The Tech Twins and Going Beyond Yourself
Guest Writers: Mark and Andrew Ansell
Hi! We’re Andrew and Mark Ansell, identical twins and seniors at the Haas School of Business, also each pursuing simultaneous degrees in mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering.
Studying business at Haas has been a college-defining experience. Business is a language that connects people from completely different backgrounds and specifically allows us to scale the impact that we can have with tangible products. It’s awesome to get that experience alongside engineering.
Studying abroad in Europe (Dublin, Ireland) last semester gave us needed time to decompress and start passion projects. We took this as a unique opportunity to reflect on our college experiences (in between going to pubs). Spoiler alert: a lot of Irish students go to pubs 🍻 in their free time.
The principle “beyond yourself” guides a lot of what we do. We use our skill sets to serve others and have been inspired by seeing examples in our classmates in the business program here.
We realized that much of what we have done has been through forging paths that haven’t been taken before and how in times like those, mentors have been helpful. Specifically, we have been fortunate to intern at Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla.
Being a twin has also been highly beneficial in higher education. We’re interested in similar things and support each other when an advisor or peer doesn’t see our visions. That kind of unwavering support is rare but has helped us be more confident in our goals, so we want to share what we’re learning with those who don’t have as much support.
Our Youtube Channel – The Tech Twins
A main way we are doing that is through The Tech Twins, a YouTube channel we started right before studying abroad to share information on how to break into the tech industry. We found that there’s an information gap between those interning in tech companies, and students who aspire to, and decided to do something about it. We also realized that studying business and engineering at Berkeley and being in the Bay gives us a large amount of privilege, and others might benefit from the insights we’re gaining. We make bi-weekly videos on how to get internships at different tech companies and tips for resumes, interviews, and networking. These are things that would be useful to a high schooler or college freshman who is still considering what to study and how to make the most of college. Our byline is to change lives through tech.
Starting something new was somewhat daunting. We were making videos that anyone could watch and judge. But, we refocused on why we were starting this channel. Barriers keep people out and contribute to sustained economic and social inequality; we want to break down as many barriers as possible. At the end of the day, if this helps at least one person who’s outside of our direct reach, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of it or us.
P.S. We loved studying abroad and 100% recommend it! Below are two of our favorite pictures from abroad – at the Cliffs of Moher on the West Coast of Ireland and in Nice in the south of France.
