>> So my educational career that led me to Google is a long story.
Bear with me.
So it started in high school and I always had an interest in math
and my high school fortunately had [inaudible] computer science class,
which I took, not with any direction in mind.
I know a lot people, you know, really love computers and really get started young.
You know, you're programming in middle school or [inaudible] in high school and that's great.
I was not one of those people, but I did take a computer science class
and I think it gave me a great start and an interest in the field.
When I came into undergrad, I went to Loyola Marymount
in Los Angeles, which is a smaller school.
I didn't exactly have a sense of what I wanted to do.
I had to choose an affiliation to a college.
So I ended up going into the science and engineering school,
as opposed to just a generic liberal arts undecided major,
but I was still undecided for almost two years.
I took classes.
I kind of poked around.
I was curious, but didn't exactly know where I wanted to end up
and that is not a thing that has gone away entirely.
But I did take some math classes and I took a computer science class.
And I remember kind of the feeling I had in high school that this is something I'd enjoy.
So I pursued both of those.
When it came time to choose a major, I couldn't really pick which one I liked more.
So I ended up doing both, kind of combining them.
Computer science and math can mesh in a really nice way, especially if you're trying to gradate
in four years, as opposed to, you know, hard science and, you know,
liberal art, a little harder to do.
But I ended up getting a degree in pure math and in computer science.
Kind of thought that computer science was more a major I did for fun.
And kind of when I was looking at graduate programs, thought well maybe if I enjoy it,
that should be something I pursue.
So I ended up applying to a few graduate programs,
some actually in math and some in computer science.
But joined UCI in 2008 for computer science PhD.
That was in a theoretical algorithms, so actually more still on the math side.
I think it was a nice mesh of what I'd done in the past,
but that moved me forward into my graduate career.
I pursued some internships.
And some summers, it didn't work out and one, it did and I was hired
to the local Irvine Google office as an intern
and spent three months essentially in a junior engineering role.
So I got to come in.
I got to build something small, get it out to the world and that was a really fun experience.
And one thing that's nice about pursuing an internship when you're near graduation is
that companies will often offer you an opportunity to interview on site, on work time.
So I said, you know, yeah, sure.
I'm not really sure what I want to do after I graduate.
Just seems like a worthwhile opportunity.
And I interviewed, was given an offer, and thought, okay, well,
I'm still not sure exactly what I want to do, but I'll take this offer and, you know,
in hand and this other option that I don't have,
and I decided that I would give it a try, give Google a shot.
And I think it's worked out really well.
All in all, I didn't have a grand plan.
I think that it didn't inherently hinder me.
Obviously, it's easier to achieve your goals if you know exactly what you're going for,
but I was fortunate enough to stay curious in sort of all the fields that were relevant.
And I think that, in reality, if you're not sure or you're thinking
about an industry job, giving it a try is a great move.
Applying for internships, getting started early, because there are going to be less expectations
when you come in and you'll learn more.
As you get closer to graduation, you know, you might have to produce more.
It might be harder to get the job.
But the earlier and more often you apply, the more likely you are to get something
and you might find something you really enjoy.
So that's it worked for me and that was my total academic career.