Hi I’m Alethea! I was born and raised in Singapore, a tiny multi-racial and multi-cultural island a.k.a. the ‘little red dot’ on the world map. I also lived for a few years in Phuket, Thailand — another sunny island in Southeast Asia!
I very much consider myself a citizen of the world; I guess this is largely due to the huge international exposure I have received growing up, and having lived in three different countries. My upbringing as a national age-group swimmer since the age of nine gave me opportunities to travel to places such as Australia, Canada, China, Dubai, Japan, Malaysia, Qatar, Philippines and Vietnam. My school in Thailand was also an incredible melting pot of ethnic, religious and ideological diversity and I interacted with friends from diverse cultures and vastly different walks of life.
I’m really passionate about the intersection of human-centered design and technology, particularly when it comes to designing for emerging markets. I think I first developed this passion in high school through coaching swimming to underserved children in Thailand, as I learnt how to communicate and coach effectively despite not speaking the same language.
At Duke, I major in computer science. I’m currently the Co-President of the Duke Singapore Students Association, and am passionate about increasing awareness and representation for the Singaporean and international Asian community at Duke. I’ve also been involved with Duke Women in Technology since my freshman year, and have been a swim coach volunteer with the Duke Hospital, where I coach swimming as a form of physical and mental therapy to patients from the Duke Children’s Hospital.
My journey with Baldwin thus far as been such an exciting few years of immersion, learning and growth, and Baldwin will always be a part of me even beyond Duke. Please feel free to contact me at alethea.toh@duke.edu — happy to chat or answer whatever questions you have :)