Jessica Gu

Where did you grow up? What was your path to Cal?

I grew up in San Diego and it has the nicest beaches that I've seen. In addition, there was a lot of awesome food there. It was a great place to live in. I always wanted to go to Berkeley and I wasn't considering any other colleges besides it. So I was pretty lucky to have gotten in. In the first year that I was here, I was taking a variety of classes because I hadn't found what I liked a lot. At one point, I was considering Philosophy (super cool major). But then I took cs10 and decided to continue with cs61a. It was definitely cs61a, which pushed me to pursue a cs major. It was way too much fun. It's been a long journey since then cause the classes got harder. But I feel the amount of time that I put in those classes was worth it. So that's my time at Cal.

How much programming have you done (and what languages)?

I know python, java, C and scheme. I am trying to squeeze some time to learn swift. It seems really cool.

What are your hobbies? What are some of your talents and skills?

Reading Manga. I'm a super fan of a lot of them: Black Butler, Claymore, Oresama Teacher, Ouran High School Host Club, Liar Game, The World God Only Knows, etc. i haven't had the time to read a lot of manga in a while.

Recently, I just got back to watching anime. It was probably because of Wolf Children. It's an amazing film. I wasn't fond of the director's other film: The Girl who Lept Through Time.

Q: Have you done anything remarkable? Has anything memorable happened to you?

One experience I had was going to Outsidelands. The coolest part was getting near the front when Trent Razor was playing. Almost immediately, a mosh pit began and I was pushed even closer to the front. I ended up having to throw away my shoes cause they were so dirty afterwards but I don't regret it.

What commitments will you be busy with this summer?

I'm pretty sure that my whole time will be spent on TA-ing. There's a lot to do and I'll probably be preparing for discussion the whole time. If I do have spare time, I'll be watching the rest of Wagner's CS161 webcasts.

Web security is so cool and Wagner makes things make sense.

How would you describe your teaching style?

I like having a combination of solo and group work. I'll start off with a short explanation of the topic and lead into an in-class discussion about how to solve certain questions or why things gave us a different answer from what we expected. My goal is to help you acquire the necessary skills and knowledge, so that you are able to solve problems on your own.