Mary Guo

“…shoutout to Brian and his recruitment workshops — those have been very helpful!”

What year are you, what's your major, and what's your hometown?

I'm a 2nd year, intended Computer Science and considering a double major in Economics, and my hometown is Xi'an, China.

Why/how did you choose your major?

My first semester, I took the Beauty and Joy of Computing, which is taught by Dan Garcia. He is so lovely, and he is really supportive. And in general, the whole faculty is nice and super supportive. There were so many times where the staff stayed longer than the normal office hours to answer my questions. That really inspired me to major in CS. I also think this community is collaborative and [it's] the best community here in Berkeley, but that is just my personal opinion.

What are some of your hobbies/interests outside of school?

In high school, I was really into running and swimming and I was on the swimming and cross country teams. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to keep up with these although I still run and swim occasionally. But I found a cool new hobby at Berkeley — taekwondo. I've been taking the classes through the RSF and I found it to be super stress relieving.

What TV shows / movies are you into?

I really like Criminal Minds and I'm into the detective genre in general. I think it's fun to see how they figure out the crime and the process of capturing the person. But some of the episodes are kind of creepy!

What are your professional interests?

I'm interested in a computer science and possibly economics related role!

What are your other campus involvements?

I joined another club called TOPPA at Berkeley this semester. It is an Asian-American professional development club! I'm a part of the web development project team to develop a central website for the club to recognize club members and their accomplishments/experiences.

How did you find out about SAAS and why did you join?

When I came to Cal, I found out clubs are super competitive, especially for the business and consulting clubs. I went to a lot of their infosessions and their workshops through Calapalooza. I was discouraged by the fact that they took a really limited amount of people. During the second week of Calapalooza, I was walking and I met Caro, who is our previous SAAS president. She reached out to me and talked about how inclusive [SAAS] is. I knew that was what I wanted — I really wanted to be part of a community where I felt like I belonged. SAAS is more inclusive than most communities at Berkeley. You really get to know a lot of people through the socials, study hours, and donutbots.

What committees have you been on in the past?

I was in CX my first semester, and then became CX director my second semester! I'm now part of exec as the VP of Finance.

Why did you stay in SAAS?

I stayed in SAAS definitely because of the community. I really love this club and want to continue to devote my time and effort to the club. I want to keep being involved and I want to help people and to get to know people.

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

I think SAAS has really helped me with my communication. Especially in my role right now, I need to communicate with a lot of different people, such as committee directors and exec. SAAS has also taught me a lot of data science concepts which has been useful background knowledge for my internships. I chose to take some classes because of SAAS. Lastly, I think SAAS gives you a lot of chances to work with other people. It's a great place to work on your collaboration skills and teamwork. Finally shoutout to Brian and his recruitment workshops — those have been very helpful!

What is your favorite SAAS memory?

Last semester, we had a CX social and that was my favorite memory — bonding with my members. Especially because they are new to SAAS, I loved helping them get better oriented with the club.

What's your favorite class at Berkeley?

CS10!!!! I love Dan Garcia!

Who is your favorite professor?

Dan Garcia is awesome!

What's your favorite Berkeley memory?

I had this great project partner in one of my CS classes. Every single time we worked together, we had a lot of fun and we are really good friends. She was an exchange student though, so she went back to her home country. But it was a great experience working with her. I still remember those late nights at Soda working to finish our project — we ended up sleeping in a spare room in Soda because of the deadline.

What's your favorite place to study on campus?

I really liked studying in the study lounge of Stern Hall, where I lived my freshman year.

What's your favorite restaurant?

I'm a big foodie so I don't know if I can pick hahahaha. I love all of them.

What's your favorite boba shop?

Each boba shop is special in its own way so I also cannot choose.