Let’s start with an introduction. Can you tell me your year, pronouns, your majors/minors, and hometown?

My name is Isabella, my hometown is Castro Valley. My major is data science, I’m a second year, and my pronouns are the she-series.

What are your past and current committees in SAAS?

I was in IA in Fall 2022, and right now I'm in DC.

How did you choose your major? Why data science?

Oh, that's an interesting one. I was really interested in CS and cognitive science coming into Cal, but I realized that I also wanted to study economics. There is no economics minor, though. And so after taking some econ classes, I realized I still wanted to go the more computing and data route. And so data science was the perfect way to put the two together.

Nice! And is your domain emphasis Economics?

Yes, it is.

What are some of your hobbies and interests?

I love photography. I like doing performance photography. I got into it my senior year of high school, then I kind of took a break. But yeah, I'm trying to get back into it.

Like grad photos?

I want to get into grad photos. But at the same time, I really want to focus on developing my niche and my skill set first. Specifically, I used to do a lot of marching band photography, but I also did a little bit of choir and dance performances. I really want to sharpen that skill set first, and then maybe I'll get into some more profitable ventures later.

Do you want to tell us about some books, TV shows, movies and music you're into?

I don't really watch any TV shows all the way through because I usually get bored and read the spoilers. But I love watching clips from all of the medical dramas, like Chicago Med and Grey's Anatomy. Also, I like legal dramas. I was really interested in quarantine. [As for music] well, my roommates got me hooked on some like Asian American artists like Keshi, and NIKI, so I liked those two.

Now let's move on to your professional experiences. What are your general professional interests?

I'm most interested in going into data science–probably SWE after graduation. I'm pretty set on that.

Cool! How'd you get interested in those fields?

Well, my dad is a software engineer. So I feel like I've always had a bit of exposure, but especially coming to Cal and then doing AI and SAAS, I realized that this is an area of work where I think I'll always feel challenged and interested. And I'm decent at it, so I want to keep doing it.

Do you have any internship or project past experience? And did you ever use statistics in those fields? And if not, go into some detail about it.

Prior to coming to Cal, most of my internships were actually political internships. So I occasionally did some data stuff, but it was like on an Excel spreadsheet, so nothing like what I've done after coming to Cal. Currently, my experience is just the stuff I've done in SAAS and a research project I'm doing, which is about energy. Clean, green energy.

What other campus involvements do you have besides SAAS?

Well, right now I'm also in Berkeley's Blue and Gold yearbook. I was a photographer last year, and now I'm a section editor so I coordinate spread coverage for events that we cover. I really enjoy it.

Nice! How'd you find out about SAAS and what got you to join?

Yeah, so someone I knew in the yearbook was also obsessed. And I was basically encouraged to join because she felt that it aligned really well with my career interests, which I found that it has. And so I'm really glad that I've gotten to meet a lot of other people who are also into data science and really gotten to develop professionally and academically with a good group of people.

Awesome. About your past committees, what is your favorite committee you've been in and why?

My only past committee is IA (insight and analytics). But whether it was the only one or not, I had a really good experience. And I feel that the directors were very thoughtful and helped us feel cared for in the group. I'm still friends with the people on that committee and I see them around. I think it was a good long term investment of my time.

Is there any specific thing that you learned last semester and this semester from each committee? Whether it be technical or social, like working on a project together or any of that?

I think I learned a lot about like self learning, like what to do when you don't know the answers, because I think that's a very common thing that comes up when you're working on a project, you just like come across challenges that you didn't expect, or tools that you aren't familiar with using. And so being able to seek help, whether from the people around you, or like research online effectively, I think is a skill that I've really developed in the past two semesters.

Favorite semester? You don’t have to, but which one do you like better?

I like this one more definitely, because my friends from last semester carried over and I feel like I got to meet even more people, which is really great. I feel like because I'm in DC now, we have a bit more ownership over the direction that we take our work. It's been really exciting, applying my skills that I learned from IA and working with people who were on the committee with me.

What is your proudest accomplishment in SAAS so far?

I hung out a lot with my big in my first semester and I'm pretty sure we were like… I don't even remember, maybe I should fact check myself. But I think we were like the top three big/little pairings last semester. And even if we weren't, I'm still very proud.

That's great. What kind of stuff do you guys do together?

We did a lot of joint socials, which I enjoyed because I got to meet other people. But in general, like anything, we went kayaking; we also went to Thai temples and some of the restaurants on the south side of Berkeley and downtown. So that was really exciting.

How has SAAS helped you with your professional and career development so far?

So I think SAAS has provided me with my first experience working on data science projects outside of class. So it's been really helpful getting that experience because a lot of times in class, your homework data sets are already cleaned for you. Or even if they're not cleaned, they're still tidy. So, like working with real data, and also not necessarily having a correct answer has been exciting because you can use your judgment. And it really challenges you. It challenges you to use what you've learned effectively.

So there are three SAAS values: community, exploration, and mentorship. Pick one and tell us what it means to you?

Sure. I'm gonna pick community. Community for me is… let me think. I think community is really like an environment where you feel like opportunities to talk to other people and have fun with other people are accessible. And I think SAAS does an especially great job of maintaining a very open minded culture. It's always easy to, like join an interest group, or like to start hanging out with individuals. I know sometimes in like other clubs, it can start to get cliquey when people have known each other for a long time, and you're a newcomer, but that's really not been the case in SAAS. I'm really happy that I joined this group.

Even though you [recently] just joined, what advice would you give to newer SAAS members?

Well, I would say definitely, don't skip out on the social experience. Obviously, we're all here to learn, and to further ourselves academically and professionally. But the best part of SAAS is the people. I think that not getting to know them outside of the committee activities would really be a missed opportunity, because there's a lot of really cool and accomplished individuals. And there's so much you can learn from people, not just academically or career wise, even though people are more than happy to provide advice on pretty much any topic you can think of.

Where’s your favorite place to study on campus?

Let's say North Reading Room and Doe.

Prettiest building on campus? And if you want to be controversial, the ugliest as well.

Okay, the ugliest is definitely the College of Environmental Design because it's literally a concrete block.

Not Evans?

I like Evans, it’s one of my favorite buildings. It's not pretty, but it's kind of like it's a quirky girl you know?

Definitely. And then prettiest?

Hearst Mining building.

Favorite library on campus?

Morrison Reading Room in Doe.

Do you ever like to bring your paper books into there, is it for class, or just your own reading?

I haven't been there in a hot second. But I heard that they lifted the electronics policy due to COVID. So now you can study with your laptop inside.

Favorite restaurant in Berkeley?

Racha Cafe on Telegraph.