Elysia Gao

“Being the president of SAAS is definitely different. Because I was IVP, I was kind of like, oh, you know, going from one exec position to another one, it can't be that different. It's definitely like having hands in all of the pots now. Instead of I can weigh in on these things, but mainly I am dealing with social stuff. I actually think this is a really fun organization to be a president of just because I feel everyone is very committed to the org. The directors are amazing. I feel it is a big time commitment, but being the president of SAAS is very worth it and it doesn't feel like it's really grueling work or anything, which is really good.”

Fun Fact?

I'm extremely allergic to a bunch of spices and stuff — or not spices, but cinnamon and mint and lavender are all things I'm allergic to. And also, there's a thing that happens with beeswax. If it's not super processed, there's something called propolis that's naturally occurring. That's supposed to be really good for your skin, but I'm allergic to it, so any product that uses natural beeswax. I would break out in hives so it's not fun for me. I feel it's a fun fact.

Do you play any sports?

I don't play any sports. But I did ballet from when I was 3 to 15, pretty intensely, and since coming to college, I've started taking ballet classes again. But it's nothing too high effort or high time commitment.

What are your hobbies/interests?

I'm really into baking. Yesterday I baked a banana bread and also a spice cake, which is basically just white cake, but add your pumpkin spice spices basically. The house that I'm in SAAS is the SAAS Baking Show and everyone just really loves baking. So maybe that isn't too much of a surprise. But I also really enjoy reading, and knitting, basically all of the grandma, stereotypical activities. I started knitting a blanket during quarantine, and right now it's three feet by seven feet, which is a very thin blanket but I'm trying to add to it. And then I also have been reading. So currently, I've been reading this book about how there's — oh, this is a very data science thing to say — but a book about implicit gender bias when people do data analysis for city planning and other things because the data is biased. But yeah, very interesting read. The name of the book is Invisible Women Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Carolyn Credo Perez. So that's a book rec for anyone who's looking to read a book about data in their spare time, even though we're all in an applied stats club. So maybe they don't need more data.

What TV shows/movies are you into?

So my favorite TV show is definitely Brooklyn Nine Nine, it's just so good. I really like the dynamics of the show. I think it's really funny. I think it's kind of hard to find a sit-com that doesn't make fun of their female characters for being stereotypically female or basically the whole premise of their workplace dynamics is that the people that are made fun of. In B99, the old white guys are often the butt of the joke, which I think is pretty rare in a sit-com, especially a police procedural sitcom. I also just think Andy Samberg, Stephanie Beatrice, they're all amazing actors and I really admire them and their characters, so really well-written and really funny. And it's like six or seven seasons, so there's so much bingeable content. But yeah, it's really good.

What professional experience did you have coming into Berkeley?

When I entered Berkeley, I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I came in as a MCB major, and I wanted to do pre-med. I took Physics 8A and did all of these other pre-med classes. But I also had some experience with CS because I did robotics in high school. I was also interested in maybe doing something that was more Media Studies or English, because one of the biggest parts of my life for all of high school was newspaper. So I was really all over the place. I didn't know what to do. All of my professional experience was some biophysics research, some chemistry research, and then teaching CS to middle school kids. Coming into Berkeley, I think I was able to kind of narrow in on what I wanted to do more.

How did you decide on your current career path after coming to Berkeley?

I think for me, because I came in and I basically was interested in doing everything, I think that's a really natural segue into data because, to be honest, data science has applications in everything. I was really interested in math, I was doing Math Circle and things like this since I was 10. I was really interested in, I guess, how information is presented to people. I think data really encapsulates everything really nicely. I think for me, most of my career since coming to college has been around data-driven decision-making and I think for that, it's very apparent, but data science can literally be applied to any career.

Whereas, I feel when I was thinking, oh, I'm going to be an MCB major, I felt a little bit more boxed in. Now, one of the research projects I worked on last year had to do with using data science to analyze county jails and how different policies or different groups that have been courted by the Trump administration that have to do with county sheriffs, how that's impacted, which is super political science leaning. I've also had data science applications that have literally been my past internship, this past summer that had to do with data-driven decision-making in terms of products in terms of marketing, stuff like that. It's really a very wide range of applications. So I kind of feel by choosing data science, as my major/career path, I kind of made a decision to not make a decision if that makes sense.

Do you have any other campus involvements?

I'm part of a mentorship org, Sage Mentorship. It's basically providing a kind of holistic mentoring for elementary schoolers. Right now I'm mentoring a second grade class, and I go and help them with their writer's workshop, which is really interesting. I think I really like Sage because I think there are a lot of mentorship orgs, but they're mostly focused on academics. And I feel my experience with Sage has been very positive, helping the kids with anything else that they might need help with as well — their confidence, making friends, making habits. I just really enjoy it. I've also been part of Opportunity Through Data, which is a data science education org for the past year, and I really enjoy it. I'm on the curriculum development team. Actually my involvement this semester has not been as much because of being a SAAS exec. I would highly recommend it to people in SAAS if they're interested in getting experience with data science education and it's for a really good cause, because basically this intro curriculum is being taught at continuing high schools in the Oakland Unified School District. Eventually, there's a low risk women's correctional facility, called FCI Dublin, and that's where they want to pilot the program. On the website, they have a lot of research about how there are a lot of data science jobs going forward and employment is one of the ways that you can predict that there won't be as much recidivism for prisons. So if people are interested in that they can go check it out.

How did you find out about SAAS? Why did you join SAAS?

I actually found out about SAAS because in freshman year I was in a business org and one of the people that was in it with me had joined CX and I thought it was really interesting. So the next semester I had already decided, I wanted to do something more technical. I also took a class, an English class or something with Rachel in spring of my freshman year and she seemed to really enjoy SAAS. So I was like okay, I'll apply to SAAS and so that's how I found out and I joined, and I had a really good time. So yeah, here I am.

What's your favorite SAAS committee that you've been in and why?

I have to say IVP first semester was a really wild time for me. It was my introduction to SAAS, and the committee director was very, he is very passionate about IVP. He's graduated now, but shoutout to Justin. I think it was a really good introduction to SAAS. I got to meet a lot of people. I think you might know this from being on IVP, but since you go to socials that you're hosting and socials that other people might be hosting, you get to meet a lot of people, which I feel with a lot of committees it's relatively harder, or in the past it's been relatively harder to meet people that aren't in your committee. It was a really good time. I also just have fond memories cause it was my first experience with SAAS.

Why did you stay in SAAS?

This is so cheesy, but it's definitely the community. I don't know why I feel it's so unique because every club is like, wow, our community is amazing and we're so close, but for SAAS, really everyone that I meet in SAAS is just super nice, driven, funny, charismatic. I think our culture is very meme-y. We don't take ourselves too seriously, but also there are a bunch of people who have really high powered career goals and career experience and I just think it's a really good mix of professional and social. Also I think a lot of other professional clubs tend to be more monolithic, and even though statistics is in our name, we have such a wide range of majors in our club, so we can really get a good mix of experiences. And I feel every time I talk to someone else, sometimes their experience has nothing to do with my experience and we're still here, whereas I feel in a lot of tech clubs it's like, yes, we are all CS. I think it's really amazing to be able to get the different perspectives that people have on things.

What is your proudest accomplishment in SAAS?

I'm really proud of last semester planning retreat. Anyone who's been an IVP of any club knows that retreat planning is kind of a nightmare. I really didn't think that I could do it to be honest. But we powered through, we had food, we had transportation, and we had an Airbnb. Also big, big shoutout to Caro, who was president last year, because she also really, really helped out with the Airbnb search and making sure that I wasn't overwhelmed. And now she's Executive Advisor, so now she can make sure that all of us as an exec board aren't overwhelmed.

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

I definitely think that SAAS has really helped me realize what I want to do. I think even my freshman year, I really struggled with figuring out what I wanted to do. Since coming to SAAS and getting mentorship from older members, I've realized, okay, I want to do a data analytics role. I think that being in SAAS also, you get a lot of access to not really insider info, but just tips and tricks from older members that have gone through what you're going through and I think that that is super helpful. I was able to take tips from Brian and then be able to translate that to interviewing and getting offers for internships, and so I think that that's really helpful. Other than that, it's just really nice to have a community of people who are all kind of experienced and know what you're going through with recruitment. I feel in other organizations I've been in, everyone's kind of going for something different and I'm the only person who's been going through this and so I don't know who to ask for help, but at SAAS, literally almost everyone that you coffee chat, almost everyone you talk to at socials, they'll be like, yeah, I relate.

What's your favorite SAAS memory?

I think the last retreat, making mozzarella sticks or actually, making pasta, we made 20 pounds of pasta last retreat. Shoutout to my sous chefs, Ronnie and Elaine, that was a really fun memory. I think that to be honest, this just ties into the whole grandma's stereotype of hobbies, but I feel you get to know people a lot when you're cooking with them. I really had a good time getting to know them through that experience, cause before then I hadn't really talked to them before. And also that night, we played Secret Hitler and Avalon, which are the classics for SAAS so it was just a good time.

What does the SAAS value of community mean to you?

I think for me, one of the biggest ones is community. I really think that Berkeley, especially Berkeley tech culture, can be a little bit intimidating sometimes, especially if you're an underclassmen. I know every single org is like, oh we have a great community, but I really feel that rings true for SAAS. SAAS is really just an extended family who memes together and watches random media together and can bake together and just have a good time and support each other. Even though I think exploration and mentorship are really important, I feel the community is really at the heart of what makes us so special as an organization.

What is your personal vision for SAAS?

I think moving forward, it would be awesome if SAAS continued to diversify more. I think in recent semesters we've gotten a lot of applicants whose main academic or career focus has been Public Health or Psychology or even Economics. Whereas before I thought it was pretty solid CS, Data Science, Statistics. So I think it would be great to continue getting some new perspectives. And I also think that it would be awesome to continue up with the social structures. Fun fact: so we actually tried to do big little things four times in the past and it never ended up panning out until this semester. I'm very excited to see where all of these social structures go and I think this will really help with building community more in SAAS.

Do you know of Big Little's origins?

So big-little is a thing that fraternities and sororities do, but all of the orgs of Berkeley now do it, so every single club basically has some sort of big-little program. A couple of years back people were like, oh, it would be really cool if we did a big little thing for SAAS and it just didn't work out. There were so many littles cause CX is so big, but this semester, there have been a ton of bigs who were like, yeah, I want to be a big, so we've been able to match everyone up really nicely.

What's your favorite class?

I feel it was probably Data 100. I think it really introduces you to applications of everything you've learned about. I think it's really helpful when you're doing things, I used basically my Data 100 knowledge for my internship this summer. I think it's just really good, even though it doesn't go too deep into each method. I think it's a really good overview of really practical applications of data science. Plus I think the core stuff for that class just tends to be really friendly. I think Data 8 and Data 100 both have super friendly core staff generally. So yeah, I think it's just a really good class and it provides a lot of support, which is something that is definitely needed in a really big school.

Who's your favorite professor?

Oh, this is kind of a hard question. I feel maybe John DeNero, I took 61A with him freshman year, first semester. And he was just so iconic. I feel that's a very basic answer though, seeing as they made John DeNero T-shirts for fundraising or something last year and everyone went crazy over them. So I feel maybe this is not such a hot take.

What's your favorite Berkeley memory?

Hmm, this is really difficult. I feel it's going to probably be, just going to Moffitt and staying there until really late and working on CS projects with my friends. That's the thing that I miss the most in quarantine. Oh, I met Steve Wosniak, cause I was participating in a case competition with some of my friends and he was judging the final round so that was also a really good day. I don't know if I can pick out just one. I just generally remember all of my memories where I was able to hang out with friends, play some Avalon, and play some Cards Against Humanity. Those have been some of my fondest memories.

In your opinion, do you think Main Stacks is better when studying in groups or Moffitt?

It's easier to book the Main Stacks rooms, but I feel Moffitt just feels more open and it's more colorful so I feel the vibe is that when you study with groups at Moffitt. But that being said, we've had a lot of really fun SAAS study hours in Main Stacks before, so I guess it depends on the group of people too.

What's your favorite place to study on campus?

Actually Main Stacks because, okay, this is going to sound really weird, but I feel usually when I'm studying, what gets me out of the groove is getting texts and stuff and in Main Stacks I don't have service. I don't have any self-control, but I feel I kind of need that because then I would not get distracted by getting texts or anything. Plus it's just really quiet and I feel you're kind of peer pressured into studying because everyone is just studying and really quiet, so I think it's a very productive time.

What's your favorite building on campus?

I really like Li Ka Shing. I don't know. It just looks modern and fun. I also feel like the music library is also kind of cool. I feel all of the buildings kind of have a certain charm to them, even Evans, it's just a concrete block but it has a certain charm to it. I kind of prefer the modern glass aesthetic, which is the Music Library and Li Ka Shing only, I think.

What's your favorite Library on campus?

Ooh, Kresge, I feel Kresge is just very reliable, and also good to book rooms in. Also it just feels less intimidating than some of the other libraries. That being said, the only thing wrong with the Music Library to be honest is how small it is, but if you can find a study spot there, I feel that's the fav.

What's your favorite boba shop?

I think probably U-Cha, I used to live pretty close to it and also, I think it's good. I also had a really good coffee chat/donutbot with Caro my first semester of SAAS there. So also sentimental value. I think it's just very solid plus they have punch cards, so that's fun.