Evelyn Qiao

Small-group mentorship with YC founders, F500 executives, multi-millionaires, and more Structured curriculum tracks designed to help you develop real-world skills relevant to your career A community of ambitious, like-minded students that you match with to build startups with All for FREE. But only for a limited number of spots. Sai, Dhairya, Mahathi, Harish, Kejun, and I are building something huge. Our leader and mentor, Joshua Newall, Has advised Fortune 500 companies at scale, Chats with YC founders for fun, And is the kind of guy who you could talk with for hours and never run out of stories. Together, we’ve designed a program that teaches you everything school forgot. It’s a long-term commitment. Even after the curriculum concludes, The exclusive community and opportunities last forever. Our free founding cohort runs from September 1st - 30th And we’re only taking 30-50 people. Want to apply? Fill out the quick 10-minute application on our website here: https://high-agency.io First 10 applications receive priority consideration. After that, refer your friends and/or use a referral code from a friend to get priority. But the thing we care about most Is your high agency. It doesn’t matter how good your grammar is or  Or how many buzzwords you include As long as you show that you have an inner drive to lead your own unique life. So just be yourself. And show us why you are amazing. If you want my referral link, Comment “AGENCY” and why you think you should get it! I’ll DM you if you’re a good fit. Deadline is August 25. Best of luck!

Almost a year ago, I received a random LinkedIn DM that changed everything. It was from a complete stranger Who simply told me that he was building a program Designed to help students to develop “high agency.” “What even is that?” I thought to myself. So I searched it up. Gemini told me it was “having the strong power and clear ability to take charge of your own life.” That’s the one thing that’s missing from most people these days. We all have a victim mindset. “It’s impossible to find a j*b…” “Only legacy students get accepted to top colleges…” “AI is going to take over…” Sure, some of those statements might be partially true. And it sucks. But most people simply ride with the flow of life Let the systems and current events dictate them. High agency is the determination to create your own opportunities. Lead the life YOU want. No matter what hidden rules or norms are present in modern society. When I joined this program I was placed into a cohort with 5 other people. And I was taken aback. They moved at the speed of light. No hesitation. No waiting. Sai Amartya Balamurugan Lakshmipraba built a Telegram integration for Aside (YC F25) and secured a paid remote internship that didn’t initially exist. Mahathi Dharmavaram developed a real-world implementation of Rocket League using Arduino-powered RC vehicles. Dhairya Shah published a mobile app to the Google Play store and got 200k+ views from social media. Kejun (Renée) L. has volunteered over 235 hours running craft stations, game booths, beach cleanups, and community events across Irvine. Harish Ramasubramanian built an app and scaled it to 50,000+ active users within months with minimal marketing. They’re all breaking through the limits of what high schoolers are “supposed” to do. And together, we’re building a program to help you join us. More details coming soon.

I went in as #20 Came out as #2. This past week, I played in the WIM Ruth Haring Tournament of Girls State Champions An invitation-based tournament that pooled the top scholastic girl from each of the 50 US states into a single event. My whole family piled into a car and drove 12 hours to the venue in Michigan And I missed the first two days of school to compete. I didn't have any expectations going in Especially since I was almost in the bottom half of the players in terms of rating But I ended up winning 2nd place with a score of 4.5/6 Earning a $280 cash prize and $4,000 university scholarship + $100 best game award! But it wasn't just about the chess. I also reunited with my amazing chess friends Who I've kept in touch with but hadn't seen in over a year at this point. We went to events together Strolled randomly around town And ate meals together. We also made a pact that we would get ice cream on the last day And whoever placed the highest would have to pay. Totally worth the $50. There's something special about a tournament of only girls. Everyone is friendly. Everyone gives each other gifts. And every round is insanely unpredictable Because girls generally play in fewer tournaments so their skill level sometimes doesn't match their published rating. It's not an experience I'll forget anytime soon. Now it's back home and back to school 😭

This is my house. Just kidding This is the MEYer May House. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1909 Later restored in 1986 and soon after opened to the public to tour for free. Art in general has unfortunately never been something that I understood and connected with super deeply But something about the way the tour guide described the design of the house just stuck with me. Each room, each piece of furniture, each tile and brick Was crafted with care and placed intentionally. From the way he painted the vertical mortar in the same color as the bricks to highlight the horizontal lines To the simplistic yet beautiful color palette he chose for the elements It was clear that this was a piece of intricately crafted artwork. That's something that's missing from a lot of modern-day products. Especially with AI at our fingertips all the time It's SO easy to just create something sloppy and then share it with the world. 99% of the stuff out there right now is just low-effort, low-quality AI slop. Even putting in a little bit more effort than everyone else Designing a unique UI instead of having the AI run wild Adding little human touches here and there (like easter eggs or cute animations) Sets you so far ahead. People connect with things that seem like they were created thoughtfully And things that are just a bit different from everything out there. EVERYTHING Even a business, event, or presentation Can be a work of art.

This past Friday I shouted about math to a camera in the "Niagara of the South" aka Cumberland Falls in Kentucky! It was totally unplanned. Basically I wanted to apply to this camp that I learned about at the last minute. I originally thought I didn't have enough time Because I had to prep for this national chess tournament (which starts tomorrow) But on Friday morning I decided it was too important to miss Wrote the script on the 5-hour drive over And arrived at 7 PM; sunset was 8:44. I had less than 2 hours to check in, explore, and also film all of the parts In a park with strangers walking around everywhere. I had 7 different parts to film, all in different locations Where I had to memorize whole paragraphs of lines 😬 But anyway, I got it done by about 9 PM Went back to our cabin and edited until 12:30 AM Then edited the rest on the road the next day Submitted it that night. It was spontaneous and honestly so fun. It was kind of intimidating to face my social anxiety and film in front of random people (idk how vloggers do it 😓) But I'm so glad I did it instead of taking the easy way out And missing the application entirely. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. 📸 A moment from the video! (guess what I'm talking about 😭)