One IT Student to Staff Stories

"Student-to-Staff” is a series featuring stories from Cal alumni who started working at UC Berkeley as students and are now career employees in One IT. This series was created to show the importance of investing in our student staff, and how vital their work is to the University and its mission.

Benjamin Torres

Service Desk Support

Benjamin Torres’ career started with a random visit to the Earl Warren Data Center. He was part of the Open Computing Facility (OCF) Club, and someone there needed a hard drive from the Earl Warren data center. He went with him and saw how cool it was! He started looking for any open position there was. He stumbled upon the Student Tech Consultant position with Student Tech Services and applied for it.

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Finley Golightly

D-Lab Staff, Applied Mathematics

Finley Golightly worked on campus throughout their time as an undergrad student. After graduating with a degree in Applied Mathematics, they now work full-time at Berkeley D-Lab! Learn how Finley’s hard work and dedication led to a full-time position at UC Berkeley.

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Pauline Kerschen

Software Developer for Research, Teaching, and Learning (RTL)

Pauline Kerschen came to UC Berkeley with the goal of getting a Ph.D. in English literature, and today she’s a software developer for Research, Teaching, and Learning (RTL). Learn about her unlikely journey, and what inspired her to change course.

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Jacqueline Chang

Student Communications and Special Projects

Jacqueline Chang began her journey at UC Berkeley as an undergraduate student. Two cross-country moves and two degrees later, she’s back at Berkeley. Read about her journey.

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Gabriel Gonzalez

Interim Associate Vice Chancellor & Chief Information Officer

Gabriel Gonzalez is a true student-to-staff success story. A former UC Berkeley student, who now serves as interim Chief Information Officer for the entire campus. Read about his journey and lessons learned along the way.

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Nili Ovaici

Service Manager for Student Information Systems, Campus Applications & Data

Nili Ovaici, Service Manager for Student Information Systems (pictured right), got a job her senior year at Cal working with Liz Marsh, Executive Director of Strategy & Partnerships. During her time as a student staff member, Ovaici learned a lot, “It really defined a great work culture for me. It was wonderful working with people who were so knowledgeable. Every question I had and everything I wanted to learn, they supported me. I had ideas, and they were always encouraged. That was such an amazing experience that when I was asked if I wanted another position, I took it — even though I was working through another degree. My entire career has been at UC Berkeley and it’s because I had such an amazing experience as an undergrad.”

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Natalie Montañez

Instructional Technology Supervisor and Service Lead, Research, Teaching & Learning

Natalie Montañez, Instructional Technology Supervisor and Service Lead in RTL, is from Nebraska and fell in love with UC Berkeley when she visited to tour the campus. She applied for a student staff position her junior year, at the encouragement of her sorority sisters, and was hired for the role. Montañez was in a few different roles during her time as a student worker, but the one she remembers most was a one-on-one tech support job at a drop-in desk in the basement of Moffitt Library. Montañez enjoyed that job so much that she took a similar job at Cal upon graduation. Her advice to current students is, “Apply to whatever sounds interesting. Try to meet as many people as you can. Make as many connections as you can. All of my success is due to the people I met and connected with as a student, and along the way. Show that you’re interested, it goes a long way. People will remember you, and remember to consider you, as things open up in the future. Be open to communicating, be open to reaching out to folks. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. At Berkeley there’s a little underlying impostor syndrome for everyone, we all struggle with it. There were so many times that I didn’t think I was qualified, or a good fit, even for the job I’m in now. But you have to go for it and put yourself out there.”

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Ramón Soto

System Analyst, Haas School of Business

Ramón Soto, Systems Analyst for Haas IT (pictured left), works primarily on campus with the accounts team, and others, at the Haas School of Business. He wears many hats in his everyday work on campus, and he credits his student worker position for the success he enjoys today. “My work as a student taught me versatility and gave me wide exposure to technology. My job was managing the front desk and facilitating a computer lab. It was something different every day, and that’s what I loved about it.” When he wasn’t imaging computers or working on printers, he was learning other technology tools like active directory, or labeling network cable in the server room, and sometimes working on the servers themselves. Soto says, “This really helped me gain insight into what it takes to run a service from the ground up, especially when it comes to enhancing the student experience. My student position also opened my eyes to the possibility of working in technology as a career, which is something I truly enjoy. I love working with technology on a daily basis and helping out the campus community.”

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Adriana Contreras

Information Systems Analyst, College of Engineering

Adriana Contreras-Sandoval, Information Systems Analyst at the College of Engineering,was a first-gen student, looking for a work-study position before starting her first semester at Cal. She got a job as a Help Desk Technician on campus. “I learned to interact with clients and my boss gave me advice on how to talk to professors and be professional in emails. I think that gave me the confidence to figure things out on my own. It also taught me to not be intimidated if I hadn’t seen an issue before or get frustrated when I couldn’t solve something with the first method.” By senior year Contreras-Sandoval had been promoted to Senior Help Desk Technician. Upon graduation, her boss suggested she apply for an open role in nuclear engineering. “When the opportunity came to work at Berkeley full-time, I took it. I liked working here already and I had a good idea of how things work. I’d been working with faculty and grad students since I was a freshman, so it felt like a natural jumping-off point for me. My boss also went from working at the Help Desk to full-time staff, so it made me feel like it was something I could do.” She applied for the role and got it.

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