Yingjie Cheng
What is your hometown?
I moved a lot while growing up so I consider many places my hometowns. Each city I’ve lived in holds a different chapter of my life, and whenever I go back to visit my friends, it brings back so many memories from that chapter. So I’m born in Beijing, China and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada when I was six years old. I lived in Vegas throughout all five years of elementary school and then moved to Mississippi when I was beginning middle school. When high school started, my family and I moved to a suburb near Memphis, Tennessee, and that’s where we live now. Yeah, I would say that Beijing, Las Vegas, and Memphis are all my hometowns.
How did you find out about SAAS? And why did you join?
I can’t remember how exactly I found out about SAAS but I think it was through flyers I got from the Glade. At the time, I was deciding between two different data science clubs so I was doing a lot of research on what each club offers and their community. I was specifically interested in gaining more practical experience through embarking on impactful data science projects as well as connecting with people who have similar interests with me. I attended the SAAS infosession and learned that the club has so much to offer that I was interested in. The directors I talked to were all very down-to-earth and friendly and I vibed well with them. I joined as an Insights and Analytics member in fall 2021 and honestly, I wish that I found out about this club earlier. SAAS has a very welcoming and close-knit community, and it has played a significant role in strengthening my passion for data science and discovering my professional interests.
What would you say was your favorite class or professor?
I have a lot of professors I really admire and appreciate, including Professor DeNero, Hug, and Alex Filippenko. They’re all super down-to-earth and humble. Their passion for the subject shines through the way they teach which really inspires me. I have an interesting story about CS 61A, which I took with Professor DeNero. So I came to Berkeley with zero programming experience and CS 61A was the hardest class for me back then. I remember I was in Cory for office hours late at night and the queue was getting quite long, like over a 2-hour wait time. And then I saw Professor DeNero come into the room to help TAs with the queue. Suddenly, I heard my name being called and the professor sat next to me to answer my question. My question was very basic since I was a newbie to CS but he was super patient and walked me through how I could approach the problem better. It was such a humbling experience and I am so grateful for all of these professors.
What was your favorite SAAS memory?
That’s a good question. I have so many favorite memories so I can’t say that I have a particular favorite one but I do really enjoy the little/simple moments with friends and spontaneous hangouts.
How did you meet your friends in SAAS?
One way is through Big/Little. I met my friend Michelle through this and we met up a lot to do really fun Big/Little challenges and activities. One time, we carved Sulley from Monsters, Inc. for the Pumpkin Carving Competition and we won first place! We made pumpkin flavored pancakes afterwards and it was very yummy! Besides that, I met some of my friends through being in the same committee or just going to socials. I also made friends in SAAS by taking the same classes, and we would bond over struggling on projects or grinding for exams. One interesting thing that I learned later on with my friends is that we actually crossed paths before but just didn’t know each other that well back then, so I’m glad SAAS brought us together again and I’ve become a lot closer with them.
Do you have advice for incoming freshmen or new SAASies?
My advice is don't be shy – go to the socials! I was on the shy side when I joined and hesitated to go at first but I was always glad that I did go because the socials are very fun and I got to talk to people from other committees. There’s so many opportunities to make friends in SAAS including donut bots, Big/Little, the House system, and whole club socials so just put yourself out there. Step outside your comfort zone and go out to meet new people.
How do you think you've changed over time?
I think I’ve become more open-minded over time. There are a lot of things in life that we don’t have control over, and they might not be ideal or sometimes just bring us negative energy. However, what we can control is how we perceive, react to, and learn from the situation. There are many different angles to view a situation, and shifting how we perceive them changes the way we feel. Sometimes it’s hard to see other perspectives because we don’t have enough context yet or maybe the timing isn’t right. I always challenge myself to view things with a different lens or perspective and try to have a positive outlook even when faced with a difficult situation. I think having an open mind also relates to being less self-centered because you’re more understanding of others and are more compassionate. I’m an INFJ and it was interesting to learn that being altruistic is one of our strengths. This type of thinking and being open-minded is actually the inspiration for my original solo dance choreography that I recently created, called “Realization”. It’s pretty abstract but the beginning of the piece illustrates what it’s like when you can’t see the other perspective and get trapped inside a box which is your mindset, and the ending of the piece portrays the feeling of liberation after becoming open-minded and viewing the phenomenon from a different angle, resulting in a more positive outlook. Basically, the piece is like a butterfly being freed from a dark, enclosed cocoon.
Can you explain a time when you got through something hard at Berkeley?
There are a lot of tough times, but one that is the most memorable is when I took CS 61B during an online semester due to Covid. We had to record ourselves on Zoom during exams for proctoring and submit them for review. The first midterm went fine but, unfortunately, I faced unexpected technical difficulties with my Zoom recording after finishing my second midterm – and I was quite devastated. I clearly explained what happened to the course staff but, long story short, they decided not to grade my exam to be fair to the students who didn’t have a problem with their recording so I received a zero on my midterm. I respect their decision and studied extremely hard for the final knowing that I could use it to override my lowest midterm score. My hard work paid off, and I performed surprisingly well – but honestly, I think I just got very lucky.
What's something that you're really proud of?
I'm proud that I’ve been able to balance academics and the arts. I’ve been told many times that my double major in data science and dance is a very interesting combo. They’re both my passions and it’s rewarding to work the right and left sides of my brain. Pursuing arts and academics has definitely been quite challenging, but I'm really glad that I’ve kept my passion for dance since childhood because a lot of people told me that they wished they didn’t give up on their passions because of school. Whether I am performing on the stage with a large audience or improvising in a studio by myself, dance enables me to really enjoy and live in the moment. In the future, I'm really interested in exploring the intersection between machine learning and dance.
What’s a topic you could talk about for hours?
I really like talking about the universe! That's another reason I really enjoyed Professor Alex Filippenko’s intro to Astronomy course. The universe is so mysterious and humans know so little about it. I'm also very philosophical and like to talk about deep concepts that are thought-provoking with people.
What are some of your hobbies?
Besides dancing, I really like to enjoy the outdoors, like hiking and swimming, and just exploring new places with friends. One hobby that I picked up since the start of college is cooking. I really love the process of creating and enjoying food. I’m definitely not the best at cooking and have many failed attempts at making things but I just really enjoy the process. One memorable dish I made was colorful dumplings. The color of the wrap is all natural since I used the juice from blending spinach and steaming pumpkin and purple sweet potato to knead the dough. The filling was cabbage and pork. I made so many dumplings and shared them with my friends. They liked them a lot and wanted more!
What would you say is your pet peeve or toxic trait?
One pet peeve is when you're walking on the sidewalk and there are people who casually stroll in front of you. I’m okay with that unless they take up the whole sidewalk. And then sometimes they suddenly stop in front of you to look at something and won’t even step to the side. I’d get annoyed by their slow walking speed because my usual walking speed is a lot faster than the average – probably because I’m always late to things. Like, when I use Google Maps and the ETA is 20 minutes, it would take me 10 minutes to walk there. I’m not sure about a toxic trait, but I literally have a mental map of Main Stacks, not to sound like a nerd or anything because I’m definitely not. When I need to grind for exams, I’d go there because I think the environment really gets me into the grind mode. I like to take breaks to rest my eyes from the screen and sometimes I would just take a walk because I like to explore and satisfy my curiosity. Over time, I’ve become familiar with the structure. If you ever get lost in this maze-like library, let me know and I can help!
What do you think you'll miss the most when you graduate?
I will really miss my friends but I'm also really glad that most of them will be staying here in the Bay Area so I'm really looking forward to hanging out with them after college. I’ll be in the area so I can visit my friends in Berkeley as well!