What is your name, year, pronouns, major(s), minor(s), and your hometown?

My name is Rohit Jha, and I use he/him pronouns. I’m majoring in Computer Science, Data Science, and Statistics. I’m from Stanford, Connecticut. The reason I chose these majors is because I just focused on taking all the classes I wanted to, and they aligned into a triple major. I kind of just put all the classes on a spreadsheet, and it just ended up spawning that way.

What's your hot take?

I think that Evan’s Hall just isn’t that bad. I feel like everyone is always sh*tt*ng on Evans Hall for some reason, but it’s not that bad. Compared to VLSB I think it’s perfectly fine, the rooftop is nice and it overlooks the campus. It's just not the worst building.

What are your hobbies or interests?

During my free time I enjoy listening to music and in high school I used to write. I haven’t had much time in college to explore these interests/write but I still enjoy making my own playlist at the end of the year and compiling my music. I like any genre, rap/rock/country/pop. I recently went to the Kali Uchis concert. I enjoy hiking, swimming, and trying out new restaurants. I am definitely a foodie. I’d say I’m an outdoorsy person. I also played tennis in high school so that’s something.

What are your professional interests?

I know I really wanted to go into data science or machine learning for sure, maybe data engineering. I think if I had the choice, I would want to work at a media based company like Spotify, Paramount, or NBC or something like that.

What are your professional experiences?

I did research for the National Maths and Science Initiative; they are the ones who make the common core test for high schools and middle school. And then over the summer I interned at AXA which is an insurance company. It was in Connecticut (where I’m from), but they’re based in France. I was doing data engineering, so it was more data analytics work.

Have you learned anything through these experiences?

Yes definitely. I think that Berkeley really prepares you for the hard stuff and technical tasks they might throw at you. Even then, I had to learn things on the fly like new technologies. I also got to network in the real world.

Are you involved in any other clubs on campus?

Yes, I am part of the Political Computer Science Club, which is a club where tech meets political science. They do computer science projects in the poly sci sphere. I’m also a campus ambassador, which means I give tours to high school students or out of town visitors. I also work the front desk at the stadium at times. For the tours, you learn a script so it can get repetitive. But I think it's really cool because you see excited high schoolers and tourists from Italy or Spain and it's fun to talk to them. I give a tour like twice a week previously, but this semester it's about once a week. We go over the different colleges, housing/dining, and whatever else I feel like talking about. It lasts about 90 minutes.

What is your favorite class?

My favorite class at Berkeley is Data8 because I thought it was a good introduction to Computer Science and Statistics, and I think it’s a class that everyone should take. I think that 61B is helpful for getting a feel for interviews. I also really enjoyed City Planning 101, where we used real life census data and mapping software to create reports.

How did you find out about SAAS and why did you join?

I found out about SAAS through tabling, and I joined because I noticed that SAAS had a community with so many different people and had a place for everyone. It seemed that everyone played a bit in the larger picture. I think it was interesting asking everyone what they do and seeing how the club operates the way it does.

Out of the committees you’ve been a part of, which ones did you like more?

RP was really cool because I got to work on a project by myself and build it from the ground up. External is really cool because I learned about sourcing, event planning, and testing my nontechnical side. I also think the group in External was fun. I think that both committees tested me in different ways.

Why do you stay in SAAS?

I think I stay for the people. I think meeting everyone has been a great experience. There’s also fun professional events like career fairs or guest speakers, but also there's so many random, fun things like Dave and Busters, or Ice Skating - these are things you might not think of in doing in college but they’re like providing it for free and you get to do it with cool people so why not.

What is your favorite SAAS memory?

My favorite SAAS memory was driving during retreat and driving everyone back. We did a hike together and when driving back we were talking about our biggest ick in the car and it was really fun. I just remember being in the driver's seat and listening to everyone. It was just nice.

What does SAAS mean to you?

I think the SAAS community emulates the vibes that we’re actually a company and run efficiently, but I also think the people that run it are what makes it social. The community emulates the vibes of the company and the people who are in it make it socialasic. Quite a question for me, at least.

What is your spirit animal?

Pandas are my spirit animal because I just lie around and eat all day. I just also really like panda characters and stuff and I liked watching shows, and they’re just super friendly animals.

What is your favorite library?

My favorite library is the Environmental Design Library. I like the vibes here because there’s a little study room in there that's entirely closed off so no one can see through or anything like that. It’s just really nice studying there because you feel like you have full privacy from the world, but you’re not in your own room at home.

What’s your favorite boba spot?

My favorite shops are ShareTea, Plentea, and Jamba Juice. I’m more of a juices and fruit juices type of guy. I really like to make my own juices instead of boba.

What is your favorite bathroom?

The Chou Hall Floor 6 Bathroom. I’m going to be exposing myself to all the SAASies.