UCSC Era (2022–2024)

Category: History Period: University of California, Santa Cruz — approximately Fall 2022 to Fall 2024 Last updated: 2026-04-06

Overview

After Cupertino High School, Jack enrolled at UC Santa Cruz (Crown College), a UC campus built into a redwood forest overlooking Monterey Bay. UCSC is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful campuses in the United States and one of the most unusual: progressive, arts-inflected, non-competitive in a way that set it apart sharply from the Cupertino environment Jack came from.

Jack’s writing archive barely mentions UCSC by name — but the early college years (2022–2024) are the period of the MIT longing, the San Francisco trips, the career fair attendance, and eventually the decision to transfer to Georgia Tech.

Crown College

Jack is documented as being at Crown College (one of UCSC’s ten residential colleges) based on the UC application week notes from November 2021 (UCSC applications were among those submitted). Crown College is UCSC’s STEM-focused college, located at the top of the campus with views of the ocean.

The Environment Mismatch

UCSC is the anti-Cupertino. Where Cupertino High School had a culture of academic intensity and future-orientation, UCSC’s culture is more relaxed, arts-focused, and skeptical of conventional success metrics. For Jack — who wanted “ultra-competitive” environments, “anime protagonist” crews, and MIT-style intensity — UCSC would have been a difficult fit culturally.

The “People to Reach Out to” Notion page from September 2022 references Crown College advisors and BSOE (Baskin School of Engineering) advisors — suggesting Jack was navigating academic planning, possibly already considering transfer options.

The January 2023 Burst

January 2023 is when Jack’s writing archive comes alive with the most concentrated period of daily reflections in the entire archive — 8 entries in two weeks (January 14–26). He had just started a new semester and was in a reflective mode. The entries document:

• January 14–15: Feeling of segregation and missing out; finding direction through gratitude
• January 17: Meetings and roadmap planning — HexaHacks activity beginning
• January 18: Flow state achieved; attended a career fair
• January 19: Distractions and missed opportunities
• January 20: San Francisco trip to Mission Bay
• January 23: YouTube rabbit hole; HexaHacks founding period
• January 24: Stanford visit (“Stanford Day”) and philosophy discussions
• January 25–26: Anime binge (Steins;Gate); first Steins;Gate reflection

This burst suggests January 2023 was a turning point. Something accelerated: HexaHacks, San Francisco trips, Stanford visits, the Steins;Gate obsession. Jack was finding his direction even as his immediate academic environment wasn’t providing it.

The SF Trips

Multiple entries reference San Francisco trips during the college years — Mission Bay (Jan 2023), and others. UCSC is about 75 miles from SF, making it a natural day trip. Jack was drawn to SF’s density and startup culture. The contrast between Santa Cruz (redwood forest, ocean, relaxed) and San Francisco (dense, fast, ambitious) maps onto his own internal contrast.

The Stanford Visit

“Reflection: Stanford Day & Philosophy (01/24/23)” suggests Jack visited Stanford’s campus, possibly for a hackathon, a visit with someone, or simply to access the environment. The pairing with “Philosophy” in the title suggests the day prompted significant thinking.

The Career Fair

“Reflection: Flow State & Career Fair (01/18/23)” documents a moment of achieving flow before a career fair. Career fairs at UCSC would have been notably different from those at MIT or Stanford — smaller companies, less intensity. The fact that Jack attended and achieved flow beforehand suggests he took it seriously, even if the environment didn’t match his ambitions.

The Transfer Decision

By late 2023 or early 2024, Jack made the decision to transfer to Georgia Tech. The reasons were clear from his writing: environment mismatch, desire for better peers, and Georgia Tech’s strong engineering program with more career-relevant opportunities.

The transfer is listed as his “biggest achievement of 2024” — not because Georgia Tech is objectively better than UCSC, but because it represented Jack taking control of his environment rather than accepting the default.

What UCSC Gave

Despite the frustration, the UCSC years were when Jack: - Founded or co-founded HexaHacks - Started serious daily reflection writing - Made the first SF trips into startup culture - Visited Stanford - Discovered Steins;Gate as a defining cultural touchstone - Began his MIT dream in earnest

UCSC may have been the wrong environment but the right amount of free time to start building an identity.

Related

• Cupertino High School
• Georgia Tech Era
• Mit Operation Frosh
• Social Reflection 2022
• Mira
• Jack Luo