Jay Feng

What’s your year, pronouns, major, and hometown?

I'm a junior, studying CS and data science, from Santa Clara, California.

Why did you choose those majors?

I came in as a stats major. That's why I joined SAAS my first semester -- I was explicitly seeking out some sort a stats club. But then I switched to data science and then I added on CS because there were some CS classes that I thought were important and helpful to know [for] doing data stuff. I think data analysts a lot of times do a lot more ‘data analyst’ stuff and some modeling, whereas for data science, in some roles, they want you to do more like ‘full stack data science,’ which could involve really everything. I just tagged on the CS major because I think there were some CS classes that I wanted to take.

Do you have a fun fact and/or hobbies and interests that you want to share?

I like doing things that make life feel like it's slowing down because I feel like life moves very fast. So I like going on walks and not really doing anything, or walking around and listening to a podcast.

Are there any particular entertainment things you're into, like books, TV, movies, music, etc.?

I don't really read. I want to read more, but my attention span is like a goldfish. I can't focus. I listen to a lot of music as background music, or I listen to a lot of simpy music when I'm sad. TV shows/movies? I enjoy watching movies. I feel like movies are fun, more so than TV shows. In a lot of TV shows, it's hard to focus because there's so much filler, whereas in a movie, there's actually something going on through the entire movie, so I enjoy that. I don't watch too many TV shows. Occasionally anime, occasionally K-dramas, Itaewon [my SAAS house]. I've watched a couple of HBO shows, like Westworld, I really liked that. But I don't watch too much TV.

What are your professional interests, and why are you interested in those fields?

This is particularly hard to answer right now because I've been going through a lot of mini crises. I think I’ve always wanted to do something related to data science as in, you have this problem that you want to solve, you have some data, how can you solve that problem? That’s a very vague way to put it, but I like that research and discovery aspect of data science. I think I enjoy that more so than the building part of software development, where you're dealing more with the technical problems that come up, rather than the connection of real world problems to translating those problems into data and translating that into a model. I feel like those barriers are more interesting to me than like, ‘Oh, how do I work with this memory constraint?’ or whatever else software engineers do. For example, you get some data, and then you're like, ‘Okay, well, where does this data come from? How can we interpret it in the context that we have right now?’ Like, I really enjoy thinking about the IA project right now. Even though I'm not actually developing for the project. [In terms of what] I just mentioned, you have all this data, what does it mean in the context of the customers? Or the patients? How do you translate that into a model? How do you make it into a feature that works well for the model while still keeping like the core information that's captured in all of these features of the patients? How can you interpret the outputs for the board of the client that we're building this product for? So I think all those problems are really interesting. So I've always wanted to do something like data science-y, which just means something in that ballpark. But I think that is also possible, not just in data science, but also in software development roles. In a startup maybe or at all engineer roles. I think building things is also fun, but primarily, I want some degree of the research part, like data, the part that I talked about.

How do you use statistics in those fields?

It's just like building models, understanding how models work, understanding and interpreting the outputs of models are.

What internship experience do you have, and how is that?

Do you have any other campus involvements?

How did you find out about SAAS, and why did you join SAAS?

This honestly feels like a while ago, so it's kind of hard to remember, but on Cal Day, there was some stats workshop. I remember they were talking about stats, and then there was one club that was like talking. They were like, ‘Oh yeah we have this organization with a bunch of stats students who do homework together.’ I'm not sure if that was like SAAS or SUSA because I'm not sure when the name changed, but I heard about some club like that, and when I was a freshman, first semester, I was just seeking out this club, and I looked up online, ‘Berkeley stats club,’ SAAS popped up. I was trying so hard to find them on Sproul, but I could not find them! I just don't know why. I couldn't find them until one day I finally found them and I talked to them. I don't even remember who I talked to. It might’ve been Andre because I remember they had a very eccentric personality. I remember it was these two guys who were like, ‘Oh, do you want to give the spiel?’ The other one was like, ‘No, you give the spiel,’ and I was just standing there. I was like, ‘Is someone gonna tell me what you guys do, or what?’ So maybe that wasn't the very best first impression, but I just signed up and joined. I guess that's how I found out about the club. I explicitly was looking for it, which I feel doesn't happen for a lot of people because it seems like there are fewer and fewer stats majors [in SAAS]. There are still some. I think there are some newer people who are stats majors, which kind of surprises me. I'm like, ‘Wow, they still exist!’

Can you list every committee you've been in? Or the role you've had?

First semester, Fall 2019, I was in CX. Spring 2020, I was in RP. Fall 2020, I was in IA. Spring 2021, I was IA Director, and then Fall 2021, IA Director. So I've been in IA for a while now.

What’s your favorite committee?

What was your favorite SAAS semester?

Why did you decide to stay in SAAS?

The first semester, it felt very survey-y in CX. You got to see some [a broad range of topics in lecture]. It felt very “survey-y” as in the people too, where you got to see some people, but you weren't really interacting with a lot of people. So I think I wanted to get more involved with people after that first semester because the only person I really talked to was you [Jackie]. So I wanted to get to know more people. I also wanted to learn more, but I think a lot of it was like, okay, I don't have a reason to leave. So I'll just stick around and see how it goes, and from there, the next semester was a lot more enjoyable for me, even though we got booted out of Berkeley halfway through [due to coronavirus]. I think that semester was a lot more enjoyable, and since then, it hasn't really been a ‘Might as well stay, see what happens’. It doesn't ever cross my mind that I would want to leave because I’ve made a lot of friends here, like I really enjoyed it here.

How has SAAS helped you with your professional development?

What is your favorite SAAS memory?

Probably Spring ‘20 Retreat. I think that was the first time where I felt like I got to know a lot of people better because the only people I knew before were you [Jackie] and Philip. We [also] knew who some people on leadership were, but it was the first time I really got to know people and it was also really inspiring to me because there wasn't a lot of professional development talk, but even during the car ride, hearing people just talking about what they’ve done before in SAAS [and] what they’ve done outside of SAAS, [I’m] like, ‘Wow, these people are really cool. They're really smart. They've done a lot of cool things, and they're just a lot of fun people that I want to get to know better.’ So that kickstarted me to put myself out there more and talk to people more. So I'm really glad I decided to go on that retreat.

How did you make friends with people in SAAS, and how did you meet them?

I think primarily just through committees, maybe not even that. I feel like [I meet people the most through] working with them on stuff. Period! So that could be like in CX, like when we were working on the movie project in CX, meeting you [Jackie] and Gracie. Then, [there was] our poppin’ [Stat] 140 group.The weekly suffer parties were always really fun. Now, I don't really know, because I don't feel like there's a clear answer. I feel like there are so many different types of activities in SAAS, so you can have different avenues of meeting people, like through committees. I've made friends through committees, like you [Jackie] and Gracie. I guess it just got harder online. But there are also classes, which I think is a big part, because we're spending all this time in [the same] classes anyways. You might as well be friends with the people that you're taking classes with. [In terms of] committees. I would say that I'm friends with my committee members right now. But they're also friends with each other, I think and hope. [Also], making friends within houses. Of course, there are different levels of friends. ‘How did I become friends with Rachel?’ I don't know. But there are a lot of different ways that people make friends, like different levels of friends. Pretty much, I've made friends in a lot of different ways, and I think people can make friends in a lot of ways. [You] just need to put yourself out there. That's the core part.

The SAAS values are community, exploration, and mentorship. Choose one, and explain what that SAAS value means to you.

What is your personal vision for SAAS going forward?

How has SAAS changed during your time in the club?

It's become a lot more social. I think it's because for a lot more people, it's become more of like a community and not just like a place to work. I think before it was like that for a certain subset of the club, but I feel like that subset is expanding. So I think that's a big way that things have changed, just that it's become more social. I think there's also this ‘jump’ between people just seeing it as a place to work versus seeing it as a community. There's also this ‘jump’ between people seeing it as something for the resume versus people seeing it as a place where they can learn a lot and they can contribute a lot to.

What advice would you give to newer SAAS members?

Talk to people! I think it's good that people are doing coffee chats and donutbots, but by ‘talk to people,’ I mean [that] there are so many different perspectives and experiences that you can learn about that you wouldn't if you didn't talk to people. It's like, ‘How do you know that you're gonna get one very strong takeaway that someone has for you?’ Maybe one thing they say is really gonna resonate with you, and that's gonna change your perspective towards a lot of things for the rest of your college career. You don't know when you're going to get that one line [of advice], you don't know who you're gonna get it from, and you don't know what that one line is. But you'll never know unless you put yourself in situations where you can learn about things like that. So maybe you'll learn about a career path that you didn't know before. Maybe you’ll learn about a certain senior’s perspective on career and college that you didn't know before as a freshman. All these things you just wouldn’t know unless you talk to people! So I think talking to people is really important. It's really easy to think about college as like this beautifying path, especially where people are interested in SWE, for example. You take these classes, you declare CS, you get an internship, you get another internship, and then you get a return offer. Well, there's like more to life than that. I think it's easy to get pigeonholed into that mentality of, ‘Oh, that's what's important out of college.’ But I think [in] talking to different people about their experiences, maybe some people will tell you like, ‘Yeah, making friends is a lot more important.’ Like the relationships that you make, like the network that you build, what you learn about people, and like, what you learned about yourself, those are all really important as well. Seeing those concrete examples through people's experiences, I think is really beneficial, just to anyone.

What’s your favorite class?

Probably [Stat] 140. I thought it was really fun. Also because our group [with Jackie] was fun.

Who’s your favorite professor?

I feel like most of my learning in college has just happened on my own. I have a couple of least favorites, but I don't think that's appropriate here. My favorite professor might be the Stat 140 textbook. But if Professor Adhikari wrote it, then maybe that’s my answer?

What’s your favorite Berkeley memory?

I can't think of anything in particular. I don't think there's like one single memory, like one thing that jumps out.

What’s your favorite spot on campus that more people should know about?

I don't really go anywhere. It’s not Moffitt. Less people should go to Moffitt, so I can finally find a seat.

What’s your favorite place to study on campus?

I think before [Moffitt] was my favorite place because it was open very late, but I really like East Asian [Library], like those tables right next to the window because of the sunlight.

What’s the prettiest building on campus? Alternatively, what’s the ugliest building?

What’s your favorite bathroom to use on campus?

One where no one else is in it. Any one that has no one else in it. Favorite bathroom? Yeah, I don't really know. I can't say.

What’s your favorite restaurant in Berkeley?

It's not my absolute favorite, but I like Tasty Pot because I like hot pot. There's one place called Southside Station. It's like across the street from The Dwight. It has really good garlic noodles. I’ve only been there once. It's far, but it's only like two blocks from me because I [live] all the way down here. It was last Friday, but I was so sad because I ordered this lychee tea thing, like one of the combo things that comes with a drink. I added $3 to get this lychee tea and then I was really ‘brain off’ walking back. When I got my food, I forgot to get the drink. I only realized two hours later when they were closed. I was like, ‘No, my tea!’

Speaking of tea, what is your favorite boba shop?

I went to Asha for the first time. I had that Asian pear [drink]. I thought it was so good. It reminded me of Taiwan. Asian pear just reminds me of Taiwan.