Jean Rojas '26

Majors: Computer Science & Spanish 
Minors: Latin America and Iberian Studies & Japanese Language and Culture 
Future Plans: Working as a software engineer in the Bay Area

How did Bryn Mawr prepare you for your next step? 

Double majoring in Spanish and Computer Science while double minoring in Latin America and Iberian Studies (LAILS) & Japanese Language and Culture was not a compromise between interests, but the combination of who I am and what I want to do. Bryn Mawr makes space for all of it. I came in wanting to major in Computer Science (CS) with a minor in LAILS, and wanting to learn Japanese. I was certain I wouldn't double major; CS alone was a lot. But I kept taking Spanish classes because I loved them, and at some point, it stopped making sense not to make it official. By senior year, I was writing a Spanish thesis and, outside of BMC, conducting CS research on LLMs. If you'd told freshman me about all of this, I would not have believed you or would have thought you were insane. 

Having the most random combination of majors or minors isn't unusual here. I have friends who are double-majoring in dance and sociology or dance and CS, or who designed their own majors. The school doesn't ask you to choose between your interests. For someone whose interests don't fit one track, that mattered. 

That's also why I'm not leaving any of it behind. I'm starting as a software engineer in the Bay Area, but I'll keep mentoring Latinx students and volunteering with Afro and Latinx communities out there. The job and the community work aren't two different plans for me. They meet at the midpoint where what I want to do can support or work with what I love, helping others, and BMC is where I learned I didn't have to choose. 

What are you most excited about as you leave Bryn Mawr? 

The leap. I'm moving across the country by myself to start as a software engineer in the Bay Area, and it's both exciting and scary at the same time.  I don't have family there, and I didn't initially know anyone in the area. However, President Cadge helped me connect with people in the Bay, and even before arriving, I have already felt the support of the alumnae network.  Tech is still a field where Latinas are rare. I'm walking in aware of that. 

What makes it feel right, though, is that this isn't actually my first leap. I'm from the Dominican Republic, moved to Massachusetts my junior year of high school, came to Pennsylvania for college, and spent every summer somewhere new for internships. I'm used to not being in one place for long. I've never been to the West Coast, and I'm excited to see what it's like to build a life there. 

What will you miss most about Bryn Mawr? 

The people I built this life with. I came here knowing no one, and I'm leaving with friends I'll keep for the rest of my life, most of them met through the ECC and the AMOs. 

I'll also miss the Adelante program and the kids. I joined Adelante my first year and ended up coordinating it for three years. The program partners with Aclamo Family Center to introduce middle schoolers to STEAM through hands-on lessons planned and led by BMC student volunteers. Watching a kid try something for the first time and decide they like it has been the most consistent source of meaning in my four years here. 

Any advice for incoming students? 

Find one thing outside of class that matters to you and stay with it. I joined Adelante my first year not knowing what it would become for me. Three years of coordinating it later, it's the experience I talk about the most and more importantly, it's where I figured out who I was when no one was grading me, and I had the chance to teach others the things I loved about what I do and my classes. Pick something and let it become more than a line on a resume. 

And ask for help. I asked a lot... about classes, about the parts of college nobody warns you about. The people who helped me through that are part of why I'm where I am. Also do not worry if you don't find your community right away, transitioning to college is hard, but it's okay to use your time when you first get here to figure out who you are before worrying about being someone you're not just to try to "fit in", It took me until sophomore year to find where or if "I belonged" here. (For anyone wondering... you do.) 

What about your Bryn Mawr experience was essential but unexpected? 

How much I would end up doing beyond academics. There's a running joke among my friends that I'm "always in a meeting." I am. Three years coordinating Adelante, being an e-board member in BACaSO, a member of other AMOs (Sisterhood, Mujeres, Zami+), and I am actively involved in the ECC, TA-ing, part of a dance group, and mentortudents; none of that was on my bingo card when I got here. It just kept happening, and each one made me passionate about the next. 

The AMOs and the ECC became where I found my people. Adelante became where I figured out what to do with them. Every club and activity I did taught me something class didn't: how to lead, how to advocate, how to show up for a community on a campus where you're not the majority. I was always busy, but I was busy with things I actually loved. The version of me who didn't try to do all of it would have been less tired, but also less proud, and I know which trade I'd make again.