A Sneak Peak at Fall 2021 with Codebase
A warm welcome and an introduction to our club, our plans for the semester, and how to apply!
By Warren Wang, Fall 2021 President
First of all, welcome to Fall 2021! With the prospect of our first in-person semester in what has felt like ages comes unbridled anticipation and excitement. To incoming new students, congratulations on making it to Berkeley! To returning students, welcome back!
The Berkeley student organization scene is one of the many things that makes this school so special. At no other university have I ever seen such a vast variety of student-led organizations, from service-driven initiatives, to diverse cultural groups, to professional consulting programs. And when you’re attending a school with over 30,000 undergrad students and hundreds of people in your classes, student clubs and orgs, whether professional or social, can be a great way to find a community.
That’s why I want to introduce Codebase, one of the many tech-focused student organizations on campus, and explain who we are, what we do, and why we exist. I also want to talk about our plans for this upcoming semester, as well as how you can get involved as a client or mentored developer on our teams.
What is Codebase?
Codebase was founded in 2016 by a small group of undergraduate computer science students with the mission to:
“Build a community of developers that empowers students to break into the software industry.”
The tech industry was, and still is, an extremely competitive field to break into. The founders envisioned creating opportunities for passionate and curious students to join a community of developers with diverse interests, learn from and mentor each other through industry projects, and work with professional software engineers.
This vision has stayed true with us to this day. Today, our organization has grown to over 45 active members, and our efforts have branched into multiple initiatives:
- Developing hands-on technical projects for industry clients
- Bringing industry resources to the wider Berkeley community
- Building a close-knit student community
Let’s dive deeper into each of these!
Our Projects
The largest component of being a Codebase member is working on our projects. Every semester, Codebase works with four high-growth tech companies and one non-profit organization and builds a technical product for them. Each project team, consisting of two project managers (PMs) and six developers, collaborates closely with their client company’s software engineers through 13 weeks of agile development, complete with sprints, standups, and code reviews. Throughout this process, our members are able to build their foundations in software engineering, learn the best industry practices, and work on a product with immediate feedback and users.
Because our developers are still full-time students, we always work remotely from our client, delivering two in-person presentations throughout the semester to present our progress.
We have two different types of projects: a mentored project for those new to software engineering, as well as client projects for those with more experience.
We’ll be announcing our client projects very soon so keep an eye out for updates on the specific companies and projects we’ll be working on this semester! https://codebase.berkeley.edu/projects
Our External Initiatives
Outside of our projects, one of our main initiatives is also to provide the wider Berkeley computer science student body with professional development and mentorship resources. This semester, we’re planning a wide variety of events, from company tech talks to industry panels. We’re also helping to organize the first iteration of Cub Fair, a virtual career fair for roles in tech, with other clubs on campus. For those who prefer to learn on their own terms, we have also published our mentored project curriculum for full-stack web development.
Building Our Community, In-person Again!
Beyond our project work, Codebase is first and foremost a community, and this will never change. Every semester, it is my highest priority to make sure that Codebase is a fun and engaging experience for all of our members, and that we all get to form close friendships throughout college. Following campus guidelines, we plan to once again operate as an in-person club and bring back in-person events such as retreats, banquets, project meetings, team dinners, and casual meetups on the glade. We will of course be keeping a close eye on public health and safety guidelines and our campus situation. It’s important to me that we remain flexible if conditions change. This pandemic is unfortunately far from over, so being cautious, safe and considerate of our communities and fellow students will always be top of mind for us.
On a brighter note, I can say without a doubt that I’ve met some of my closest friends in Codebase, and I hope that you will feel the same after joining our organization.
Our Spring 2020 retreat at Yosemite National Park!
Joining Our Team
Interested in joining our team? We’re currently recruiting for both client project and mentored project developers this Fall! We’ve released our applications on our website here. Our application deadline is September 2nd at 3AM PST (although we highly recommend you submit by September 1st)!
Throughout the first few weeks of the semester, we’ll be hosting a wide variety of recruitment events for you to get to know our members and learn more:
- Women in Codebase: Fall 2021 Panel
August 27th, 7–8 PM PT
Event: https://fb.me/e/5pMhD2N7H
Registration Link: https://bit.ly/codebase_fa21_womenincb - Codebase Fall 2021 Virtual Infosession
August 27th, 8–10 PM PT
Event: https://fb.me/e/1aHdxHD8G
Registration Link: https://bit.ly/codebase_fa21_virtual_infosession - Codebase Fall 2021 In-Person Infosession
August 30th, 7–9 PM PT
Event: https://fb.me/e/bUYmmFq7V
Location: TBD - Discord Application OH
August 28th, 6–8 PM PT
August 31st, 6–8 PM PT
Discord Link: https://bit.ly/codebase_fa21_discord - APPLICATIONS DUE
Submit applications on our website at: https://codebase.berkeley.edu/apply
September 2nd, 3AM PT
Finally, if you would like to receive updates or ask us any questions asynchronously, here are a few ways to connect with us:
- Fill out our interest form for email updates: https://bit.ly/cb-interest-fa21
- Join our “virtual table” Discord for questions: https://bit.ly/codebase_fa21_discord
- Visit our website to learn more: https://codebase.berkeley.edu/
- Follow us on Instagram and Facebook
Closing Thoughts
I hope this post gave you a better picture of what Codebase is and what it would look like to join our community. We are always looking for new friends that we can learn and grow together with, so we’d love for you to apply! That being said, if you don’t think Codebase is right for you, there are tons of other clubs and communities that I’d highly encourage you check out! Like I said earlier, finding a community on campus can be so important and I truly do hope that everyone has that opportunity, whether that community happens to be Codebase or some other amazing group of people. You can view the full list of Berkeley clubs on Callink, or other lists of clubs (like sproul.club) actively looking for new members.
Have a great semester!! ❤
