Hometown: San Diego
Domain Emphasis: Economics
Major: Data Science
Data Science in Six Words: Decision-making through collecting and analyzing information
Why did you decide to become a data science major?
I took a gap year from UC Berkeley to work for DigitalGenius, an artificial intelligence start-up in San Francisco. While I was a salesperson at DigitalGenius, I became increasingly interested in the tech side. I saw firsthand how much efficiency and improvement our technology brought to companies. Also, in my work flow as a salesperson there were many repetitive processes that could be improved with software. I was excited to gain a hard skillset in a growing field with so much opportunity.
What will you remember most about studying data science at Berkeley?
Taking the ethics of data science course (Human Contexts and Ethics of Data) taught by Professor Cathryn Carson was my most memorable experience. This class offered a lot of value to me around understanding controversies unfolding in our digital world today around data ownership, data misuse, and poor privacy design. In the digital world, a lot of our personal freedoms are violated and I appreciated spending a semester with Professor Cathryn Carson learning exactly how our personal information can be abused by companies and even governments. I now understand that we should take violations of our personal freedom and security as seriously in the digital world as we do in real life.
I see myself as a lifetime advocate for data privacy and security.
What do you hope to do after you graduate?
Immediately after graduation I plan to continue to develop my sales skillset as a professional salesperson. Further down the road, I have always dreamed of owning my own company, and there is a lot of opportunity in data science with endless demand for analytics and software-as-a-service. I also see myself as a lifetime advocate for data privacy and security, and legislation that supports these measures. I also envision serving in local office someday for my home city of San Diego, and using my data science education to help develop San Diego into a smart city.