Spring Break
Out the door and into the real world
Angelo Lanham
Issue date: 5/15/08 Section: News
He understands that his perspective toward academia might be in the minority.
"I have friends who have well-paying jobs, and grad school is a continuation of being a poor student, scraping by." He said. "I feel alive when I'm doing this stuff, so there's a purpose."
If you asked Senanayake how he kept his GPA so high for all these years, he couldn't tell you. "You don't think about it when you do it. I'm not a genius, I'm not anything special. It's the basics," he said, adding emphasis on understanding homework and lectures.
Senanayake said he started his college career at Cabrillo College in Aptos before transferring to SJSU.
He graduated last December in electrical engineering, but stuck around to help a friend perform an experiment researching biomedical devices. Before that, Senanayake completed his senior thesis, which involved constructing a microchip that acts as a filter for optical communication.
While working on his senior thesis, Senanayake said he realized that a sturdy base in physics would help, so he took some classes on his own time. He also collaborated heavily with the UC Santa Barbara while constructing his senior thesis.
In fall, he'll be off to UCLA for graduate school. He had been faced with the choice of attending graduate school in the UK or Los Angeles.
"L.A. is L.A.," he said, "It's very full."
He said the weather was one reason for choosing California, since Senanayake said he has been spoiled by San Jose's weather.
He also thought it would make sense to attend a school in the proximity of the university he had collaborated with during his project.
Kaitlyn Capella did decide to endure England's weather, in a town called Stroud, in Gloucestershire, England.
She said she was interning as a nanny for "three kids in a huge house," and that the experience was not unlike suddenly becoming a mom.
While most of her classmates chose internships within London, Capella wanted to explore the edges.
"I have friends who have well-paying jobs, and grad school is a continuation of being a poor student, scraping by." He said. "I feel alive when I'm doing this stuff, so there's a purpose."
If you asked Senanayake how he kept his GPA so high for all these years, he couldn't tell you. "You don't think about it when you do it. I'm not a genius, I'm not anything special. It's the basics," he said, adding emphasis on understanding homework and lectures.
Senanayake said he started his college career at Cabrillo College in Aptos before transferring to SJSU.
He graduated last December in electrical engineering, but stuck around to help a friend perform an experiment researching biomedical devices. Before that, Senanayake completed his senior thesis, which involved constructing a microchip that acts as a filter for optical communication.
While working on his senior thesis, Senanayake said he realized that a sturdy base in physics would help, so he took some classes on his own time. He also collaborated heavily with the UC Santa Barbara while constructing his senior thesis.
In fall, he'll be off to UCLA for graduate school. He had been faced with the choice of attending graduate school in the UK or Los Angeles.
"L.A. is L.A.," he said, "It's very full."
He said the weather was one reason for choosing California, since Senanayake said he has been spoiled by San Jose's weather.
He also thought it would make sense to attend a school in the proximity of the university he had collaborated with during his project.
Kaitlyn Capella did decide to endure England's weather, in a town called Stroud, in Gloucestershire, England.
She said she was interning as a nanny for "three kids in a huge house," and that the experience was not unlike suddenly becoming a mom.
While most of her classmates chose internships within London, Capella wanted to explore the edges.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Roy
posted 5/15/08 @ 6:59 PM PST
The hard copy of this article has a picture of one of my student assistants working in the IC lab. He actually looks like he knows what he's doing in there. (Continued…)
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