Computer Science: Computer Game Design BS
Always start with a thanks.
Breathe.
Seek change.
Is there a faculty or staff person who made a difference for you? Please name them and briefly tell us why. You can name multiple people.
Imelda! We love Imelda. She’s a gentle being and a beacon of warmth, with the kindest eyes of all — she’s the one person who wholeheartedly ever sees only the good in people! Likewise, she sees great opportunity in the people coming in and out of room 391, and because of her kindness, we see the biggest dreams coming in and out of room 391. Thank you, Imelda, for holding it together for us, and for seeing the best in us when we couldn’t even see it in ourselves. We love Imelda!
We know that this journey has been long. Please tell us about anyone you’d like to thank.
I would like to thank Leydi, Jen, and Imelda — three wonderful ladies who cultivate little seedlings every day!
I would like to thank Julian for keeping our study spaces clean!
I would like to thank Severian — who drives the buses by night — for getting us home safely!
I would like to thank all the lovely cocineras I’ve met, who make sure that the students eat good at the dining halls!
I would like to thank all of the other wonderful UCSC trabajadores who carry the dreams of the students on their backs.
And I would like to give a final big, loving thanks to my abejitas — the BEES — for literally saving my life by reviving the child inside of me.
Thank you all so much!
Getting to graduation isn’t easy. Are there any resources on campus that helped you make it this far? How so?
Each other. Mi gente. We are each other’s most vital resource, which is a monumental lesson I learned here at UCSC. The moment I allowed myself to be nurtured by those around me, my UCSC dream felt enlivened, and I found myself living for others instead of for myself. It was a transformative moment in my passion, and I look forward to bringing the people I met here with me wherever I go — in my heart and in my dreams.
College has its ups and downs. Would you share with us a favorite moment?
A friend of mine — graduated in 2022 — had never partaken in the joy of helicopter seeds! Little guys that come off the maple trees in the autumn, and swirl like helicopters in their gentle descent. He couldn’t begin to imagine it, that he didn’t know of these seeds! So I took him out to a big tree next to my apartment at Oakes, where the ground was littered with the seeds. I grabbed a bunch in my hands, told him to stay put, and went up the stairs to the third floor. And over the railing, when I could see him waiting patiently, I chucked them into the air above him. He was stunned watching them swirl towards him in the afternoon sun, and it was a lovely passing of a secret! I miss my dear friend Taka.
A second beautiful moment — if I can cheat — is not any particular event, but as a mentor, whenever I see my mentees from last year communicating with my mentees from this year, that is a beautiful sight. Not just if they’re helping each other, but if they’re playing, or chatting, or drawing together, or even bringing in their bass guitars for each other to try out. Anytime I see them with each other, it gives me the reassurance that the community will be alright well after my time here at UCSC has come to a rest.
Any advice for students starting in Fall 2024?