My name is Alvin Yee
and I recently graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a major in Computer
Science and a minor
in Chemistry.
I want to give my
gratitude to the Ivy League Connection because they exposed me to the
intense levels of
academic competitiveness during my two summers at Cornell. It made me
realize students were
determine to achieve success and anything less was not acceptable to
them. My most
memorable experience was when a dorm mate rewrote each detail from his
notes 75 times before
the Freedom and Justice exam. I knew I wasn’t
the smartest student at
Cornell Summer
Program so I felt the need to exert extra effort to keep pace. The experience
has taught how me to
handle the heavy workload of the college life. My two Cornell Summer's
has helped me develop
a good work ethic and I can proudly say the ILC was the root of my
development.
Aside from my Cornell
experience, choosing a major was by far the hardest choice I made in
college. I was
undecided entering my freshman year so I experimented with economic. Shortly, I
found out that I
lacked passion for the subject so I decided to try chemistry. I made this
change
because I did well in
the general chemistry series. I continued with chemistry until my junior year,
but uncertainty of
possible careers distanced me from the study. I settled with Computer
Science, because I
had a higher chance of finding a career in which I would be happy working
long term.
So the lesson I took
away from choosing majors is to know which career you want to pursue
before declaring.
Your major will be a stepping stone to any occupation that awaits you after
college. Find a
interesting major early in college and you won’t
make the same mistake. In my
case, I had to stay
an extra quarter due to my indecision to pick major.
In addition to
choosing a major, it is critical to utilize school resources. There will be
many
opportunities to land
internships and jobs at your campus career fair. It is very important to be an
active participant at
these events, because career fairs provide a high chance of employment.
There is less
competition at campus fairs compared to job websites, because you will be
competing against
your classmates and not the workforce. Start early by developing your
resume and your
connections with TAs and professors. They will be the ones providing
reference for jobs
and graduate school.
Remember college isn’t all about academic. Go explore events and your environment. It will
help
you ease through
stressful projects and exams. I hope this information was useful.
Alvin Yee
UC Santa Cruz 13
