Background
I'm a junior at The Bronx High School of Science, one of New York City's most selective specialized high schools, where I push myself academically and competitively every day.
Born in Tokyo in 2009 to a Taiwanese mother and a Spanish father, I grew up between three cultures and speak English, Spanish, and Mandarin fluently. I've called New York home since I was five.
I plan to study Business, Finance, and Economics in college. My research experience and time on the fencing strip have both taught me the same thing: that disciplined thinking under pressure is the foundation of everything.
Academics
I got into Bronx Science by exam. The school put me in rooms with people who took everything seriously, and something about that stuck. The summer before senior year I enrolled in Calculus I at Queens College, the regular undergraduate section, not a high school track, and finished with an A+. It felt important to find out.
A NYC specialized high school with competitive entrance exam. Courses in science, economics, and languages.
1500 total — Math 780, Reading & Writing 720
A+ in the regular undergraduate Calculus I section at Queens College, CUNY. Summer before senior year.
Spanish economy research — Growth, Competitiveness & Prosperity. Advanced to National Semifinals.
The Economics of Music — studying the rise in concert ticket prices for the NY Fed Competition.
Economics started as a subject and became a way of looking at things. As a sophomore I joined a team researching Spain’s economy for Euro Challenge and we made it to the National Semifinals in Manhattan. A year later my team was back at it for the NY Federal Reserve Competition, trying to explain why concert ticket prices had gotten so out of hand. We built an actual model. That felt different.
Research
The Fed Challenge work didn’t feel finished when the competition ended. My classmate Louis Gui and I kept going: we designed an experiment, ran it, and got a result that didn’t match what the textbooks predicted. We wrote it up as a paper. That same summer, MRU selected me for their High School Fellowship and I spent six weeks making economics videos on emigration, working with a professor from USC Marshall. By that point I’d stopped thinking of economics as something I studied.
Competitive 6-week summer fellowship with MRU. Economics videos on emigration, mentored by Matt Hill of USC Marshall.
Experimental economics paper replicating a posted-offer market. Co-authored with Louis Gui. VeconLab, 36 participants.
Chou-Esteban, A., & Gui, L. (2026). Pricing Without Negotiation: Experimental Evidence from a Simulated Concert Ticket Market [Unpublished manuscript]. The Bronx High School of Science.
Three Bloomberg certifications — BMC, BFF, and BQL — covering markets, corporate finance, and spreadsheet analysis.
Bloomberg certifications are used by finance professionals and sought after by business school applicants. Each requires self-study and a proctored assessment.
AP Scholar with Distinction (2026) · AP Scholar (2025) · National Recognition Program School Award (2026).
I also worked through Bloomberg’s professional certification tracks in markets, corporate finance, and spreadsheet analysis, and earned all three certificates. The College Board recognized me with AP Scholar with Distinction. These things matter as signals. But the research and the fellowship felt like proof.
Entrepreneurship
I also run the merch operation for the Bronx Science fencing program. I design the products, find the vendors, manage the inventory, handle the sales, and the money goes back to the team. Before that I had a Depop store: sourcing clothes from overseas, writing listings, shipping orders, dealing with returns. Both taught me the same thing research and fencing did: when it's your money and your customer, there's no partial credit.
I design, source, and sell merchandise to fund the Bronx Science fencing program.
Independent e-commerce venture sourcing fashion items from overseas for resale.
Community
I volunteer regularly at a Mandarin-speaking Chinese senior care center in New York.
I served as team manager for the Bronx Science girls' varsity fencing team.
I volunteer regularly at Golden Eagle, a Mandarin-speaking Chinese senior care center in New York. It’s one of the ways I stay connected to the community that raised me, and it’s worth showing up for its own sake. I also spent a year managing the Bronx Science girls’ varsity fencing team: scheduling, equipment, logistics, keeping things moving so the coaches could coach.
Athletics
I’ve been fencing since before high school. At Bronx Science I made the varsity team freshman year and have competed in both épée and foil every season since. In 2025 I took a PSAL Foil Bronze Medal; my teammates voted me MVP that year. That summer I flew to France for two back-to-back elite camps: foil in Aix-en-Provence, épée in Aveyron, training under European champions. Fencing is where I go to compete without thinking about anything else.
Varsity fencer since freshman year. 🥉 NYC PSAL Foil Bronze 2025. Voted MVP 2024 by my team.
Back-to-back elite camps in France — Foil in Aix-en-Provence, Épée in Aveyron. Training under European champions.
Aix-en-Provence, France · Aug 2–8, 2025
Aveyron, France · Aug 16–22, 2025
B25 rated. Junior Olympics & Summer Nationals 2026 qualifier. 5 gold medals.
C26 rated. Junior Olympics 2025 & 2026 qualifier. Summer Nationals qualifier both years. 5 gold medals.
At the club level I train and compete nationally. In épée I’m B25 rated, qualified for the 2026 Junior Olympics and Summer Nationals. In foil I’m C26, qualified for Junior Olympics and Summer Nationals in both 2025 and 2026. Across both weapons: 18 tournament medals. The sport has given me a tolerance for losing, a habit of breaking things down, and a reason to keep showing up.