Tell me about yourself: your background, pronouns, major, and hometown.

I'm Kate, a third year studying statistics and public health. I'm from Merced, California, and I use she/her pronouns.

Can you please speak about the committees and the positions you have been in?

I started in Career Exploration in Spring 2021, then moved to CX Director in Fall 2021, then joined Insights & Analytics in Spring 2022, and became President in Fall 2022.

Why did you choose statistics and public health as your majors?

I really liked the quantitative aspect of math, so I thought statistics was a more applied and useful way of doing that. I also wanted statistics to have some meaningful application. Even though I like statistics and think it's really cool, I didn't want to just do proofs all day, and I think public health is a very important cause. I think statistics can do a lot in public health. Right now, I'm interested in either modeling or clinical trials.

Do you have any hot takes that you feel comfortable sharing?

I spend a lot of time in the Stat/Math Library, which is inside of Evans. Even though the vibes are bad, it's a really convenient spot to sit for awkward, intermediate bits of time, so I'm sentimentally attached to Evans.

What kinds of hobbies, sports, or entertainment do you enjoy?

I don't do this a lot in college, but I used to be really into martial arts and tennis. In terms of entertainment, I listen to a lot of musical theater. I also like to try new things.

Can you please speak about your professional interests or experiences, such as internships? What have you learned from those experiences?

I'm interested in going into research, like attending graduate school. So all of my internship experience is research experience. I'm in the Cal Undergraduate Public Health Coalition as a general member. They provide cool resources for people interested in public health.

How did you find out about SAAS, and why did you choose to join?

I found out about SAAS by searching "statistics" on CalLink, and seeing that SAAS was the Student Association for Applied Statistics, I attended an infosession. Elysia, the club president at the time, spent time talking to me after the presentation, and I thought that this club seemed really cool. I thought there'd be a lot of people like me who have some interest in statistics. I had not really met any sort of community at Berkeley at that time, so I was intrigued by all the different social structures in SAAS, like the house and big/little systems. Then, I applied.

Since you've been in many different positions throughout your time in SAAS, can you please talk about your favorite committee in SAAS?

I definitely have a soft spot for Career Exploration because that's what first interested me in SAAS. CX was where I made a lot of my friends, who I got really close to, for the first time. Directing CX was really fun. I loved interacting with new members and being able to identify what I thought could be improved and implementing those changes. It's also really great working with leadership in SAAS because everyone is on your side.

Do you have a favorite semester in SAAS, and why?

My favorite session is Fall 2021, which was our first back on campus. There were so many new socials and new aspects to SAAS that I had never seen before. It was also my first time seeing everyone in-person, so I feel like everyone was really excited and wanted to get involved and go to all the events.

Can you please briefly talk about your experiences in each committee? What did you do, and what did you learn?

When I first joined SAAS and Career Exploration, I had no experience with data science. I had a little bit of coding experience and had taken AP Statistics, which is very basic, so I feel like CX was my first introduction to data science as a whole. There was a competition at the end of the semester about predicting rainfall in Australia, and I remember being very impressed with the stuff that I was actually able to do since I had virtually no experience at the start of the semester. I continued the family system in CX to try to create a more welcoming entrance into CX and integrate new members into SAAS. I think the IA directors did a really great job of bringing us up to speed with lectures and assignments and breaking the project down into sort of digestible chunks and then bringing us into groups to tackle these chunks.

What's it like to be President of SAAS?

A big part of why I ran for President was because I knew it would be a huge learning experience, and even though the first semester is only halfway over, I've already done like so many things that I've never done before, so I feel like I've already grown a lot, which feels really cool.

You've been in SAAS for four semesters so far. Why did you choose to stay in SAAS?

Definitely the community. I have a lot of friends in SAAS. SAAS was sort of my first community at Berkeley, and since Berkeley is such a huge school, it's really nice to have a nice organization of 100 or so people to interact with and form bonds with. SAAS is easily the core of my social life overall.

What is your proudest accomplishment from your time in SAAS?

At the beginning of CX, I remember being very nervous and very shy in SAAS, but I think as I progressed into different committees and leadership roles, I've grown a lot in terms of confidence in my capabilities. I never would have imagined that I could manage something like SAAS with so many people and tasks, so it's really cool to see myself in this role [as President now]. I hope you believe I'm doing a good job.

How has SAAS helped you with your career or professional development?

Coming into SAAS, the whole world of course staff, internships, and things like that was totally unknown to me. I had no idea what Leetcode was or even the fact that there were technical interviews for positions. Even though I'm not interested in going into an industry or software engineering job, I think it's really amazing to be exposed to all these disciplines and get an idea of all of the different things that people in data science, computer science, and statistics can do. One really surprising way of this was in CX. My resume was ripped to shreds. It was horrible coming into SAAS, and then after my resume reviews, my resume looked pretty clean.

How did you make friends with people in SAAS?

I made friends by just showing up to things and being open to talking to people, like I tried not to be very introverted. Something really specific that helped a lot was my house, Math Puzzlers. At the time, it was really into [the game] Avalon. We would stay up really late [on Zoom], like we would start at 8 PM and stay up to 6 AM. We were just talking [instead of playing the game] after a certain point, and I think that's really how I got really close to people.

Do you have a favorite SAAS memory?

In terms of favorite memories, it's really hard to choose one because I think all the socials are really fun. These aren't technically SAAS events, but I love all of the random, miscellaneous things I end up doing with random people.

SAAS'three core values are community, exploration, and mentorship. What's your favorite value, and what does it mean to you?

My favorite value is community for sure. I think SAAS is essentially one large support network. You can reach out to anyone in SAAS in any way that you need to, such as academically, professionally, or just for a friend, and they will help you out.

How has SAAS changed during your time in the club, and what's your personal vision moving forward for SAAS?

SAAS is wildly different in-person than it was online. I think that SAAS has become a little more "balanced." What I mean by that is that in my first semester, there was definitely a sense that we were mostly focused on our committee work and our professional work, and the social stuff was sort of set aside. Now, the social culture of SAAS is a very, very central part of what SAAS. The different socials we put on would not be the same without the things people do and like. I think that is a huge, huge appeal of SAAS now, whereas before it may have just been a bonus. I think there are a lot of other sub-interests that we could be catering to more. For example, there are members who are specifically interested in going into academia and like teaching, so I think that's something we could discuss more.

What advice would you give to new SAAS members?

Get involved! SAAS really gives you what you put into it, and I might be a very extreme example of this, but I feel like once I joined SAAS as a new member, I really made an effort to get involved and go to things and be an active participating member, and I think that just paid off a huge amount in terms of the leadership positions I've been able to have and the different committees I've been in. I see a lot of academic growth in myself, as well as personal growth.

Do you have a favorite class or professor?

I really liked MCB 55, which was Plagues and Pandemics.

Do you have a favorite memory during your time at Berkeley?

I think all of my favorite memories would be SAAS-related.

Do you have a favorite spot on campus that more people should know about, besides Evans?

When I'm not feeling like I want to be in the Stat/Math Library, the terrace is really nice.

What's the prettiest building on campus?

I really like the Campanile. Whenever I walk by the Campanile, I feel like it sparks joy. I never get tired of stopping and looking at the Campanile. I think more people should go to the top of the Campanile. It has a really pretty view, so if you're just having a bad day or something, it's a really nice place to go up and look out of. During the day, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge and everything.

Do you have any recommendations for bathrooms on campus?

If you want a not busy, relatively private bathroom, then I would recommend the basement of Evans, at least for a women's bathroom.

Do you have any recommendations for restaurants here at Berkeley?

Recently, I've been trying to try a lot more new places because I tend to just go back to the same places, but I really like Poké Bar because I'm a really big Poké person. I also really like Kimchi Garden. I live really close to Marugame, and Marugame is really good. Those are my three main recommendations.

Since you're a boba drinker, what's your favorite boba shop in Berkeley?

That's a big question. I think right now, TP Tea is my favorite, but I'm not sure. I'm trying to branch out to more places since I tend to just go back to TP Tea over and over again, which is not productive in establishing my top list.

Do you like attending lectures in-person or over zoom?

I think it definitely depends on the class. I think there are some classes I'm in that would probably be better on Zoom. I'm in a statistics class right now, and the professor lectures with no PowerPoint slides or anything. He just writes on a chalkboard, and his handwriting is atrocious. It's tiny, it's like little scribbles, and it's hard to read. So I think that Zoom classes would be good for a lot of math courses where professors would use a writing app instead of a chalkboard. But I think it's nice being in-person, seeing other people in the class. This forces me—even if I'm not directly paying attention—to at least do something on my computer and not just scroll on my phone and wait around.