Eastside Alumni: Where Are They Now?

Lizette Hernandez – Columbia University Class of 2026

“This May, I graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Computer Science and a minor in Hispanic Studies. During my time at Columbia, I had the opportunity to gain hands-on industry experience through internships with Apple and Recor Medical, experiences that helped shape my interests and prepare me for my career. After a competitive job search during my senior year, I was excited to accept a position on the machine learning team at Affirm, a financial tech company based in San Francisco. I’m incredibly grateful for the friends, mentors, and community I found during my time at Columbia. And while I loved my college experience in New York City, I’m especially excited to begin my career back on the West Coast, closer to my family.”

Roy Diaz Lopez – Menlo College Class of 2026

“I graduated this spring from Menlo College with a double major in Accounting and AI & Business Analytics. During my four years in college, I juggled work, internships, and a full-time course load each semester. I worked as game operations staff for the school athletics department, and during the summers I completed two internships: one at Silk Road Medical and one at SLAC National Laboratory. I couldn't have managed this without the support of my family and friends, and I’m incredibly grateful to say that I graduated with zero student loan debt and a full-time job offer from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration as a Tax Auditor.”

Josh Nickings – Northwestern University Class of 2026

“This past June, I graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Art Theory and Practice. I’m grateful for the amazing peers, professors, role models, and friends I’ve met over the past four years through my classes and extracurriculars. I loved getting to explore Chicago (especially its food!), and getting involved in volleyball, fencing, and board game groups! None of this would have been possible without support from family, friends, mentors, and everyone who believed in me. Especially as a first-gen student, I'm incredibly grateful for the connections I made, and I'm overjoyed to share and celebrate this milestone with everyone who helped me get here. After graduating, I was excited to begin using my degree as a Mechatronics Engineering Intern at Endiatx, a medical device company building and advancing robots for quick, minimally invasive endoscopic procedures.”

Jasmine Tostado – Stanford University Class of 2026

“I’m incredibly proud to have graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in Computer Science. While the journey was challenging, I’m especially grateful for the support of my family, Eastside, and the mentors who encouraged me along the way. Through my coursework, internships at NVIDIA and Amazon, and experiences outside the classroom, I gained a deeper passion for technology and solving meaningful problems. I’m excited to begin the next chapter of my journey as a Software Engineer at Atlassian in San Francisco.”