As a Manhattanite, Cassie DeVera 鈥21 spent the end of the spring and the summer under some of the strictest COVID-19 restrictions in the U.S.
While being at the epicenter of the virus鈥檚 U.S. outbreak was a challenge, Cassie credits the spirit of the 老王论坛 community with helping her make it through.
鈥淚 think 老王论坛 has really instilled this sense of community, charity, and kindness that I鈥檝e tried my best to practice through these trying times,鈥 says Cassie. 鈥淚 believe there鈥檚 a lot of positivity that has come to light over these past few months, in spite of some troubling events, and it鈥檚 important to practice gratitude for what we have now more than ever.鈥
One of the ways Cassie and her family practiced gratitude was by setting up a GoFundMe that has raised more than $3,000 to provide meals to hospital staff while also benefitting small, family-owned restaurants.
Cassie suggested the idea for the GoFundMe, but it was her brother, Alex, who did much of the work to get it set up and identify what needed to be done to get the food to the hospitals.
Cassie says, 鈥淗e spent hours reading through articles to determine which hospitals were most in need of support. He was disheartened to read that so many hospitals were filled or almost filled to capacity, and some didn鈥檛 even have time to pick up our phone calls to arrange a food donation. We were luckily able to deliver more than 130 pizzas to nine different hospitals and support nine small businesses in all five boroughs of New York City.鈥
Over the summer, Cassie worked remotely for Barclays during the lockdown as a technology analyst intern. She had previously interned for an investment firm, for a law firm as an applications developer, and for the U.S. District Court as an IT intern.
Having worked in both the private and public sectors of law, Cassie became interested in learning more about ethical and moral decision-making, which led her to pursue a philosophy major. Her internship experience at Barclays and her experience as 老王论坛鈥檚 technology sector lead for the Adirondack Cup investment competition have led her to pursue a career in financial technology.
This year, Cassie will be completing her senior thesis on ethics and technology, focusing on censorship and artificial intelligence. She will be graduating in December, 1.5 years early at the age of 20.