A Minority’s Blueprint to Computer Science

A guide to help underrepresented students navigate the CS community at Cal.

In early 2017, I opened my acceptance letter to the #1 public university in the world. I’d be spending the next 4 years of my life as a Berkeley student — I was thrilled. But the moment I stepped foot into my first computer science class, something felt off.

Among Computer Science graduates, only 6 % are African American.

I immediately felt like an outsider.

How will I fit into a class of two thousand people?

Will I understand the concepts as well as everyone else?

Who can I seek out for help?

Are there people who look like, think like, and talk like me?

These questions ran through my mind as I searched for a sense of belonging in a school filled with so many unknowns.

That’s why I wrote this guide for you. My goal is to help you navigate through the intricacies of being part of an underrepresented minority in the CS community at Cal, so that you don’t have to make the same mistakes I did.

Build A Fruitful Community

To make the most out of your experience at Berkeley, become friends with your classmates early.

Regardless of your background, collaboration is crucial for success in the CS world. Everyone brings their own unique perspectives and approaches to the challenging concepts you will come across.

But as an underrepresented minority at Berkeley, finding students that look, talk, and act like you to collaborate with may be difficult. Here are some strategies that worked for me:

• Never hesitate to ask questions. Spend time with peers on Piazza, and work with other people to solve problems. It’s all about integrating yourself within the community and finding your niche of individuals.
• Attend office hours and CSM study sessions. With a core study group, you’ll do more than just spend long nights together configuring data structures or creating classification models. You’ll build a sense of community.

Understand That You Are Here For a Reason

The realization that I really do belong at Berkeley was a difficult barrier to cross for me.

Even in an introductory course like CS61A, there were so many accomplished individuals who had already built entire apps all on their own. I immediately felt like the playing field was not level, but what kept me motivated was the innate belief that I was on this campus for a reason.

When the nights are late, the mornings are early, and the office hour queues are long, remind yourself of why you are doing this.

I think for a lot of minorities, including myself, I pursue this path for my family. My hard work is dedicated to my family, who have sacrificed countless hours for me to be where I am in today.

Seek Mentorship

RateMyProfessor can only go so far in guiding what classes you take. Make friends with upperclassmen early, and seek them out to learn what the best classes are.

Upperclassmen know which classes are necessary for the real-world and which ones are the most interesting. They can also provide tips and tools to best approach difficult classes.

Having an older mentor on campus is essential, especially one who is also part of an underrepresented group because they have been through the gauntlet that is Berkeley CS, and they understand first-hand the secrets of navigating the industry.

When I was a freshman, a senior on my soccer team taught me how to be more strategic with planning my classes so that my schedule wouldn’t be too difficult to manage in any single semester.

Without his advice, I would’ve never been able to manage competing as a student athlete and taking the rigorous CS courses that Berkeley has to offer.

Join a Club!

Join one early.

It’s the best way to meet like-minded individuals who share your academic passions. Clubs not only give you some great friends, but also help with professional development and allow you to work on projects outside of academia.

Even though I waited until Junior year to do so, joining Blueprint was one of the best decisions I’ve made in college. Blueprint has allowed me to apply the skills that I’ve learned in my classes to make the world a better place.

This semester, my team has been designing a web application for a program called as Unloop, which delivers quality software development education for individuals who are incarcerated.

You can learn more about tech clubs on campus in this article here.

Relish the Struggle

Finally, enjoy the experience. You’re at one of the top schools in the country for computer science!

It’s also important to never compare yourself to anyone else. Remember that computer science for some is a slow grind and that is totally fine — a little progress every day and a relentless will to become a great programmer will take you far.

Be confident in yourself and remember, Go Bears!

Special thanks to Tanthai Pongstien, Ethan Lee, Johnathan Zhou and Myles Domingo.