Jade Pan
What’s your year, pronouns, major, and hometown?
My name is Jade, I’m a senior, I use she/her pronouns, I’m from Long Island, New York, and I’m studying Psychology and Economics with a minor in Data Science.
How did you choose these majors and minor?
I always tell the story of how I started at Berkeley and I wanted to study psychology. I was super passionate about it from high school, so I came in and declared the Psychology major. I also had all these spaces in my schedule, and I figured a good way to fill them up was to take some econ classes and get the Econ degree just in case psychology academia didn’t work out. I figured it would be another pivot I could take. As for the data science minor, it’s honestly just me taking data science classes—I took Data 8. I fell in love with Professor Adhikari so I just followed her and took Stat 88, Data 100… and next thing I know, I’m halfway through the minor requirements, so I figured I may as well finish it.
Could you tell me a little about your hobbies or interests outside of academics?
I play ultimate frisbee with the women’s club team. Honestly, I never played frisbee before. I only ran track in high school since my hand-eye coordination is not very good, so I didn’t play any ball sports. I joined in my sophomore year and they were a very welcoming community; I didn’t have to know how to play and they taught me from scratch. We travel to different UCs or other schools for tournaments. This coming weekend, we’re going to Chico for our first tournament since Covid, so that’s very exciting.
What are your professional interests/experiences?
Over the summer, I worked [as a Research Analyst Intern at an economic litigation consulting firm]. So, I did a lot of data collection, data cleaning, and for my professional interests, I’m still looking for something that’s a combination of econ and data science. If there’s a way to incorporate the psychology degree in there, I would do that as well. Right now, it’s mostly data analytics, and honestly, I think my RP Project which I did my first semester helped me a lot with getting my internship.
Do you see a way of incorporating statistics in the things you like to do, or your past internships?
I think with statistics, it’s not just the modeling that’s useful, I would say it’s the whole concept of understanding what data you’re looking at, like putting it into context. I think that’s the most important thing I’ve learned from statistics classes. At one point I was recruiting for management consulting firms, and one really useful thing I heard from there was “your client has all this data, and your job really is to make sense of it”. Honestly I feel like anyone can plug numbers into a model, but it really takes statistical knowledge to understand what that is saying, and gather useful information from there.
You mentioned you were in RP. What are your current committees?
I was in RP my first semester. I directed RP the semester after that, and right now, I’m in Education.
Are you in any other campus organizations other than SAAS?
Yeah, I play frisbee with the Ultimate team, I’m a tour guide, and I work for the Data Science Division (Data Science Undergraduate Studies) as their Project Management Intern.
How did you find out about SAAS, and why did you join?
I found out about SAAS on Facebook. I went to either an info-session or a stat workshop. It was during COVID, so it was on Zoom, and there were maybe 7 or so people there. I thought that everyone was a new member, and Elysia was running the meeting. She said “welcome in”, even though I was late, and asked “Do you want me to run through the whole thing for you”. She sat there and ran through the whole thing with me. That made me feel like she really cares about everyone. Later on, I actually came to find out that everyone else in the call was actually already a member. They were just there to support each other. Even at the info-session, people were willing to show up and support each other, and that means a lot to me.
Which is your favorite SAAS committee?
Oh no. This question. How do I answer it without Jai wanting to kill me? I would say that both committees hold a special place in my heart. Of course I care about RP. I directed it and I really like the freedom that you’re given, but I really really enjoy my Education committee experience because you really get to know the CX members and it’s just a fulfilling experience. It’s people that are new to campus, and you get to introduce them to the club.
Which is your favorite SAAS semester?
I would say I had a lot of fun directing RP. Being on leadership brings you to another level of involvement—you really get close to the director team. Not just your own directors, but other people because you see them every week for Director Meeting. It’s a really good way to get involved with the club and give back in some way as well.
Why are you staying in SAAS?
I think first and foremost, there’s a lot of things to do in SAAS, so it’s hard to get bored. If you get bored with research, you can switch over to Internal/External Affairs. You can hop around in different semesters. We have enough committees to keep someone occupied for all 4 years if you want. Another reason is that the community is very welcoming. A lot of people will make recruitment posts saying “joining ____ was the best decision of my life”. I definitely get the sentiment of finding a community and you’re comfortable with everyone that’s in that community—it definitely adds to your college experience.
What is your proudest accomplishment in SAAS?
I used to say my biggest accomplishment was directing the RP committee, but this semester, I have a new answer. I think Education is probably my biggest accomplishment. Seeing the CX members understanding the concepts and having that personal interaction really puts your impact in perspective. It really made my day when one of the CX members, Garrett, who’s also in my house, said that the lesson made a lot of sense and was super helpful. That really meant a lot to me.
How has SAAS helped you with your career and professional development?
With the way the RP project is run, I feel it’s super helpful for a company to see you cared about something, you went out and dealt with messy data, and you came up with something. They really like to hear you talk about what you could have done better with the project too. That’s definitely super helpful, all the skills I learned from RP workshops were super helpful, but I would say I really have to praise our External committee—all those opportunities and recruitment workshops. School doesn’t have a class for recruitment. I always like to talk about my Big, Caro, for giving me advice when I first started. I remember junior year in the spring, I was late to internships and freaking out, and she just started sending me application links. That really helped me ease a lot of stress.
What SAAS value do you resonate most with?
This semester, after the help I received in terms of recruitment, I would value mentorship very high on my list. It is true that you can get that knowledge everywhere, but I think SAAS really does a good job of providing the knowledge to be accessible to everyone, through coffee chats and recruitment workshops. That kind of personalized mentorship, in the end, is going to be very helpful. It’s much better than looking up how to do recruitment online. I really value that kind of one-on-one mentorship in SAAS.
What is your personal vision for SAAS going forward?
I feel like especially as an RP member, you do an independent research project and it’s very easy to drift away. I think SAAS is a good community if you put yourself out there, so I really hope we can have some sort of bigger involvement, to get even more people active. I personally felt comfortable when I was coming in, but I hope we can make sure everyone feels comfortable to ask for what they want in SAAS.
How has SAAS changed during your time in the club?
Honestly, from my perspective, I feel like I’m already seeing a lot of dedication and stronger organization, especially thanks to Saumya, our EVP, who’s hosting a series of events like speaker panels and recruitment workshops. I really do see growth - I think the foundation is important and we’re definitely building on top of that. I’m also seeing a more diverse group.
Favorite class?
Psych 137, which is Developmental Psychology, because my professor took her kid to class to run demos on the kid.
Favorite professor?
Professor Olney.
Favorite Berkeley memory?
Oh my god, these are hard questions. I would say giving my tours. You see visitors come and they really appreciate it at the end of day, and possibly you just convinced a high schooler to come to Berkeley in the future.
Favorite spot on campus that more people should know about?
The water fountain at Stanley is the best water fountain on campus.
Prettiest and ugliest buildings?
The prettiest building on campus is the Campanile or Doe Library. The ugliest on campus… I’m not really allowed to say because campus ambassadors are not supposed to shit on campus, but I don’t like Kresge.
Favorite bathroom?
East Asian Library bathrooms.
Favorite library?
East Asian is pretty but my favorite is the VLSB one. I spend a lot of time there.
Favorite restaurant?
Imm Thai.
Favorite boba shop?
Yifang for sure.