UC Santa Cruz

08/28/2026

Where are they now?🌲💫 Class of 2025: One Year Later

Driven by a curiosity for how technology shapes everyday lives, Samiyah Shaikh (John R. Lewis ’25, computer science) turned her time at UC Santa Cruz and Baskin Engineering at UC Santa Cruz into a launchpad for AI security.

During Samiyah’s undergraduate journey, she immersed herself in hands-on innovation. She collaborated on autonomous systems in the AIEA Lab and Interaction Dynamics Labs and engineered cloud infrastructure for accessibility in the Misfit Lab. Supported by dedicated campus mentors and named a Google CS Research Mentorship Scholar, she built the technical foundation and confidence to take the next step in her career.

One year after graduation, Samiyah is pursuing her Master’s in Software Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. She is focusing research on how to make large language models and autonomous systems secure, resilient, and trustworthy for everyone.

Life Beyond the Redwoods features ten Class of 2025 alumni who share how their time at UC Santa Cruz prepared them to launch their careers one year after graduation.

08/26/2026

Where are they now?🌲💫 Class of 2025: One Year Later

As the first in her family to graduate from college, Jennie Lin (Crown ’25, computer science) built a strong foundation at UC Santa Cruz and Baskin Engineering at UC Santa Cruz that paved her way to becoming a software engineer at Google.

Jennie grew up in a full household in San Francisco after her family immigrated from rural China. She learned the value of opportunity early on. With the support of her parents, three Google internships, and campus roles as a peer advisor and tutor, Jennie built the confidence and skills to excel. Today, Jennie designs interfaces for Google’s Data Lakehouse, implements custom feature requests, and optimizes query performance for enterprise clients.

"UC Santa Cruz provides such a unique environment—it is academically rigorous, yet student culture remains supportive and collaborative. It is a school that offers strong STEM programs, yet is situated in the heart of the redwoods, and strangely enough, the contrast works perfectly.” -Jennie

Life Beyond the Redwoods features ten Class of 2025 alumni who share how their time at UC Santa Cruz prepared them to launch their careers one year after graduation.

08/20/2026

Take us back to ! 🌲

Last weekend, alumni across decades gathered together on campus to sleep in the dorms, eat in the dining hall, and walk through the redwoods with new family members and old friends.

From Stars and S’mores and Drag Story Hour to faculty lectures and UCSC trivia, this weekend was unforgettable.

08/20/2026

08/14/2026

Meet Natalie Schultz, a 2026 UC Santa Cruz graduate who gained valuable career skills to be a science teacher while earning her degree in ecology and evolutionary biology! 🌱👩‍🏫

Thanks to UCSC’s Degree-Defining Experience Program, Natalie secured an internship teaching science and math to middle school students through our Cal Teach program. She learned academic standards and built professional skills in a real classroom in Santa Cruz County. This experience helped her realize that education was her true path, and Natalie now plans to pursue her master’s degree and teaching credential at UCSC while student teaching at Santa Cruz City schools. If you’re a science or math major interested in exploring a career in education, check out !

💡The Degree-Defining Experiences Program offers transformational learning opportunities for UC Santa Cruz undergraduates in the form of experiential field courses and other activities outside the classroom. Learn more or support the program! Visit the link in ’s bio or email [email protected].

🎥 Video description: Natalie discusses her time at Cal Teach instructing middle schoolers through the Degree-Defining Experience Program over b-roll of her guiding young students in the classes, collaborating with peers, walking around campus, and being interviewed while sitting outside on a bench.

08/13/2026

“During this whole period, I was really learning how the power of film really can be a great tool for social change and education.” -Ethan van Thillo (Merrill ’92, Latin American and Latino studies)

From founding UC Santa Cruz’s first Chicano film festival as an undergraduate student to launching the San Diego Latino Film Festival and serving as Executive Director of the Media Arts Center San Diego, van Thillo has dedicated his career to using cinema for social justice.

van Thillo was raised in an artistic household centered on social activism and when he arrived at UCSC, the Latin American and Latino Studies Department further shaped his path. Encouraged by visiting professor Armando Valdez and advised by professor Julianne Burton-Caravajal, he turned a class project into a recurring multi-day festival featuring 10-20 films. He even wrote his senior thesis on how to organize a Chicano film festival.

Just two years after graduating from UCSC, van Thillo launched the San Diego Latino Film Festival, which eventually grew into the Media Arts Center San Diego in 1999— – a non-profit that supports emerging filmmakers and empowers community members with digital storytelling skills.

Today, van Thillo remains deeply committed to UCSC, continuing to use media as an artistic tool to drive social change.

08/07/2026

“You make it onto campus and you realize you’re somewhere special,” -Jessica Lum (Rachel Carson ’09, environmental studies and economics)

Jessica Lum has been selected to serve as an alumni regent on the UC Board of Regents beginning last month. From reviewing student essays for the Alumni Association Scholarship program to championing opportunities for current students to connect with alumni, Lum has consistently shown up for her campus community. Now, she is representing over 2 million University of California graduates across the state as UC Santa Cruz’s sixth alumni regent.

The two alumni regent seats rotate among the 10 UC campuses. In this role, Lum serves on the UC’s governing board and helps guide the systemwide Alumni Associations of the UC, acting as a vital bridge between alumni and executive leadership. During her time on the UCSC Alumni Council, Lum led a substantial project to update the council’s bylaws, creating the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee and the vice president of DEIB officer position, and streamlining the council’s elections process. Lum will serve as the alumni regent through 2028.

08/07/2026

Any other Banana Slugs catch this question on ? If you missed it, the episode is now streaming on Hulu, Disney+, and the ESPN App. Thank you, Jeopardy! 🍌🐌

📸 Image description: Dark blue Jeopardy question that reads: “Sammy, the mascot of UC Santa Cruz, is this type of slimy creature with a certain amount of appeal”

07/27/2026

Undergraduate research is at the heart of the UC Santa Cruz experience. But for low-income and first-generation students, there are still financial barriers to participating in unpaid research. To foster the next generation of researchers, we must close equity gaps to ensure the future of research reflects the people it helps.

With the help of Building Belonging scholarships from the UC Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation, students can take part in paid, faculty-mentored research that drives tangible change and addresses the biggest social and environmental issues of our time.

Each year, the Institute awards up to 100 $1,500 scholarships to students from across the university to work alongside Social Sciences faculty. Students gain career-ready skills, build confidence, and develop a sense of belonging at an R1 research university.

With the help of everyday donors, we are inspiring change through mentorship and projects that help everyone. You can help support this program by visiting giving.ucsc.edu.

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07/24/2026

Taking UC Santa Cruz back to the 00s! 🏠📼🚗