Humans of SWE: Francesca Ledesma

I’ve always been a planner. Thus, Berkeley’s blatant disorganization isn’t quite conducive to my personality type. The biggest challenge that I experience at Berkeley is not knowing the extent of the opportunities and resources that Berkeley offers. There isn’t one platform to browse through all of them: I have to discover them through the slew of outdated websites and/or hear about it through the grapevine. As I’ve deepened my involvement on Berkeley’s campus, I’ve learned to take advantage of what’s offered to me as a student by attending events, talking to professors and actively seeking opportunities.

After discovering some of what Berkeley has to offer, I set the goal to make the most out of my college experience and take advantage of the available resources. I wish I had known how to do that as a freshman. Our school is ripe with valuable opportunities that we don’t know about.

Here are a few ways that I’m tackling the challenge of figuring out how Berkeley can help me reach my goals:

1. Sign up for mailing lists.

I’m signed up for the Jacobs mailing list, Sutardja Dai Center’s mailing list, SWEmail, and more. These emails promote unique opportunities especially events. For example, from the Jacobs mailing list, I was able to tour the HQ of design consultancy Cooper in San Francisco AND listen to Alan Cooper speak! The timing of this was perfect because I was just beginning to find interest in human-centered design.

2. Browse the websites of centers like Sutardja Dai, The House, etc.

I did exactly this and stumbled across the Social Innovator OnRamp course, which is a course created for people who have a “Big Idea” that can change the world. The course provides guidance, funding opportunities and social enterprise training. As someone who is interested in taking initiative with my ideas, I’m glad that I found this and also amazed that it’s not a well-known opportunity. This again reinforces the fact that I still have no idea of everything Berkeley has to offer.

3. Talk to professors.

After taking a couple of design courses, I developed an interest in human-centered design. I wanted to explore the field and figure out what I could do to get involved as soon as possible. One day, I visited my professor during her office hours and discussed my new interest in the field. She told me about a few websites to browse, what design-focused classes to take, and which organizations and research opportunities were relevant to my interests. Professors are more established in the Berkeley community than we are, so they have more knowledge about its resources.

By no means is this the be-all, end-all of finding out what Berkeley has to offer. I’m writing this to share my experiences with the challenge of discovering the resources available to us at this point in our lives, so I hope this resonates with some of you!