ESS 902: Building your Berkeley community

Laura Vogt

Welcome to this week’s episode of the Not-So-Secret Guide to Being a Berkeley Engineer. Today, we’re diving into one of the most important parts of your college experience, finding your community on campus. Whether it’s through classes, student organizations, or your residential life, there are countless ways to connect and belong. I’m your host, Laura Vogt, Director of Student Communications for UC Berkeley Engineering’s Marketing and Communications team. Kicking things off are two of our amazing bioengineering students, Chimkasinma and Katie. They’ll be interviewing with each other, sharing their personal journeys, and yes, even offering some great food recommendations along the way.

Chimkasinma Mbakwe

My name is Chimkasinma Mbakwe. I’m a bioengineer major here at Cal. I’m a junior. As for programs and organizations I’m involved in, I’m involved in like… I’m an RA for people that live in the dorms. I’m also in the Biomedical Engineering Society. I’m the general member chair. I’m involved in the Nigerian Student Association because I’m an international student from Nigeria. I’m also involved in the Berkeley Free Clinic on Durant. I volunteer there. I’m just trying to give back to community. I’m also in the Black Engineering Student Association where I run a DeCal for just helping teach Black students on campus because sometimes you don’t feel like… It’s very difficult to find teachers that look like ourselves sometimes on campus. So I help on that teacher program for STEM, Bio 1A, Chem 1A, all that stuff.

Katie Sie

Hi, everyone. My name is Katie. I am a bioengineering and EECS double major. I’m a senior, and I guess the programs that I’m most involved on campus are iGem at Berkeley, which is a synthetic and computational biology research organization. There, I’m involved in one of the experimental wet lab teams, as well as I’ve had experience in teaching the DeCal and just making undergraduate research more accessible. I’m also involved in the Bioengineering Honor Society. So there, we host a lot of events for the bioengineering major and also anyone who’s interested in learning more about bioengineering. And I’m also involved in research on campus at the Innovative Genomics Institute.

Chimkasinma Mbakwe

I just wanted to ask, how did you choose these student organizations and teams you’re in? You talked about research. How did you reach out? How did you find that lab? And just the clubs you’re in.

Katie Sie

So I think coming in as a freshman, I’m out of state. One of my biggest goals coming into Berkeley was trying to find a community, just things that I was interested in because there’s so many opportunities here. For me, I just did as many things as I could freshman year. And then from there, I chose the communities that I resonated most with, and that’s how I found mine. I know when you’re introducing yourself, you introduced a lot of different clubs that you’ve been involved in. I think I’m mainly in the bioengineer community. I guess, how did you find these clubs?

Chimkasinma Mbakwe

I would say that I also did a lot as a freshman because I was just like, I just need to try everything. Coming straight from Nigeria, I was like, I need to utilize all my opportunities. Over the course of the years I’ve been here, I’ve dropped some things, picked up some things. So for sure, I would say being an RA was just something I wanted to do because I wanted to help people, like residents, like myself, because I know I had struggled a bit as a freshman in the dorms. I also chose the Black Engineering Student Association because I just felt that I needed a community. I’ll be in classes and there’s just one Black kid or two Black kids. I was like, I need to surround myself with people so I don’t feel discouraged, if that’s the word. So I could feel like, Okay, I can do this. As for BMES, I feel like that’s the BIO-E club that I’m very involved in. I’m also in BIO-HS, but I’m not as involved. I’m a general member. But I feel like the MES is really a community for me when it comes to bioengineering, asking people for class help.

What classes did you take? Which professors were the best? Which ones should I avoid? So I think I chose that community because I felt I’m welcome.

Katie Sie

What resources helped you find those clubs? I know during GBO, there’s tabling and stuff. There’s always tabling every semester. How did you find your clubs?

Chimkasinma Mbakwe

Some of these clubs reached out or put flyers in the dorms because I know I couldn’t make it to GBO since I’m international. I had a couple of things holding me back. So I came two weeks late. My friends were able to tell me about these clubs, and then I went to the general meetings.

Katie Sie

What are the What are your time commitments for each of the extracurricular activities that you’re involved in?

Chimkasinma Mbakwe

I recently joined a lab this semester, and I think that’s my biggest extracurricular commitment because it’s research. Every week is about 6-10 hours, sometimes over that, which I feel like doesn’t sound a lot to some people, but for me, it’s just in comparison to other things I’m doing. I feel like that’s my biggest time coming in. So that’s 10 hours. And then R. A, it’s more of a job. I would say rather than extracurricular, I don’t know, I said it was an extracurricular. That takes 19 hours of my week being on duty and stuff. As for the other clubs I’m in, and let’s say the Nigerian State Association, BME, as BESA, those take about just two hours each a week.

Katie Sie

I think for me, about the same. I think in terms of the extracurriculars you do, you prioritize them. I think every week is flexible. So for research, you can take research credits, and that does take… Right now, I’m taking three units, so that’s comparable to nine hours a week, right? But for research, a lot of wet lab research, too, you have to be in lab consecutively for many hours for things to work. And so that takes a a lot of the time. But I feel like clubs and organizations like iGem and BioHS, you get to choose what events you want to go to, I guess, depending on your workload for that week, especially with midterm seasons and everything.

Chimkasinma Mbakwe

I agree. And I was going to ask, did you find it difficult building a community here at Berkeley? I know you spoke a bit about how you created your community, but just if you could touch more on that.

Katie Sie

Yeah, as I stated before, I guess I just tried a lot of different communities. When I came to Berkeley at first, I joined all the possible engineering clubs. There’s also the Five Sigma Road engineering sorority. Yeah, I think I just tried a bunch of different communities. I would say it’s very overwhelming as a freshman or just coming into Berkeley, it’s a huge school, and there’s so many people to meet. And so it does take a while to find the people that you resonate with. I guess just continue putting yourself out there, but also realizing when you need to take a break and take some time for yourself. I think that’s really important. How did you build your community?

Chimkasinma Mbakwe

I really agree with what you’re saying, like Berkeley being a big school and all that. I would say that when I came into Berkeley, I was on the Afro floor, which is in unit one in the Christian Hall, and it’s all Black students, all Black identifying students. I feel like for me, that was a good transition from Nigeria to this place where I could still relate with some people. It wasn’t a complete change. Right now, obviously, I don’t live on the Afro floor anymore because it’s just for freshmen. But I feel like that was a good transition, and I felt I found so much community there. Until today, a good chunk of my friends are from the Afro floor, and I think that how I built my community. I was wondering, because I know everybody has different takes on the residential and the dorms. Were you able to find some community there or you looked out?

Katie Sie

Yeah. I lived in Fothill my freshman year. I think Stern had the women in STEM programming. So I know a lot of people found their communities in that way, but I was adjacent to it because Fothill is right next to Stern. For me, I think a lot of my closest friends that I made since freshman year came from GBO because a lot of the people who were in my group also lived on my floor. And so after the programming, we’d go back to our dorms and we’d still be able to talk. And I think a lot of people were able to bond that way. I think also just the bioengineering community on campus is pretty tight knit. Everyone’s in the same bioengineering clubs if you decide to join those. And so it’s really easy to find the people that you take classes with also in your clubs. And so I found that to be an easier way to make a community. And I guess touching on that, being a balanced student is really important. So it seems like we’re very involved on campus, and it does take a lot of time commitment. Are you able to have downtime as an engineering major?

Chimkasinma Mbakwe

That’s a very good question. I don’t know. I feel like sometimes we want to make time for ourselves, but there’s midterms, there’s finals now. I feel like I do try to find time for myself. I really like to sleep. I like my eight hours or more. I try to prioritize that. I feel like that’s something that I prioritize. I try not to do all nighters, stuff like that. Sometimes I go out for boba, sometimes I go to my friend’s place to study because I’m always in the dorm, so I’m close to my residence, but it’s just sometimes I need fresh air. So I feel like that’s how I unwind. What about you? I know you’re doing bio engineering in EEC, so I feel like a lot of people want to hear how unearthy you balance.

Katie Sie

Yeah, I think it’s definitely difficult, especially with the lower division classes. They always have discussion, lecture, and lab, and so it takes a lot of your week. As a freshman and sophomore, it definitely was difficult for me to find a work-life balance. And at some points, I was found a balance, and then I decided not to think about it anymore. And then I realized that I didn’t have that balance anymore and that I was only doing schoolwork. So it’s definitely something that you continuously have to work at and be very cognizant about. But I think taking upper division classes, the workload is not less, but the content is more interesting, and I guess the time that you have to be on campus is less, I guess. So it’s not as restrictive. And so for me, it’s easier to set boundaries. So during these times, you will not find me on campus after 08: 00 PM anymore. I will not do that. It’s very important. Yeah. So I think it definitely was difficult to set those boundaries, but it’s something that you have to reflect on a lot, I think. You also touched on getting boba on.

What’s your favorite places to eat around campus?

Chimkasinma Mbakwe

I love to eat at Thai Basel. I feel like that’s just my comfort food. And for boba, I like Bencha and Sheretine. They’re expensive. Boba for $8.

Katie Sie

I think the snack pass, the friend party groups things, I will go for those whenever there’s a discount for Boba.

Chimkasinma Mbakwe

I should start doing that. Yeah.

Katie Sie

Get in a group, it’s cheaper.

Chimkasinma Mbakwe

Okay.

Katie Sie

What is it about having a community that supports you to be a better student here at Berkeley?

Chimkasinma Mbakwe

I believe having a community is… I mean, what’s the one thing? No man is an island or no person is an island. I think there’s this thing my mentor in my lab always says, he always sees students alone and just move. I’m like, That’s the Berkeley grind. You have to be running off the class. But.

I feel like a lot of people I see at Berkeley, it’s really hard to find a community, and it really impacts your mental health because maybe you’re getting the good grades and maybe you’re aceing your classes, but I feel like something feels like it’s missing in that when you’re not able to find that community. I feel like what makes Berkeley more enjoyable for me is having those friends, those laughs, those midnight calls, talking tea, and stuff like that. I’m I feel like that makes you a better student because you’re more engaged, you’re happier, your mental state is more elevated. And I think that’s why it’s important.

Katie Sie

Yeah, I agree. I think having a community supports you in so many different ways, not only academically, especially if you’re involved in the bioengineering community, you find people to be in your group projects for classes, but also the emotional and mental support because it definitely is a lot being at Berkeley, and it definitely gets overwhelming. But I feel like once you have a community, people who to relate with, I feel it gets a lot better. And there are also just so many opportunities just being in the Bay Area of fun things to do. So having a community is definitely a great way to go.

Laura Vogt

Thank you to Chimkasinma and Katie for sharing what’s helped you feel grounded and supported during your time in Berkeley engineering. Up next, we’ll hear from Edwin and Madalyn, students in aerospace engineering. I had the chance to ask them how they found community within a smaller major and how being involved in student organizations has influenced their academic experience.

Madeleine Bardy

My name is Madeleine Bardy. I’m currently a junior studying aerospace engineering here at Cal.

Edwin Gomez

My name is Edwin Gomez. I am a second year also studying aerospace engineering new.

Madeleine Bardy

I’m actually lucky enough to be part of the inaugural class. Edwin here is part of the second class ever of the major. So it is a very close-knet community.

Edwin Gomez

I was interested in joining one of the aerospace clubs here because there’s quite a few. So the club I met Maddie in is a Space Enterprise at Berkeley, or SEB for short. And so she was one of the subgroup leads. And so I was joining in pretty brand new. I didn’t really know most of it, but I met her. She was very welcoming. I met her through GBO, which was the orientation for the freshman. She was one of the first people, upper class people that I met. Then she also happened to be in the club, so it was like two birds with one stone.

Laura Vogt

How did you choose what clubs to be part of and how much time you could put into it?

Madeleine Bardy

All very overwhelming when you first come to Cal. There’s tables upon tables upon tables, and Sproul, and up at the engineering campus of all the different things that you can join. I think, luckily for us, we were exposed to all of the different aerospace clubs here at Cal through our specific aerospace orientation I mean, I’d say you want to get involved, but then at the same time, if it becomes overwhelming, you want to be able to take a step back, get a good look at things.

Edwin Gomez

I feel like with a lot of the competitive clubs, you can’t really do that. If you’re assigned a test, you have to do it. Their team is relying on you. And then in Seb, it’s more laid back. There are some times where you have to crunch for time and stuff. Honestly, for me, Seb, it was just the people that were there.

Madeleine Bardy

That’s really good to have the variety in how much time you can commit. You mentioned how much time we can commit to these clubs. There are certainly members, and especially those that are in leadership within the club, that are spending upwards of 30, 40 hours a week on the projects that we’re doing because they love it. But we also have members who can only afford to spend a couple of hours every couple of weeks. And we’re a club that accommodates that. We don’t have a selection process or intro project or any minimum number of hours per week. So it very much has the philosophy of if you let people contribute what they want to, they’re going to be more effective. And in doing that, we still are able to have ridiculously ambitious timelines and goals and still hit those targets. It’s a really good community to be part of.

Edwin Gomez

It’s like what you put in is what you get out, basically, type of club.

Madeleine Bardy

We all have the commitments, too. I’m a part of a research lab here on campus under Professor Garner. We all have other professional societies that we want to be a part of. We all respect that we all have more than one goal in life and more than one goal for our careers. It’s pretty healthy to be a part of a community like that where it can still be a lot of pressure and you can still be highly achieving, but it’s not the be all and end all. I would say the club has helped with my classes more so than the other way around because usually the stuff I’m doing within Seb is a few steps ahead of what I’m learning in class. So if you get to that in class, you’re like, I’ve seen this before. So it does take a bit of pressure off when you’re trying to make sure that you’re… People have different opinions on this, but from my perspective, I’m a student first, and so the classes do need to happen, and we do need to be performing as I want to in classes.

Edwin Gomez

Like As I already said, you do stuff that’s ahead of what your coursework is because your first year is just straight Gen Ed, so it’s all just filler. And then I’d say now it’s beginning to get there. Taking more of your upper div classes, then it gets more. Then that’s when you get more involved with stuff like that.

Laura Vogt

Have you been able to build a community outside of engineering?

Edwin Gomez

It’s either you’re working on coursework or if you’re involved outside of class. Some of my closest friends here are through my major, people that I met through my classes.

Madeleine Bardy

Do you suddenly see engineering is the most in your day-to-day, but I’d agree. I did get an opportunity to branch out in freshman year dorm living, that’s always a very good opportunity to meet people across the whole school. I would say if you’re lucky enough to have roommates and roommates’ friends that are in diverse spaces, I think that’s… I do have a broader group of friends that I socialize with, and it’s all through living situations because they’re the people you come home and they’re all in your living room and they’re all just talking about. We’ve had have philosophy majors come to parties and they They try and tell you that time doesn’t exist or you have these conversations as well. So you do get to branch out in that way. But yeah, for sure, the people that I spend the most time with and the people I specialize with the most are certainly engineers. I think that first and foremost, be comfortable with changing what you do as you come in. I was very lucky that the activities that I chose to involve myself in were a really good fit with me straight off the bat.

That’s not the case with everyone. It’s okay to get a semester in and realize that the club that you chose to be a part of doesn’t really suit. If you’re really, really stressed about, I’m not really sure if this is for me, just know that there is that flexibility and availability to change as you go.

Edwin Gomez

I’d say one of the big things that helps when you’re getting on campus is just building those friends because they’ll get you through your four years. If you’re just having a bad day, they’ll be there for you. Building those connections, especially for those people that are far away from home. It’s building that family at UC Berkeley that will really, really, really get you through these next four years.

Laura Vogt

Well, that wraps up this episode of the Not So Secret Guide to Being a Berkeley Engineer. Next time, I’ll be sharing three more student interviews focused on how their first year at Berkeley shaped them and the tips they want to pass along to you. If there’s a topic you’d like to hear about or a student perspective you’re curious about, feel free to reach out to me at Lvote, that’s L-V-O-G-T, at berklee. Edu. You can find this episode and more at engineering. Berklee. Edu/esspodcast. Thanks for listening. I’m excited to bring you more stories and resources throughout the summer.