From St. Louis to Silicon Valley
Alumna Mindy Borovsky continues to use skills learned in the classroom and on the court
Mindy Borvosky was drawn to WashU for its strong academic reputation and the ability to play Division III tennis while pursuing her bachelor’s degree in computer science, which she earned in 2017.
“I’d just heard so many good things, and then seeing it for myself made it an easy decision,” Borovsky said, reflecting on her first campus tour.
Pursuing a degree in engineering made sense for Borovsky, who’d been interested in technology in high school, when she was able to take a computer science class that sparked her interest in the field. She soon realized that WashU would give her “the ability to explore a number of different experiences and the opportunity to stay curious.”
And she did, juggling roles as an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar Athlete on the tennis team, where she served as captain her senior year, as well as director of academics for her sorority and volunteer in the AMOS (Archive of Many Scenes) Lab. She also participated in the Deloitte Consulting mentoring program and the Young President’s Organization Next Generation.
The tennis team reached the NCAA Elite 8 in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Her commitment to playing for the school, she said, was more a help than a hinderance to her success in the classroom.
“It helped me learn to set priorities and be an overall better student,” she said. “I had to be the project manager of my own time, and that is a skill that lasts beyond college.”
Borovsky received additional support from WashU faculty.
“Professor (Ron) Cytron’s passion for computer science was contagious,” she said. “And him being a fixture in the Jewish community on campus was so important to me.”
Additional mentorship came from Dev Bala, a WashU alumnus who was then an adjunct professor based out of the Bay Area.
“He helped build a pipeline from Wash U to Silicon Valley and introduced the project management role to me,” she said.
During her time at WashU, Borovsky was also chosen for the Birthright Israel Excel Fellowship, a highly competitive program that chooses roughly 50 students each year from all over the world with a strong academic and leadership background.
That same year, WashU sponsored Borovsky to attend the Grace Hopper Conference, which brings together tech professionals, leaders, researchers, and innovators from around the world.
The connections she made there led to an internship at Apple, where she has been working since graduation. Today she leads the software project management team focused on IOS and macOS software features. The things she most enjoys about her career, she says, are the same things that made her time as a WashU scholar-athlete so rewarding.
