A Letter from the President: Welcome Back!
UC Berkeley SWE Section President 2021–2022
Welcome back to campus, SWEsters — it brings me so much joy to be able to say that! I hope you’ve all had a great start to your fall semester, whether this is your first time on campus or not. I’m excited for our year together and hope that you are all eager for a year of blossoming new SWE friendships and strengthening old ones :)
Whether you’re new to SWE or a returning member, as this year’s SWE President, I want to welcome you all with open arms to the SWE family. We’re kicking off the semester right away with our Welcome Week events and General Meeting 1, which you can find posted on our Facebook page and Instagram page. There are so many ways you can get involved in SWE, whether that be bonding with fellow SWE members at our social events, attending our corporate infosessions, engaging in our advocacy/equity&inclusion workshops, or volunteering at our outreach events. If you’d like to register as a general member, make sure to fill out our general membership registration form. Otherwise, if you’d like to become more involved, apply to be on a committee! You can learn more about all of our committees and about SWE’s structure at our General Meeting 1. If you have any questions at all, email us at swe.berkeley@gmail.com or message me on our SWE Slack!
Our main priorities this year are to make you feel safe, supported, and welcome. We are committed to providing all of our members with opportunities to grow as professionals, as leaders, and as friends. I hope that you are able to find a home away from home at UC Berkeley SWE this year and that you are able to build relationships and networks that you can take with you past your time here at Berkeley — I sure have!
I just wanted to end with a personal message. Being back on campus, we’re all in a weird position, where freshmen and sophomores are experiencing the full college experience for the first time, and juniors and seniors feel like they’re restarting their college experiences. I mean, as a senior, even I have to pull out Google maps to try to find my way around campus again! But, as a senior, I’ve also spent ~1.5 years of my college experience online, and having spent all that time at home, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my first two years at Berkeley. So, I wanted to instill a note of encouragement to everyone reading this. I want to challenge you all to truly embrace living life in the present moment. Keep a journal detailing the daily adventures in your life! Write down new things that you tried, new things that you learned, things that made you happy, things that made you sad! Remember to be your own best friend throughout the year and believe in yourself as you would a friend. I spent much of my college career telling myself that I wasn’t doing enough and that I wouldn’t be able to achieve my goals, but once I started treating myself like my own best friend, that’s when everything changed. College is tough, and it will be especially challenging this year with the current state of things, but anytime that the voice of doubt trickles in your mind, I hope you take a moment to pause and remind yourself that everything will fall into place. You are capable, you are at Berkeley for a reason, and you are all on your own journey. Focus on what makes you happy, invest your time in the things you’re passionate about, and surround yourself with people who challenge you to be your best self. Though I have yet to meet all of you (which I am so excited to do!), know that I believe in each and every one of you. I can’t wait to see the things you all do this year and I can’t wait to see how SWE grows because of all of you!
Cheers and can’t wait to see everyone on campus,
Allison Nguyen
UC Berkeley SWE Section President 2021–2022
