Alumni spotlight

• Evolved as a well-rounded engineer through research, teaching, and mentorship, and gained clarity on building impactful systems in AI and infrastructure.
• Key moments included roles as a TA, researcher, and Peer Career Consultant, where she honed both technical depth and soft skills like communication and leadership.
• Advice to her past self: Embrace exploration—growth comes from discomfort, and every experience shapes your path.

Looking back, how did your career path evolve while at CMU-SV?

My time at CMU-SV helped crystallize the kind of engineer I wanted to become—someone who not only builds robust systems but also empowers others through thoughtful infrastructure and applications in the AI space. I entered the program with solid foundations and was well-prepared technically (completing 600+ problems on LeetCode and some internships), but it was the immersive and accelerated environment at CMU that helped me grow exponentially in both depth and clarity.

In 9 months, I completed my Master of Science in Software Engineering—one semester early—and was fortunate to blend academic excellence, deep research with Prof. Osman Yagan, while simultaneously supporting peers through my role as a Peer Career Consultant. The experience challenged me to be more than a student: a collaborator, a mentor, and a systems thinker. I came out more confident, focused, prepared, and excited about the engineering path ahead.

Was there a moment during your time here when you realized what kind of role or company you wanted to pursue?

There were a few pivotal moments. Working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for Prof. Leonardo da Silva Sousa reminded me how much I enjoy bridging data science and software engineering to build intelligent software systems.  At the same time, my research with Prof. Osman Yagan on Blockchain Peer-to-Peer Networks also taught me the value of critical thinking and resilience when working in complex, distributed environments.

But perhaps most unexpectedly, it was my experience as a Peer Career Consultant under Leigh Oliveras’ guidance, the Associate Director of Career Services at CMU-SV, that gave me a new perspective. Helping fellow students with job search strategies, mock interviews, and resume reviews sharpened my soft skills—active listening, clear communication, and collaborative leadership. I realized how much these skills matter in tech interviews, team dynamics, and building inclusive engineering environments. It made me more reflective and grounded, and it shaped the kind of engineering teammate I strive to be.

Together, these experiences shaped my decision to join Google, where I can grow as a software engineer and work on impactful software at scale.

If you could go back and reassure your first-semester self, what would you say about career exploration?

I would say: "You don’t need to have everything figured out—exploration is part of the journey, and it’s okay to evolve along the way."

At first, I was concerned about choosing the perfect path too quickly. But in hindsight, the variety of experiences—academic coursework, industry internships at Intel, Morgan Stanley, and Google, and soft skills I gained serving as a Peer Career Consultant—each played a key role in shaping the direction I ultimately took.

I'd also tell myself that growth often happens in discomfort. Balancing demanding coursework, research, and job searching wasn’t easy, but it shaped me into a more capable and resilient engineer. The support and trust from professors and mentors gave me the space to take risks, learn quickly, and move forward with confidence.