Felipe Contreras
Majors:
Electrical Engineering B.S.
Computer Engineering B.A.
Graduating Class:
2016
Current Job:
Technical Program Manager at Google
Sunnyvale, CA
I started at UCSC in 2011 and signed up for a major in Electrical Engineering not knowing a single thing about engineering :). My first two years were the toughest, since I did not have any engineering related course work at my high school. I remember one year into the program, I ran into my first programming course and I had ZERO clue of what was going on; it was literally a foreign language to me. The initial two years were a struggle and at some point I was reconsidering my major... Luckily, I had my SHPE familia to help. I was able to grow and learn a lot during my time at UCSC. In the end, everything started clicking and was able to finish school strong.
Random list of things that I like:
- Tech
- Video Games (Rocket League)
- Traveling and exploring different cultures
Favorite Memory/Activity in SHPE?
Thinking of innovative ways to fundraise to be able to get people to conferences for free. So many great memories making tamales for 18 hr straight trying to fulfill over 300 orders... oh great times.
How did SHPE contribute to your success?
I met all my best friends via SHPE. SHPE provided a community of similar minded people that could provide support for each other.
Any words of wisdom for incoming freshmen/transfer students?
- Remember that your GPA is always at its highest when starting. Your GPA will only go down as you progress through your major :). So try hard at first! it will build a great foundation and also set you up for success.
- Use YouTube to learn!!! YouTube has sooo much educational content to help explain new concepts so please use it! I partially dedicate my degree to YouTube...