What now?still looking?

01 ON THE PAGE

The Orator, original Gleaner character art

02 IN THE RUINS

03 IN THE CIRCUIT

THE
BROOKERSTONY BROOK SCHOOL

04 IN THE ROOM

05 THIS PERSON

The Stoic, original Gleaner character art

— A THORN

Often thinking,
always making.

WRITER · BUILDER · GLEANER

LATEST ON THE DESKEntroMusic

hello, I'm Anna!

I'm a sophomore at The Stony Brook School. I move between mathematics, engineering, technology, art, and writing, turning abstract questions into tangible experiments.

Sometimes that means translating brainwaves into music. Sometimes it means a mechanical prototype, a game character, or an essay that began as a question on an ordinary day.

See what's on the desk

02 / ON THE DESK

Things I've been making.

An assortment of experiments, half-filled notebooks, working prototypes, sketches, and occasionally successful ideas.

FEATURED WORK / 01

EntroMusic

Turning brainwaves into harmony.

↗

OpenBCI EEG cap and electrodes used for EntroMusic — OpenBCI cap and electrodes · project photograph

Hands assembling the OpenBCI board — Inside the prototype

EntroMusic research pipeline diagram — From EEG to a musical control signal

It started with a very strange hat. ↗

An EEG-guided adaptive music prototype that explores how changing signal features can shape generated sound.

OpenBCI data is screened for artifacts. Relative alpha power (8–13 Hz) and permutation entropy feed an arousal-related, within-session index; that control signal changes musical parameters in a MIDI-based system.

EEG acquisitionSignal filteringAlpha + entropyControl indexAdaptive music

The index is an experimental control signal, not a clinical diagnosis or treatment. The browser studio uses manual input; public EEG dataset participants are separate from prototype users.

Explore the project ↗Research & results ↗

from brainwaves to the conference floor

Presented as a poster at the IEEE HealthCom 2026 Young Researchers Symposium. This is a symposium presentation, not a journal publication.

Anna beside her EntroMusic poster at IEEE HealthCom 2026 Young Researchers Symposium — Anna with the EntroMusic symposium poster · 2026

FEATURED WORK / 02

The Gleaner Protocol

A game about the things we leave behind.

↗

ARCHIVE / 1517

“You push the door. Rain becomes a screen. Welcome to the game, gleaner.”

Five characters, their relics, and a sixth arrival build a world around memory, identity, fear, and imperfection. Entropy is a proposed game mechanic as well as a story idea.

A playable browser prototype exists. The larger narrative and character systems remain in development.

Play the prototype ↗Visit the Vibe Cave ↗

Original concept illustration of The Orator — The Orator · original concept art

The people in the ruins

Five original character concepts · scroll to explore →

The Stoic character drawing — The Stoic Pride

The Cynic character drawing — The Cynic Wrath

The Archivist character drawing — The Archivist Greed

The Orator character drawing — The Orator Envy

The Nihilist character drawing — The Nihilist Sloth

FEATURED WORK / 03

Science Olympiad

Two years of building & breaking things.

Two consecutive years on The Stony Brook School's A Team, working across engineering, physics, and cryptography.

I've built and tested Electric Vehicle and Hovercraft ideas, planned Mission Possible mechanisms, worked on circuits and 3D CAD designs, and helped B Team members get familiar with Codebusters and cipher solving.

Events: Electric Vehicle · Hovercraft · Mission Possible · Codebusters · Write It Do It. For 2026–27: Codebusters, Mission Possible, and Hovercraft.

Our team placed 4th at Regionals and qualified for the New York State Tournament. This is a team result.

A little CAD, a little cryptography,
and a lot of first tries.

Science Olympiad Electric Vehicle build — Things that move

Science Olympiad workbench — On the workbench

Science Olympiad team at the state tournament — More than a competition

Circuit design diagram — From sketches to circuits

In the workshop

Design, make, test, revise. The engineering work also lives in the drawings, component models, wiring, and conversations around the bench.

Electric Vehicle film ↗Rocket launch ↗Ultrasonic levitation ↗

From the workbench

Swipe or scroll to explore →

Codebusters cryptogram practice on a laptop — Codebusters practice

Science Olympiad workshop bench — Workshop day

Electric Vehicle engineering build — Electric Vehicle build

Breadboard circuit under test — Circuits

Electric Vehicle prototype on a gym floor — Testing the car

Battery pack and switch wiring on the workbench — Wiring detail

Parts and tools in the Science Olympiad workshop — Tools at hand

Science Olympiad team together with medals — Together on stage

FEATURED WORK / 04

LearnFit

A privacy-minded focus experiment that compares eye signals with a personal baseline. Camera processing stays on-device; the estimate is experimental, not a measure of everything happening in a learner's mind.

Explore LearnFit ↗

PhyloSquizz

A personality mirror built around fifty philosophers: more mood and questions than score.

Take the mirror ↗

EDUOH

An oral-history archive of ordinary voices across decades of Chinese education, from the restored gaokao to AI classrooms.

Open archive ↗

Health Guard

A Conrad Challenge team concept for a browser plug-in that flags possible medical misinformation and gives readers feedback. The project received Conrad Innovator recognition for completion.

Visit Health Guard ↗

FEATURED WORK / 05

Cross Country

Finding a rhythm together.

Long runs, early starts, and a finish line shared with the team.

Girls Varsity Cross Country has given me a different kind of practice: showing up, keeping pace, and learning from the runners beside me. Our team won the PSAA championship in 2025.

The championship is a team result.

One more mile. Together. ↗

Cross Country teammates outdoors — On the course

Cross Country team photograph — With the team

ART & WRITING / AN OPEN SKETCHBOOK

A little creative chaos.

Drawings and selected lines from essays, fiction, and reviews. Swipe or scroll through the sketchbook →

Ocean-themed illustration with a whale and figures — Ocean worlds Illustration

Original artwork From Chain to Light — From chain to light Art

At the Edge of Becoming study — At the Edge of Becoming · study Illustration

ESSAY / PHILOSOPHY

Apologizing to the Algorithm

“Treating algorithms as social partners rather than extraction tools is, I argue, one of the more dangerous cognitive errors of the moment.”

Selected lines

Charcoal study of a plaster cast — Charcoal study Drawing

Anna beside a charcoal drawing in the art studio — In the studio Art practice

ESSAY / PHILOSOPHY

The Optimization Illusion

“Now the people with the least power are left to pay for errors they did not design. The system’s elegance is not the same thing as its justice.”

Selected lines

Illustrated portrait with a whale, river, and ocean imagery — Ocean portrait Digital illustration

LETTER

What Is Real Childish

“To them, maturity means agreeing, or staying silent. Why is the student who asks labelled childish for trying to understand the world?”

Selected lines

Original four-panel identity collage — Anna / Xiyue Collage

FEATURE

Beggar’s Blue

“I had come prepared to play a part. A girl who liked to smear blue paint on her face gave me a different kind of permission.”

Selected lines

FICTION

Soul Lease

“The rented soul overwrote their own until the lease expired.”

Selected lines

Golden mean, three burgers artwork — Golden mean, three burgers Illustration

ESSAY / MEMORY

What Nostalgia Means

“I said nothing. I only looked down at the Polaroid. It sat there quietly, unlike me, still searching for a reason.”

Selected lines

Freshman year Polaroid pile artwork — Freshman year Collage

REVIEW

Welcome to New York

“The drum beats were like footsteps on the Brooklyn Bridge. The piano jumped like a girl playing violin in the early morning.”

Selected lines

The lines from “What Nostalgia Means” are translated from my original Chinese.

FOUR CARDS / ONE SERIES

The tarot series.

Four cards, four ways of meeting the unknown. Swipe or scroll through the set →

A hooded figure follows a winding path beneath a moon — The Hermit Tarot illustration

A pale snake winds around flowers beneath a circular moon — Strength Tarot illustration

A figure floats among ribbons and birds over a stairway — The Fool Tarot illustration

Two hands hold a chalice under a starry sky — The Magician Tarot illustration

03 / LITTLE STARS

A few things that shone.

Recognition, publications, and moments shared with teams. The labels matter as much as the medals.

PRESENTEDIEEE HealthCom 2026 — EntroMusic poster at the Young Researchers Symposium; a symposium presentation.
TEAM RESULTAmerican Rocketry Challenge — National Finalist; team 15th place, 2026.
TEAM RESULTScience Olympiad — 4th at Regionals; team qualified for the New York State Tournament.
WRITINGScholastic Art & Writing Awards — Silver Key in Writing.
PUBLISHEDPaumanok School Journal — two works published, 2025.
MATHEMATICSAMC 10 — top 2.5% and AIME qualification, 2025.
MATHEMATICSHIMCM — Honorable Mention, 2026.
WRITINGJohn Locke Essay Competition — commendations in Science & Technology and Philosophy, 2026.
ARTOcean Awareness Contest — Pearl Award, 2026.
PROJECTConrad Challenge — Health Guard team received Conrad Innovator recognition, 2026.
SHORTLISTEDSocial Justice Award — shortlisted, 2026.
SCHOOLHead of School Honor Roll — 2026.

Two American Rocketry Challenge medals held in hand — Rocketry medals

National Honor Society membership certificate — National Honor Society

Rocketry team project board and trophies — Rocketry project board

Stony Brook School Science Olympiad team at the state tournament — With the SciOly team

Some of the nicest stars are the people standing next to you.

04 / IN THE ROOM

The work with other people.

Campus life, leadership, service, and the moments that become a photo on the fridge.

Showing up

Art Council / National Art Honor Society

I proposed an SBS merchandise design competition. My bear design was selected and printed on a school shirt; I also helped organize Paint Night.

Activity Council, Class Council & Student Ambassador

I helped plan campus events, from Homecoming and Brooktober to Halloween and Christmas, made posters, served on Class Council, and welcomed visitors as a student tour guide.

World Family Children Foundation & CFALA

As Public Relations Director for World Family Children Foundation, I designed posters and updated its website. With CFALA Leadership Academy, I helped collect more than 100 children’s books, joined play sessions with young children, and supported fundraising for Jamaica.

1517 Community

Connecting the developing Gleaner Protocol with a community of student founders and partners.

National Honor Society

Inducted through faculty review; learning to turn membership into sustained service.

The Brooker & Iowa Young Writers’ Studio

Writing for the school paper and joining the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio winter program to write and discuss new work.

Anna's selected SBS bear shirt design — The shirt that got printed

Art Council Paint Night workspace — Paint Night

Class Challenge group photograph — Service beyond self

After the bell

Cross Country, Rocketry, Science Olympiad, school traditions, friends, and the little rituals of being here. In Rocketry I used OpenRocket for design and helped share STEM activities with children at Emma Clark Memorial Library.

Please leave the photos a little crooked.