Spring 2022 Retrospective

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Berkeley, USA
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5 minutes

This spring was a wonderful semester — one where we were (FINALLY) back in person! I really enjoyed being back in-person, living it up with my friends, making moves and starting new trends and events. As college starts to come to a close, I think a lot more about what I want to leave behind, and I’ve started to focus in on what I really am passionate about. Uncertainty still abounds, but I’m prepared to full send a lot more things.

Education#

This fall, I took a bunch of technical classes. While this meant I felt perpetually exhausted, I also learned a whole lot. I picked up some knowledge about Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Computer Graphics. These classes were very fun, and solidified for me that I probably want to work on some AI/ML related fields. I am also very happy I took Berkeley’s class about developing scientific thinking— while I don’t think the class taught anything I didn’t know subconsciously, I’m very grateful to it for giving me formal frameworks about thinking better.

Research#

My first semester researching— and I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would. I’ve come to believe, through my work, that the intersection of Programming Systems and Artificial Intelligence is one of the next big frontiers of AI research. Programs that can right (correct) programs allows technology to accelerate itself, and this is a very exciting field to work in. I researched program synthesis under Koushik Sen this semester, on the AutoPandas project! I was mentored by the absolutely brilliant grad student Rohan Bavishi, who is fundamental in helping me really enjoy the research experience. I am excited to carve my own path forward in this field next semester!

Cal Hacks#

This was my last semester at Cal Hacks. I wanted to create the scaffolding for the club being able to bring new ideas to life — something I believe Berkeley sorely lacks. My goal was to try to make a playground where things could be allowed to fail. I started a program called Labs for it — which was a success! I’m also presenting a keynote about labs at HackCon this August, to try to start a trend in hacker communities with starting Labs. Bring on the whacky, potentially disastrous ideas! Let’s make colleges a more exciting hacker-y space.

Hobbies#

I picked up squash in earnest this semester! I was on the recreational squash team, and definitely graduated from noob to extreme beginner. I’m still pretty terrible at it, but I’m good enough at it to be terrible at it, which is progress! I’m excited to keep at it next semester.

Previous Abouts#

Check out what I did last fall or last summer!