UnderDogs Into Winners Season 2: Bihan Jiang

The A-Game Team and Wonsulting are back with Season 2 of UnderDogs Into Winners with some new updates!

For the next couple of weeks, The A-Game Team will be interviewing & highlighting success stories of college students who came from non-target schools on Saturdays @11am on A-Game’s Youtube Channel.

These students ultimately bring out their A-Game by landing at some of the top tech companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, Microsoft & Cisco along with paying it forward to their peers through various Wonsulting initiatives.

We are kicking off the series with Bihan Jiang, an incoming Software Engineering Intern at Facebook & Rising Senior at Stanford University.

Prior to Saturday’s event, we wanted to take the chance to shed some spotlight on who Bihan is as a person along with some of her interests.

1). What is your favorite book of all time? Why?

My favorite book is “Algorithms to Live By” by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths. As a computer science major, I spent a lot of time in my undergraduate classes studying algorithms, how they worked, and their applications. “Algorithms to Live By” is a book discussing how insights from computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives, help people solve common decision-making problems, and illuminate the workings of the human mind. I found this book very interesting because it helped me turn the discipline I study into strategies for everyday life. Additionally, the authors do a good job giving interesting explanations and backstory on the algorithms and relating them in ways that are accessible to readers who aren’t familiar with computer science.

2). Who has been the biggest mentor in your career?

I haven’t had many consistent mentors in my college years until recently. However, Jonathan Javier (Wonsulting) has been a huge mentor to me over the past few months and has provided me with a lot of inspiration through his constant diligence and energy that he puts into everything he does. Moreover, he has helped connect me with different speaking opportunities and platforms to share my message and my experiences. It is also through this experience that I started to understand the value of having mentors to provide guidance and insight throughout your career.

3. Favorite type of food?

I’m a huge fan of spicy food so my favorite food is the Chinese dry pot from Mala Project, a Chinese restaurant in New York. You can customize the level of spiciness in the pot as well as the types of meats, seafood, vegetables, and other food you put in the pot.

4). In what ways are you a different person during COVID?

COVID has had a pretty large impact on my daily life, work, and relationships. I’m currently living at home during COVID since I’m still a student, and it has been the longest period I’ve lived at home since my sophomore year of high school. My daily pace of life has slowed considerably since I no longer am rushing from classes to events or meetings, and I’ve had a lot of alone time to think and reflect more about what I want in the future.

In terms of work and productivity, I think that although I have had more free time to explore side projects such as creating YouTube and LinkedIn content, COVID has gradually worn down my productivity. I’ve found that as quarantine has gone on, I’ve gradually felt a decrease in my motivation and have had to actively do things to re-inspire myself and get myself back into a working mindset. I think a lot of people can relate to quarantine burnout and losing motivation, so my advice is to change up your routine and don’t let yourself fall into complacency as well as surround yourself with people who inspire you.

My relationships and social circles have also changed a lot during the quarantine. Before, I would rely on proximity to see my friends and have social interaction and was less proactive about reaching out and connecting with people. I think COVID has made me realize the importance of the relationships in my life and who I want to reach out to and keep in contact with.

5). How has your experience been being apart of the Wonsulting team thus far?

My experience as a part of the Wonsulting community has been great so far! I only recently joined the community a couple of months ago after connecting with Jonathan while we were both at Cisco. I really admire Jonathan, Jerry, and all of the amazing Wonsulting mentees who are doing cool things. Being a part of the community has given me an extra source of inspiration and motivation, and the community has provided me with many opportunities to speak about my experience and share my knowledge with others. I hope to continue working with everyone in the community to help and inspire others.

6). Ultimately what brings out your A-Game?

There are two main things that inspire me to bring my A-Game. I’m the type of person who values internal and external drivers equally. On the external side, I draw inspiration from the people who I surround myself with, which is why the Wonsulting community has been such a great motivating factor for me, especially during COVID. Seeing other people work on what they’re passionate about gives me energy and inspires me to pursue what I’m passionate about as well. Internally, reflecting on my values and what I want out of life helps me create personal goals and milestones that keep me motivated. By understanding the importance of what I’m doing and why I’m doing it, I’m able to stay energized and focused.

To learn more about Bihan, tune in to our Youtube Live this upcoming Saturday at 11 am!!