Hi there! My name is Prerak Juthani, and I am a fourth year student here at UCB. I’m currently an MCB major, and I felt the competitive atmosphere at Cal right when I first stepped into Chemistry 1A class my freshman year. Seeing the 500 other students in my class was extremely daunting, and I immediately started to question my ability to learn. I basically convinced myself that everyone else was smarter than I was, and this kept me from being able to enjoy my first semester. Instead of getting to know my classmates, I felt pressured to prove myself academically and “outcompete” everyone else. I kept asking myself if there was an alternative – a way that I could avoid all this pressure and simply focus on learning to the best of my ability. That’s when the idea of PEACE came about. PEACE aspires to help all students and give them a sense of comfort. There is absolutely no reason why any other freshman/student should feel the way I did. After all, we are one student body, and we each have the same goal: to learn. PEACE reinforces these ideals and ensures that everyone can get the help they need; I am so glad to have gotten a chance to be a part of this organization!

HELLO!! My name’s Billal Ahmed, and I’m a senior studying Public Health! I strive to live life to the fullest- to pursue my academic interests, to foster strong connections with my friends, and to leave a meaningful footprint wherever I tread. Coming to Berkeley I had heard all of the rumors about the “cutthroat” environment and the competitive nature of academics, so I was initially anxious to take on daunting courses like Chem 1A. Despite some individuals epitomizing the “cutthroat” academic culture, I discovered many students were not in it to subvert others, but rather wanted to learn difficult material and struggled by virtue of the coursework, not of any curve or competition. Learning should be about helping one another actualize their passions and dreams, and it’s this ideology that inspired me to co-found PEACE. 

Beyond PEACE, I’m active in a litany of other hobbies and activities. I am involved in several other organizations on campus, volunteer at the Berkeley Free Clinic, work at Cal Dining and the SLC, investigate viral proteins at the Coscoy Lab, but most of all, I love to meet other people and foster a community of humanism and empathy.

Hi there! My name is Rajandeep Brayana, a fourth year in Chemical Engineering. My undergrad experience has been nothing but a sea of opportunity, leaving me with the arduous task of discerning like from dislike. I truly believe that the world can be a better place if we help each other in the capacities that we can. I want to graduate from Cal knowing that the struggling undergraduate doesn’t need to look too far for the help they need and that we all have the empathy to help those who were once in our shoes. 

Outside of PEACE, I help organize Eggster’s Annual Egg Hunt and Learning Festival, maintain an extensive database of community health referrals at the Berkeley Free Clinic and am an extreme lingauphile.

Hello everyone! I’m Yibing Zhang and I am a fourth year student pursuing a Molecular and Cell Biology degree and a Creative Writing minor. After getting my acceptance letter to Berkeley, I was extremely hesitant to come to this university purely because of the “supposed” cut-throat competition and tough academics. Now, I cannot imagine being anywhere else. Yes, the academics are tough. I definitely learned that the hard way my first semester at Cal. Yet so far, I can’t say I’ve felt the infamous cut-throat and competitive atmosphere. I consider myself very lucky to be surrounded by classmates and friends who are willing to lend a helping hand. In turn, I want to be that friend to someone else, someone who may be disheartened by the competitive atmosphere. I joined PEACE for exactly that reason. Life is so much more wonderful when you’re working together and helping each other. Learning, not for the sake of a grade or beating the scores of other students, but learning for the sake of getting more knowledge. Needless to say, PEACE embodies all of the values that I hold dear and I am proud to say that I am a part of the PEACE community.

Hi everyone, I’m Xiao (Tony) Chen, a fourth year student majoring in English and Integrative Biology. As the Director of Tutoring, I strive to expand the reach of PEACE beyond our STEM foundation. As a humanities-science double major on a premed track, I’ve personally experienced the grind of introductory courses in both fields and wish to offer advice, tutoring, and mentorship to students going through Berkeley’s challenging academic environment. I joined PEACE because it is my firm belief that education is the epitome of advanced society and only with learning and knowledge can individuals become empowered to change the world. With this conviction, I hope to foster cooperation among students to make education both socially and intellectually rewarding. In the end, my main focus as a PEACE officer is to stimulate deeper levels of critical thinking and analysis via the humanities, recruit experienced writers to help those acclimating to college writing standards, and foster a general sense of interdependence, connectivity, and collaboration within Berkeley’s student body. 

On a less serious note, I’m a down-to-earth guy who loves talking to people and learning about their passions. My other personal interests include eating delicious foods, running, basketball, bartending, Venus fly traps (or any cool plants), Game of Thrones, nice smelling colognes/perfumes, cooking, and classical music. If you’d like to know more about me personally or my experiences in clinical volunteering, plant genetics research, and teaching as a UGSI, please don’t hesitate to talk to me!

Hi guys! I’m Richa and I am a fourth year Computer Science major here at UC Berkeley and I am pursuing a medical degree. Many of us are working towards similar goals and need to learn the same things that everyone else does. Why would each of us do this individually when there are others out there that face the same struggles that we do? When we work alone, we are stuck in our own methods and when we get stuck, we tend to think in circles. Working together can open the mind up to new ideas, new ways of thought, and new ways to solve problems. But student will not work together because they feel like they are helping their competition. In the real world, everything will be collaborative. You need to work with others to achieve your goals and move forward. I decided to join PEACE to help students succeed by working with one another, rather than against each other.

Heyo! I’m Karen and it’s my second year as an MCB major at Berkeley and I already love it here. I’ve learned so much and met so many amazing and smart people in my short time here. My academic interests include most sciences and math (Bio, Chem, and Physics) and my other interests are art, long boarding, and watching movies. A big goal of mine for my college life is to make a significant impact on UC Berkeley and I’m excited for what the rest of my undergraduate years will hold.

This is partially why I want to join PEACE. I believe this club can make a huge difference to the students here. So far, Berkeley has been so fun yet so stressful, due to all the crazy competition and tough classes. I have even witnessed fellow classmates withholding information from each other. At PEACE, I hope we eliminate that barrier of competition and create a safe environment for students to learn all they can. I can’t wait to meet and learn with you all!

Hello! My name is Nick, and I am a fourth year in Molecular Environmental Biology. When I first set foot on Berkeley’s campus, I never imagined what Cal would have in store for me. I struggled a lot in my first couple years, but thanks to my friends and mentors, I found the support I needed to succeed and achieve my goals. I joined the PEACE team because I value the importance of cooperation in the classroom, and I know firsthand just how valuable mentorship and collaboration can be for a struggling student.

I hope that PEACE can become part of your support group. The collaborative environment fostered by PEACE is a great place to solidify personalized study strategies, to understand material at a deeper level, and to experience academic pursuits as a genuine learning experience, not just a letter grade. If you have any questions about school, please don’t hesitate to contact me! I’ll happily tell you about amazing professors, the College of Natural Resources, my experience at Berkeley, and everything in between. If you’ve already figured out how college works, then talk to me anyway. Outside of classes, I am involved with Suitcase Clinic and Cal Wushu. I also enjoy jazz (I dabble in guitar and ukulele), cooking, and the study of plants, and I hope to learn more about you.

I look forward to working and learning together. Welcome to the PEACE community!