Working as a Senior AI/ML Engineer at Cisco.
STEM Program always did an amazing job with putting forth opportunities for students. The summer research experiences at UCLA and NASA JPL will forever be the most memorable moments in my academic career. Interning at JPL was a life changer because that was where I first learned about Artificial Intelligence, the research area that I've turned into my professional career. My peers were doing research at UCLA at I would visit them throughout the week, where we would just wind down and have a really good time. Not only were we realizing our dreams, doing research and taking a big step in our academic careers, but we were building memories that we still talk about years later.
UC Irvine has a transfer student center with many resources to help with this transition. But it also helped having peers at school/internships that were also transferring to UC Irvine. I would learn from/with them about adapting to the 4-year university pace.
AI is a fast moving field. And in general, computer science is in a very interesting place where you can build so many things easily. As someone who has too many ideas, it's incredible to be able to build cool apps and exercise creativity with minimal technical boundaries. The freedom to just create has never been higher.
Dear computer science majors, AI enthusiasts, etc. It has never been more important than now, to build community and relationship with those around you. Work hard and technical ability will always come. But no longer are the days that you should sacrifice your social life for the extra edge. Attend events, do hackathons, build things with others. The connections and the journey are more important than the outcome.
Dear Physicists, always stay curious and question things. Use first principles and allow your mind to be flexible. The math you do is hardly strict and there's a way to make it yours kind of like how you always get to pick your frame of reference. There's many tricks you can do if you understand the math at a fundamental level rather than just regurgitating equations and steps. Also, if you're like me, you joined the field fascinated with space and the possibilities of what's our there. To be honest - a lot of same questions are still out there and it feels like the field is progressing slower than before. So two things: 1. that's where you come in, we need unique minds like yours to solve modern problems. 2. be curious about other things as there's many strange physics phenomena around us that are yet unsolved.
For physics majors and I guess for studying for algorithms in CS - Learn to do problems to the point you're confident that your approach will lead to the correct solution. You don't always need to solve problems fully. If you strategize your solution and build a mental map of why it will work, it demonstrates that you truly understand the concept at hand.
Doing this is important because it means you can practice many more problems in less time. You can skim through problems and quickly discover if something challenge your understanding of a concept.
Go to therapy.
Playing basketball and working out. Cooking. Video Editing. Graphic Design. Fashion.