Michael Wang
What's your major, what year are you?
I'm a third year, studying Computer Science and Applied Math.
Where are you from, and are you in Berkeley now?
San Jose, and no, there's no way I'm living there for too long.
Did you come in with the idea to double major?
I applied for Applied Math, mostly because when I officially applied to Berkeley, Applied Math had a 40% acceptance rate, so I could come in and do CS even though the acceptance rate was low.
What's your favorite fun fact about yourself?
I have the 8th fastest time to type the alphabet in the US. There's a special website that uses a keylogger to officially time it. My friends were like, we want to see how fast we can type the alphabet. We started playing around with it.
Did you play any sports in high school or college?
Yeah, I used to fence competitively. I've been less involved in college, but I used to be close to 20th in the nation.
What're you interested in now for extracurriculars?
Fencing is still a lot of fun, I just don't do it as much anymore. I think everyone at Berkeley is really big on clubs and I've really only been a part of SAAS. I want to get better at drawing though.
What kind of drawing style?
I really like Manga, so that's the style that I try to do.
Do you watch any TV?
Yeah, I actually got a Netflix subscription over quarantine, I watched the classics, Breaking Bad, Bojack Horseman.
What kind of professional work have you done at Berkeley?
Not much, really. I know at Berkeley the expectation is you really have to do more on top of academics, but I focused on classes.
Are you in any other clubs?
I was looking freshman year, but I didn't end up joining anything except SAAS.
How did you find out about SAAS?
I joined second semester freshman year. I actually didn't intend to. I had a friend that applied, so I applied with him, and luckily I got in.
What committees have you been a part of?
I was in CX, then a part of R&P, then R&P director.
Do you have a favorite committee?
Probably R&P, I liked the project I did a lot, I had it picked out beforehand.
What was your project?
It was designed to be a tool for this anime fighting game Guilty Gear. I wanted to build this whole thing where I could train models so I could match with what characters were playing and based on what moves they use, how good of a player someone is. Turns out that was really really hard, but it was still a very cool project.
Do you have a proudest accomplishment in SAAS?
When I was R&P director, I was really nervous. You know how at Berkeley everyone has some imposter syndrome? I was like I can't teach this, I had this fear that I just wouldn't be able to, especially at Berkeley. But then, when we were interviewing for our next director, someone said "yeah, I really liked Michael's slides" and I was like "yes! I did it!"
Do you think SAAS has affected your career path, or has it just helped develop your interests?
I ended up realizing through CS that my interests, like the project, and modeling could be so interesting. I guess right now my path is leaning more towards computer graphics.
Do you have a favorite SAAS memory?
Retreat was pretty fun. I like to do really stupid stuff for no reason, which is fun. I think on the last day of retreat we were just walking around, and there was this whole clump of roots, and I just made a joke about it and it was embarrassing, but everybody laughed, so I guess it was worth it.
Do you have a favorite class at Berkeley?
The breadth classes I've found are the most interesting classes. I took this class called Geography 10 and at first I thought it was going to be about rocks, but it was a lot deeper, talking about earthquakes and the world. I also took Music 27, and it was really cool that the professor would play things on the piano in class.
Do you have a favorite study spot on campus?
For the longest time I would just study at home, but eventually I started going to Main Stacks. I can't study with any distractions at all and it's just so quiet down there.
Do you have a favorite bathroom on campus?
Probably the ones in Soda. Not because they're good, but because I have so many memories there. Like one time my roommate was about to shower and I really had to use the bathroom, so I had to run down to Soda. Weird memory, but I would say it's my favorite bathroom.
Do you have a favorite restaurant on campus?
I feel like I've gone to the same places so much that they're all not good anymore. Oh, the sandwich place on Northside, Stuffed Inn is really good.
Anything else about SAAS or Berkeley or your experience?
SAAS has probably been the lynchpin of my social life, my first two years I just wasn't that social, because I didn't develop a lot of friends, in part because I was still hanging out with high school friends a lot, which I do somewhat regret. And then I realized oh my god, I want to make more friends here, and thankfully SAAS was still there.