BMES Board Spotlight: Linnet Chang!

Meet Linnet Chang, a 4th-year Bioengineering major as well as our one and only President. Read on to learn more about her!

How' d you hear about BMES?

I heard about BMES as a wee child (a senior in high school) during the BE Open House. I loved how approachable and helpful everyone was and getting to participate in the hilarious, informational, and infamous BEngo (and of course, the free Subway lunches).

How long have you been involved with BMES?

I've been involved with BMES since my first year through Build Team, community outreach events, and mentorship family events (s/o to Greg, Ryan, Cole, Nicole, Meagan, and Veronica for making my first year experience amazing). These experiences really shaped my trajectory in BMES, since I went on to serve as both as Community Outreach and Mentorship Chair and received an opportunity to co-teach a summer E96 class on EKGs!

What are your primary responsibilities as president?

My main responsibilities are to guide the direction the club grows in and to help support all of the chairs with their event-planning.

What do you enjoy most about your position?

I really enjoy the unique perspective I get to have on the organization. It's a very different experience taking a birds-eye view of event logistics than being immersed in the work myself, which is kind of a liberating process to just observe how moving parts of the club fit together. It's also very heartwarming to see everyone succeed and push the boundaries of their positions to put on better and larger events than we've had before!

What's one thing you've learned from being president?

Learning how to lead a team effectively was really challenging, and something I'm constantly trying to get better at. Really thankful to have had such a great board to work with this year, since I've gotten such a meaningful opportunity to develop strong virtual collaboration skills and a deep-rooted trust in others' work and my own beliefs.

What's your favorite BMES event?

One of my favorite events is BE Ball! It's a great excuse to get dolled up and to snack on delectable finger food while dancing with all of your BEst buds.

Favorite class you've taken at UCLA?

I am a big fan of BE C175 and a creative writing class called Essays in Journalism. 175 changed my perspective on what being a bioengineer is, since I think that in the first few years of college, it's easy to interpret bioengineering as synonymous to device work or tissue engineering only. 175 instead focuses on computational modeling and applying that to other fields like pharmaceuticals or physiology! I've also loved the creative writing class since a part of me has always dreamed of being an English major, and it has exposed me to a new style of writing and viewing my own life.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I enjoy playing my guitar, baking desserts, writing/reading, and playing Stardew Valley!

Describe yourself as a Care Bear.

​I'd like to be a baby blue colored Care Bear, with a sunflower belly badge! I hope that my belly badge gives me the power to instinctively know when a good candid photo op is about to happen so I can snap it for the memories.