Microsoft Engineer Wesley Yao Took Advantage of His Company's Corporate Matching Program to Benefit His Alma Mater

Wesley Yao

Microsoft | Software Engineer

Attended: 2008-2010

What are you doing now?

Wesley graduated from UC San Diego in 2015 and now works as a software engineer at Microsoft in Seattle. He feels fortunate to work for a company which builds philanthropy into the culture up and down the food chain. They encourage giving of both time and money, and Wesley uses that encouragement to spend time tutoring low income students in Seattle.

How did your Mt. SAC experience impact your journey?

Wesley considers his time at Mt. SAC the two most pivotal years of his life. He was in the honors program and on the water polo team, but the most significant impact came from the WIN Program, which gave him the support he needed to believe in his own abilities and talents. There, he learned how to prioritize his time and apply the type of intensity he used for his sport to his academics as well. “Erica Ledezma and her program opened the doors for me to be where I am today. I attribute every piece of good fortune for me to her and the program and I'm forever an ally.”