Christine Okubo is an undergraduate scholar at New York University studying Data Science with a prospective minor in Politics. On campus, she is the Head of the WiTech New York Chapter and a publisher for Sycamore Institute at NYU, a think tank with journal issues focused on US and International security. She is also part of the IT team for NYU's School of Public Service, where she does data and website management work that educates her on the analysis of government policies and the process of creating academic discourse on public service.

 

She graduated from the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) with High Honors and an exemplary performance award for Engineering. While in PSHS, she led various school and community organizations, did research in computing with her peers, and won a few medals from international math competitions in Singapore and India. She was a consistent recipient of the DOST Youth Excellence in Science (YES) Award and a nominee for the Zonta Young Women in Public Affairs Award.

 

She is still uncertain about which industry to pursue after undergrad but she hopes to become a leader for data-driven policymaking and social justice in the future. While she has much to learn, she believes that objective and informed insights from data can help us make better decisions to improve human condition. In an effort to contribute to this endeavor, she currently interns for Rappler where she writes fact checks, creates visualizations, and analyzes COVID-19 statistics from the DOH Data Drop.

 

Stuck in quarantine for most of 2020, her hobbies have downgraded to binging KDramas until 3AM, online shopping, and attending Zoom meetings. A long time ago —  when mankind freely went outdoors — she did exciting stuff like travelling with friends, playing ultimate frisbee, and taking film photo walks all over New York!