
Generation Students: Please outline your interest in pursuing science and scientific research.
You may reflect on your past experiences, discuss your role models, or describe your educational
and career goals.

I aspire to research Personalized Learning AI & ML models. For the past 3 years, I have been
working towards bridging what I call the "Tech-gap" in underprivileged areas. Essentially, post-
COVID, I discovered that many local 'gramin' (rural) schools had shut down education entirely due
to a lack of know-how for moving to online platforms. Having two important educational years
stripped away from rural students not only left them behind but also meant many would continue
to face this gap for good—a pattern (enhanced by COVID) of resource-deprived families making
children work day jobs. Furthermore, the knowledge 'gap' created by not knowing the basics of the
digital world, when technology is exponentially growing, will leave a large group backward. I
volunteered individually and expanded the impact by persuading the Rotary Club to create a whole
branch dedicated to this highly concerning issue. My city, Varanasi, has 40% of the population
below the poverty line, so resource inequity is significant. However, through research, I discovered
such situations are not rare at all. The worst suffering party is females—while boys couldn't use a
computer or lacked digital awareness, many girls hadn't even held smartphones.

Here I developed a passion to research Personalized Learning (PL) as there is only so much
impact we can individually make in an urgent problem like this. PL can be a game-changer in
education equity. Furthermore, taking the assistance of PL models can enhance classroom
learning by folds, creating skillful individuals that will help impact the world significantly.

This aim is very personal to me because, as crude as the reality is, achieving dreams is not free of
price tags. While volunteering, financial support like (SP)2 is the only reason behind my 'ability' to
"afford dreams." I aspire to work on this effort on a large scale.

Applicants to the New Pathways Bridgewater Scholars Program: The Bridgewater Scholars
Program is open to First Year students who express interest in the fields of economics, math,
statistics, and computer science. It provides access to a range of mentorship opportunities along
with funding to support research and internships. Please outline your interest in this program
and how it relates to possible future career goals. You may choose to reflect on past experiences
or projects, role models, or ideas for research and internships that you would like to explore.

I grew up in a family steeped in academia. My grandfather and grandmother, both educators of

Mathematics and Sanskrit respectively, advocate the highest regard for education despite being
unable to afford a school uniform for my father. I share their faith in the power of knowledge and
aspire to hone my skills in STEM—translating my ideas and determination into real-world impact,
specifically tackling resource inequality.

While financial constraints are a significant barrier, I am privileged to have already gained research
experiences that have refined my priorities and passion. While Barnard harnesses my potential to

WS Prakash, Manya CEEB: Fall 2024 3 FY RD CAID: 38269170

define the field more precisely, I hereby declare my priorities that will remain at the core of my
unwavering commitment: tackling resource-inequality. (Besides Personalized Learning which is
my immediate priority aim). Similar to my Med-Tech effort, I am interested in using AI and ML to
enhance resource allocation by predicting recovery or real-time health status monitoring, which
would have improved resource access drastically during the COVID period. Like my Clean-Tech
effort, I want to pursue the quality enhancement of existing resources through the analysis and
evaluation of the most efficient models. Similar to my Fin-Tech effort, I want to increase inclusivity
in the accessibility of financial services. Lastly, AI safety, as I addressed previously, is among the
bold inquiries that drive me, and I aim to address it side-by-side with whichever efforts I
concentrate on.

Lastly, I aspire to incorporate collaboration here. I will pursue as many efforts as effectively
possible, but with internship support and guidance, I aim to expand into the field of
economics—creating a large-scale network.

Prof. Rebecca Wright is my role model because of the impact she is creating. I idolize her initiative
"All Tech is Human," which is the kind of revolutionary, meaningful chain-reaction impact I will one
day follow.

WS Prakash, Manya CEEB: Fall 2024 4 FY RD CAID: 38269170