The threads connecting Asa Xiao's many passions - mathematics, filmmaking, physics, theater, psychiatry, fine art - are things that can't be seen.
Xiao, a graduating senior at Berkeley College, is drawn to the powerful, invisible forces that prove a theorem, move an audience to tears, or give shape to the universe. They want to learn how such influences work and understand them better.
"Life is long and it's important to explore," said Xiao, who is originally from Chengdu, China, and came to the United States to attend middle school in Maryland, and then high school at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. "Yale is a place where I could explore."
A mathematics and physics major, Xiao is the recipient of the Bishop Berkeley Prize, the college's highest academic honor. They are also co-president of Dimensions, a student group dedicated to women and gender minorities in mathematics.
