David Wei

San José State University, Class of 2023 - Computer Engineering
Paly, Class of 2019

Updated May 1, 2024

What was one of your favorite subjects/classes/on campus activity? Why?

I mainly focused on hardware and software. In the first half of my academic study I focused solely on software engineering, which means I learned about programming languages such as C or C++ and Python. Then in the second half, I focused on how to apply them to hardware. For example, I learned about circuit designing which is closer to the electrical engineering field. I also learned about how to apply those C and C++ code into hardware through embedded system design and also learned how to manage the backend data from a hardware perspective. One of my favorite classes was digital design because that was the first time I actually applied my software knowledge to see how they react to working hardwares. Digital Design was one of my favorite classes during COVID.

What made you interested in software and hardware engineering?

I started programming in high school. At Paly I was learning programming and then I figured out that if I can learn both software and hardware in college, it will provide me with more job opportunities after graduating.

What was the best part about going to college?

The best part about going to college, even though I didn't join clubs and such, I did make a lot of friends and the best part about college coming from a high school experience was you get to make your own choices and you manage your own time. You spend your own free time doing whatever you like. You can either go to the library or you can just hang with friends. You can join clubs. I think because I was at home [during COVID] my choice was limited but even then I still had all of my free time to do whatever I like. So that was the best part compared to high school.

How did RTE make a difference in your decision to pursue a college degree? 

I didn't have enough income to support me to go through college, the only choice I had was through loans. RTE helped me pay a huge part of my tuition and I didn't have to worry about getting loans on my college at all, That was a huge benefit because a lot of my friends didn't have that program. They didn't have a choice but to take loans or to focus on jobs rather than just focus on studying.

How has RTE helped you get to and through college (financially and otherwise)? 

I actually failed one of my classes in the middle of COVID because I found it pretty difficult for me to learn and master a class on my own, especially in the online environment where I didn't have any connections to the class other than Zooming. I spoke to my RTE mentor Kimberly Schwan, and she was actually very concerned about my study, and suggested a lot of things for me to try. One of the ways was to connect myself to the school’s learning center. I met three of my friends there. We were having similar troubles where they also couldn’t learn on their own. So we formed a study group and we became study buddies together and we actually have similar classes so we helped each other out, We are still connected right now and are trying to find jobs together. 

Did any adults help/support you in the process of getting to and through college? How?

The person that I'm most thankful to is Kimberly from RTE. She actively tries to reach out to every RTE student to track their success in colleges and she is actually the one who found out that I was struggling in college at first. She suggested a lot of ways for me to help me help myself out, which I did. Without Kimberly it would have been a lot harder for me to get through college.

Are there any people you’d like to thank in particular? Could be teachers, mentors, etc

I am also very thankful to my mentor in college - he’s a San José State professor, and he understands the struggle for students as well as the struggle for low-income students in particular. He also became one of my mentors for my senior design project.

What have you been up to since graduating?

After I graduated in December, I travel back to China for about two months because I had been in the USA for 10 years without going back. I returned to California and became a freelancer. In the meantime, I’m trying to search for a full time job. Because of my major, I have a choice to either become a hardware engineer or a software engineer, so I’m applying for jobs for hardware and software. 

What are your long term goals?

My long term goal is to work as a full time employee at either a hardware company or software company, I was interviewed by a lot of companies, and one of the companies that interviewed me actually has a lot of common fields of study as me, so hopefully they will get back in touch with me soon and I can move on with my career.

What would you say to other younger students in similar positions to you?

So first of all, I hope my experience will not happen to you because I hope COVID will not happen twice. But if you have similar experience in college, where you find yourself alone, or find yourself unable to follow your class or struggling in your class, don't be scared to reach out to RTE or to reach out to the counselor at your school. They are concerned about you succeeding and progressing academically progress. Oftentimes you will find them much more beneficial than you think.

Any other comments? 

Yes, go have fun in college!