The HSEP Full Circle
From UCB SWE’s High School Engineering Program (HSEP) student to HSEP officer!
by Ashley Chu
My high school junior year was a bit of a mess (as most junior years are). Thoughts of post-graduation plans, summer jobs, and figuring out how to register for the ACT continuously flooded my mind. I knew I wanted to pursue something STEM related, but I struggled in my physics class and math wasn’t my best friend either. Not having many friends interested in STEM, I had this underlying feeling of isolation in my classes, and didn’t feel like I really had anyone to turn to.
Luckily, that spring, my school sent out an email about a program hosted by UC Berkeley’s SWE section! I wasn’t completely sure what I was getting myself into yet. But, I did see the words ‘engineering workshops’ and ‘free’ which fit my budget. Filling out a short application, and waiting a few weeks later, an email popped up with ‘Congratulations, you have been accepted to Berkeley SWE’s High School Engineering program!’
Ahh! Just reading those words made my heart skip a beat. When the time came for HSEP to start, it was a whirlwind of experiences coming together. From exploring Jacobs Maker-space to designing structures, Berkeley was my Disneyland during HSEP. For the first time, I could finally see how the concepts I learned in school applied to the world around me. HSEP was broken into two parts: standard workshops debriefing areas from mechanical engineering to bioengineering and team projects to hone in on the focus area students were interested in. During HSEP, I worked on a final project with three other amazing gals on a sound-reacting lightning cloud using an LED strip, microphone, and Arduino to emit light once a sound was heard. The pride of standing on the stage and presenting my project with my group is one I won’t forget. It was terrifying presenting to a group of strangers with spotlights on us, but walking off the stage and realizing that we actually made something felt incredible.
While that was great, I’d say the best part though was the people. A few of my now closest high school friends also participated in HSEP, and having them as constant support after the program is something I’ll always treasure. HSEP is just the start to fueling the passions of so many future engineers. Today, I’m studying Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at UC Berkeley, but I’m just one of many. One of my closest friends, Samatha, who also did HSEP with me is studying environmental engineering at UC Davis, another, Kadee, is studying biology at UCLA, and lastly, my friend Caroline is studying computer science at Harvard. UC Berkeley was one pit stop on our journey to exploring engineering, but was no doubt a huge launch into where we are today.
Coming into Berkeley, my first computer science class had 2000 students — a size larger than my entire high school! To say the least, it was easy to fall into another loophole of comparison. Thankfully Berkeley offers a variety of support, with student-led discussions as one of them. The funny part was that my original HSEP leader was the one running my section (s/o to Jessica!). Joining SWE, I found not only a place where I could be myself, but a reminder of how I could continue spreading my passion for engineering. Remembering what brought me to Berkeley, I applied to be an officer for nonetheless but HSEP, and I’m excited to be working on the program with my co-officer Kuhu! We have a lot in store for this virtual semester from expanding our program outside of the Bay Area to integrating new speakers, and I can’t wait to see all the projects that come to life.
