Students

UC Berkeley lecturer Melanie Acosta remembers when everything changed for her. She was working as a professional singer in New York City at the time of the September 11, 2001, attacks. At the time, Acosta felt the only people doing meaningful work were the first responders.

Not long after, Acosta got a job on the “Broadway Celebrates America” tour. The cast would travel to different towns, perform a concert about...

From AI-powered social media content creation to college access platforms, cognitive science student entrepreneurs pitched their startups to potential investors at the Berkeley Accelerator & Startup Incubator in Cognitive Science (BASICS) Spring Pitch Day.

Students presented ventures developed through the BASICS course to a panel of investors and startup experts including Erik Leklem, regional operations director at the Institute for Security Governance; Oguzhan Aygoren, director of the Institute for Business Innovation at the UC Berkeley...

We would like to wrap up the 2025–2026 academic year by congratulating all of the current Cal Bears and recent alums who received nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships this academic year, as well as those who submitted strong applications for more than 30 scholarship and fellowship programs our office supports.

Christian Fernandez did not take a traditional path to UC Berkeley.

A first-generation, low-income student, who restarted his college career after taking time off, Fernandez arrived at Berkeley carrying experiences that would later shape both his academic path and his work helping at-risk youth. As a sociology major, he mentored students through Playing for Change, a Berkeley-affiliated program that uses games and emotional learning tools to help young people manage stress and build resilience.

Drawing from his...