Our Story

Hi everyone! I’m Ailee Fang, a high school student and the founder of Lumen Minds.

 

Like a lot of students my age, I’m still trying to figure out what I’m really interested in, what I might want to study in college, and what kind of future feels right for me. Sometimes that feels exciting, but honestly, it can also feel confusing. There are so many subjects, majors, and careers, and it’s hard to know where to begin when you haven’t had the chance to really understand them.

 

School, books, and the internet can teach us a lot, but I started to feel that reading about a field is different from hearing from someone who has actually lived it. I wanted to know what their work is really like, how they chose their path, what was difficult, whether they ever changed their minds, and what they wish they had known when they were younger.

 

I also think most people grow up admiring someone. It might be a famous person who seems impossible to reach, or it might be a teacher, family friend, or someone in your own community. Sometimes you see what a person has done and think, “Maybe I would like to become someone like that one day.”

 

I began wondering what it would be like to actually talk with people I admire. I wanted to ask what they were like in high school, what inspired them, what choices shaped their lives, and what helped them keep going when things were difficult.

 

For someone who is unsure about the future, a conversation like that can be really meaningful. It can make a career or subject feel more real. It might introduce you to a path you had never thought about before. It might also help you realize that something you once admired is not actually the right fit for you. I think both are valuable.

 

As I started speaking with scientists, professors, artists, entrepreneurs, and people working in different fields, I noticed something that surprised me. Most of them did not have everything figured out when they were young. Their paths were not perfect or completely planned. They had doubts, made mistakes, changed direction, and slowly discovered what mattered to them.

 

That made me feel less worried about not having all the answers yet. It also made me realize that many other students are probably asking the same questions.

 

That’s why I created Lumen Minds.
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Our Mission

Lumen Minds is a place where middle and high school students can explore different subjects, college majors, careers, and life paths before they feel pressured to choose. Through conversations, visits, personal stories, and student reflections, I hope we can learn from people with real experience and also from one another.

 

Lumen Minds is not here to tell anyone what they should become. It is a place to stay curious, ask honest questions, discover new possibilities, and slowly find a direction that feels right.

 

Because sometimes, one conversation can change the way you see your future.