Okay, let’s start off with your name, year, major, pronouns, and hometown.

My name is Joe, I am a junior transfer, a data science major, I use he/him, and my hometown is Würzburg, Germany.

What are your past and current committees in SAAS?

I started out with CX (Career Exploration) and now I’m in IA (Insights & Analytics).

Alright, let's talk about your major. Why and how did you choose Data Science?

I started out with statistics simply because I like math. And I happened to be good at statistics, or at least in high school, so I just stuck with it. I just heard about data science because it's, you know, the big thing right now and is basically just statistics with a bit of computation. I transferred to Berkeley as a statistics major, and I’d taken a couple of coding classes, so I was like, let's just do it. And I really enjoy it. So yeah, that's why I'm doing data science. That's also why I'm in SAAS, because SAAS is a data science club. So it all worked out nicely.

Tell me a fun fact about yourself.

Oh my god, you’re putting me on the spot like that! Uhh… I don't know. Okay, wait, let me think… I can’t think of anything.

Okay, wait, you know what might help? The next question is hobbies and interests.

Well, I lived in San Diego for a bit so I learned surfing there and I love it. But I haven't been doing that so much just because it's not as accessible here. It's a bit of a trip and it's cold. So I pivoted to climbing–also really like that. But I haven't been doing that either, because I have COVID. And, you know, I go on hikes. I like cooking. I guess my fun fact is that I grew up in Germany and I can speak German. Let's just go with that.

What books, TV shows, movies, and music are you into?

Dude, I love anime. I've been really into Attack on Titan. Binged that. And yeah, I like cartoons. In general when I watch TV shows, I want it to be a brain dead moment. I also really like Disenchantment on Netflix–that and Attack on Titan are my big two things. And music, I guess that's also a bit of a fun fact, I really like techno and I just blast techno all day long so I can just shut off my brain and get things done. It works really nicely and it's also fun to dance to.

Now let's talk about your professional experience. What are your professional interests? And how did you get into those fields?

It's all centered around data science. Just trial and error. I like the way of thinking data science comes with, or in general, stuff that has to do with programming. It's just solving riddles constantly and it's so gratifying when you get something done right. So as long as I can do anything computational, I'm chill. I haven't really gotten into anything professionally yet, at least not off campus. That's what I'm working on right now — you know, applying frantically to internships. But I'd say my biggest tie to I guess the professional side of data science is SAAS, and I'm doing research right now. I just kind of walked around campus to ask people and applied and got in. So that's great.

So tell me a little bit more about your research experience. And how do you use statistics in that experience?

Well it's just a discovery program. So it's pretty guided and there's not a lot of things that you can do wrong. And how I use statistics? Let's see, well it's a project that works with network analysis, so we haven't gotten to the actual analysis part yet. For now, we've only done data cleaning, but we just create statistics, which is literally like three lines of code. So far, not so much, but we will eventually use it to lead to some conclusions.

Any specific stuff you want to use in the future? Like hypothesis testing, or?

I'm honestly fine with just crunching data. I don't think I would even have to go to the analysis part of it. I can just clean data all day long and I'm chill. But yeah, I'd be most interested if I could do machine learning stuff or create models. That's fun to me. That's the part of data science that most intrigues me for sure.

Other than SAAS, what other campus involvements do you have?

I'm also in the climbing club. So I go there a lot, but aside from that, it's just research.

Alright, now SAAS specific questions. How did you find out about the club? And why did you decide to join?

I found out about it through Instagram. I think I was literally just looking through clubs and looking at what club followed who. And I had forgotten about it, but then I coincidentally ran into someone tabling and I started talking. At this point, I'd gotten rejected from like, five different clubs, so I was really invested and SAAS also seemed really cool. Everyone was really nice. So I just showed up to the info session and I got to know Kate, and she eventually interviewed me as well. But yeah, I found out about it through Instagram and tabling, I'd say.

Nice, and then why did you decide to join? What was it about this club?

Everyone's so nice and everyone is so helpful. And it's just a really refreshing take on a professional or technical club. Because I am learning a bunch of stuff and everyone in the club is working really hard, but it's not a toxic environment at all. It's really uplifting, that vibe. I thought that was very refreshing and I’m very happy I joined because now I have this network of people that I can turn to for personal and professional advice and social interaction. I have a bunch of friends in the club is what I’m saying.

Okay, past committees. You've been in CX and IA, so which one's your favorite and why?

I love IA. It’s so fun. I feel like IA is just CX on steroids. Because from what I understand at least, you're basically going through the exact same stuff, but you're just actually doing it. So whereas in CX you would learn about logistic regression and understand it, in IA it’d be like okay, this is logistic regression, do it. And it obviously comes with a lot more time commitment, so I do spend quite a bit of time on IA every week. But so far, it's been really rewarding. I'm getting way more proficient working with pandas and crunching data and stuff. And it also helped me with research. We haven't started the client project yet, but that's also obviously going to be really fun. It's going to be a really interesting project. I don't know if I can disclose anything, but I anticipate that that's also going to be a very nice thing to do. So IA for sure.

Cool. Do you want to just elaborate a little more on what you learned in CX and IA? What classes had you taken until that point? What kind of background knowledge should you have?

Coming into CX, I didn't have any data science background. I guess I had my community college Intro to Coding classes, and I had Intro to Statistics classes. But actual, worthy experience, I didn't have. However, I took Data 8 and CS61A, concurrently, and that I believe helped me as well. So yeah, Data 8 and CS61A for CX. And now I'm taking Data 100 and CS61B, which align really well with IA. Data 100 specifically.

What did you learn in each committee?

I feel like CX gave me a pretty good overview of what data science is and what it means to do machine learning. It was mainly machine learning. I feel like that's the biggest thing we did. In general, it was just an overview of data science, so it helped me a lot. Also, I think the most valuable thing for me in CX was to get integrated into the club, because CX members have a lot of events and programs to participate in that are mandatory. And that was really helpful, because I was going to a lot of events, getting to know a lot of people, and getting to know the club. And it also helped me gauge data science culture at Berkeley, if that makes sense. It's just a sense, and gave me a feel of what I got myself into, in terms of how competitive the classes are, or how I write a resume, stuff like that. So it was just a really good overall introduction of what it means to be a data science student at Berkeley. In IA, I'm just getting more familiar with pandas and sklearn, and in general just looking up functions and methods and whatever. And just reading and getting into more of a self learner thing. That's important. And getting more familiar with machine learning models. I feel like that's the two biggest things right now.

Was that a big transition from community college to the data science culture at Berkeley?

Yeah. 100%, I don't have a life anymore, bro. No, it's just that in community college everything is so chill and nice, and I was also in San Diego so I was doing absolutely nothing. But it is a big transition, at least for me. It has its ups and downs, because I am very productive, I am learning a lot, and I am definitely miles ahead of where I was in community college. But it is stressful. I think that after the two years that I'm going to be here, I'm like, “Let's go back to a place that's warmer.” But yeah, it was a big transition and it was definitely a personal growth moment. And I think it was a good move.

Favorite SAAS semester and why?

This one for obvious reasons. I feel like by now I know most of the people in the club, and I don't think I don't get along with anyone. Again, like I said, everyone's nice. It's fun to be able to go to whatever event and not have to worry if someone I know is going to be there, just because we can hang out with anyone. Also again, I'm learning a lot, and it's a lot of fun. So this semester, because I have friends in the club now, I know what the club’s like, and I'm learning a lot.

What is your proudest accomplishment in SAAS?

I feel like it's not necessarily an accomplishment, but at this point, I'm integrated to the level of having friends in the club. And the reason why I think that's an achievement, why I think that's valuable, is just because now I have a network at Berkeley, and I feel integrated at Berkeley. I feel welcomed, which is something that I was worried about coming in. So I think that's my proudest achievement in general — just having found SAAS and having the opportunity to have a support network that I'm also hopefully giving back to because I'm a big this semester. I have my own little now, and I would like to think that I'm some kind of a guidance or supportive figure for him, because that's what the club does for me.

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

In every freaking aspect, literally. I think the biggest thing is that I have a really pretty resume, because they sent out a resume template that I copy pasted. My resume is looking so sexy. I’d say professional guidance. What was the question again?

Yeah, how has the club helped you with career and professional development?

Oh, yeah. Building my resume. There was the resume workshop that was also mandatory for CX members, which is why I think that [mandatory events] were good. And in general, it helped me realize how much work I have to put into applications because there's actually quite a lot of work. Neha introduced me to this thing called an application marathon where she literally just sits down for four hours and applies to 20 places or more. Building my resume and the application process are the two biggest things I learned in SAAS in a professional context.

Favorite SAAS memory?

There are quite a lot. Maybe karaoke until I, you know, tested positive [for COVID]. Retreat was really cool. There was a moment when we went to the beach. Kevin and I went into the water, people were playing spike ball, people were playing volleyball. And then we just went out to eat and we’d had an insane party the day before. There were just so many people and it was just a good time.

How did you make friends with people in SAAS? And how did you meet them?

My big Elysia. Love her. She was my first friend and the person I can turn to for anything. I'd like to think I do the same for her. Big-little is definitely a good way to integrate yourself. [The house system] is also a really good way to integrate yourself I feel, because my house also happens to be really cool. And your committee. In general, if you just show up to stuff, you'll get to meet people. There are a bunch of socials. You can just show up and then you'll be fine.

Or even doing homework in main stacks.

Yeah, find people you're in classes with and hang out with them.

Out of the three SAAS values of community, exploration, and mentorship, pick one, and what does it mean to you?

I think I'll pick community because to me, I feel like community is very important, basically in every context. Community is valuable for personal fulfillment, but it's also valuable professionally. It just alleviates stress and anxiety, and brings in connections and intimacy. So especially in a technical, professional club, like SAAS, it just makes sense that you also need to balance that with a strong social life. So I think community is one of the most prominent aspects of SAAS that has really benefited me a lot and is just a good thing to have.

What advice would you give to newer SAAS members?

Show up. Literally show up to things, like the socials, and depending on if you need it or not, the professional development stuff. You’ll meet some really interesting and really impressive people that are just really fun to talk to. You're bound to find someone that you have something in common with. So yeah, just get to know some cool people.

Now let's do some quickfire Berkeley questions. So far, what is your favorite class you’ve taken?

I loved CS61A. It was really fun. It kind of confirmed why I'm pursuing this major, just because you're just solving riddles all day. And then when you get it right, it's insanely gratifying. It's a fun way of thinking, you know? That type of thing.

Favorite professor?

Adhikari is kind of the coolest person I've ever met. Yeah. I feel like I'm, you know, blushing. But she's very kind as well. She's so involved in other programs, like the Scholars Program. She really cares about her students, you can tell, and she can explain really well, in my opinion. So I like her because she seems like she's a decent freaking person. Yeah, she seems very human and very nice. And, again, a good professor. So that's why I like her a lot.

What class did you have her for?

I had her for Data8. And I'm in the Scholars Program tied to the Discovery Program as well. She's kind of at the top of that. I don't directly interact with her, but I exchanged emails with her every now and then.

That's so cool. Okay, favorite Berkeley memory?

I feel like the very first few weeks that I got here I did a lot of exploration with my roommates and my friends, and we hiked up to this tree house thing and we saw a really nice sunset and had a good talk. That was a very nostalgic and exciting moment because you're like, “Oh my god, we made it here.” So yeah, hikes at sunset.

Favorite spot on campus that more people should know about?

Wurster is the prettiest library. Love it. People should check it out.

You kind of went over this, but the prettiest building on campus and ugliest building

Ugliest… I feel like I want to say Evans, but that's not quirky. I'm gonna say Evans. Prettiest building? Hmm, I'm hating on the music library so not that I guess.

Music building or the music library?

Music library. Dude, it's so loud in there. When I went there they had alarms go off at five minute intervals. I was trying to study and I was going insane. The East Asian library though — from the outside it's fine but when you go on the inside on the very first floor that you walk in on, it has this big glass and you can see the trees and vegetation. It’s pretty.

Favorite bathroom to use on campus?

They're all pretty bad honestly. I like the one in Main Stacks because it's the most familiar, because I live in Main Stacks. So let's go with that.

Favorite restaurant in Berkeley?

I don't go out to eat a lot. However, Ike’s Love and Sandwiches, even though it's a chain or whatever.

Favorite boba place?

I like boba, but I don't go that much. Let's see…okay, let's just insert a random name. Boba Ninja.

What's your go-to order?

I like hot boba. So I don't really care about the ingredients as long as it's hot and sweet and has the boba. I'm chilling.

Do you have anything you'd like to add or anything you want to plug to members?

To new members? I mean, you know, just come if you want to have good vibes. Good vibes and good experience. And good people. If you're down for that, aka if you're not stupid. That's my message. That's my plug.