I Graduated from Berkeley, Reflections from a Place I Didn't Expect to Love
I graduated from Berkeley.
Even as I type that, it still feels surreal. Four years ago, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to go here. The reputation for intense coursework, competitive students, and the overwhelming pace of life made me hesitate. I imagined myself at a different school, one with less pressure and more predictability. But as it turns out, life has a funny way of putting you exactly where you’re supposed to be, even if it doesn’t feel that way at first.
When I walked into my first Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) event as a freshman, I had no idea how much that room would change the course of my time at Berkeley. I met upperclassmen who were doing things I hadn’t even thought possible: running startups, conducting research, and building things that actually mattered. Their mentorship pushed me to take risks: to try quantitative finance, to apply for research positions, and to pursue paths I never would have considered on my own. The academic rigor I once feared became something I embraced. Every brutal problem set and late-night debugging session made me more focused, more adaptable, and more confident in my abilities.
Sophomore year, I started expanding my learning beyond EECS. I joined Venture Strategy Solutions and took on a project with Smobler, a Web3 company. That experience took me to Austin for a crypto event, where I went from barely understanding blockchain to speaking with founders building the next wave of decentralized tools. It was my first taste of thinking not just as an engineer, but as a strategist.
I also pushed myself academically. I enrolled in graduate-level EECS courses and found myself sitting in intimate seminars led by world-class researchers: Angjoo Kanazawa, Alyosha Efros, Aditi Krishnapriyan, and Jitendra Malik. They didn’t just teach; they modeled what it looked like to be curious, playful, and rigorous in their research. That inspiration led me to join BAIR and UCSF’s Cardiac Vision Lab. I explored generative modeling, contributed to video understanding research, and published a first-author paper in APL Machine Learning. I learned to write, to collaborate, to lead, and most importantly, to care deeply about the questions I was asking.
But Berkeley wasn’t just about academics. It shaped who I became as a person. Through HKN, I went from being mentored to mentoring others, whether that was tutoring, organizing senior tech support events, or leading our chapter as President. I found myself drawn to community-building, making sure that everyone, from prospective freshmen to seasoned faculty, felt like they had a place here.
I also learned how to celebrate the journey. I joined in Cal Day panels, cheered until I lost my voice at College Game Day, and rushed the field after a Big Game victory over Stanford I’ll never forget. Berkeley taught me that success isn’t just what you accomplish; it’s also how you show up for others and enjoy the ride along the way.
Now that I’ve graduated, I’m taking a gap year to travel, reflect, and continue research with BAIR while preparing my PhD applications. But the mindset I gained here, the curiosity, the resilience, the hunger to explore uncharted territory, will stay with me wherever I go.
In the end, the school I wasn’t sure I wanted to attend became the place I’m most grateful for. Berkeley gave me challenges I didn’t think I could meet and a community I never expected to find. It changed my life. And for that, I’ll always be thankful.
“The most unexpected paths often lead to the most incredible destinations.”