From Kazakhstan to the Port of Oakland and UC Berkeley: Arina Yefimova's Path Through SRJC

For Arina Yefimova, April 17, 2026, was a day she'll never forget. Within hours, she received an acceptance letter from one of the country's best universities and learned she had landed a highly competitive cybersecurity internship. "I will remember that day forever," she said.

It continued a journey that started far from Sonoma County. Arina was born and raised in Kazakhstan, where she finished high school before immigrating to the United States. She began college in Hawaii at 22. A mentor who had graduated from Santa Rosa Junior College advised her to transfer to California for better chances of transferring to a prestigious four-year university. 

Arina made the leap inland and says her single year at SRJC brought her many opportunities and support. For a first-generation student navigating the U.S. college system without a local support network, the connections she made at SRJC were instrumental in multiple ways. 

She pursued computer science, completing three CS courses online and two in-person calculus courses with instructor Anna Brown, whom she credits as a major influence. While she worked on the Petaluma campus, student support specialist Amy Granados helped her navigate program and transfer requirements. 

Arina joined the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) and Avanzando programs, building a notable portfolio for a possible transfer to the University of California schools. The programs proved pivotal in multiple ways. Beyond connecting her to Stanford-affiliated research in her first semester, MESA coordinator Jessica Zambrano spent time walking Arina through her college options. Arina also found a cybersecurity internship posting with the Port of Oakland through MESA. She nearly skipped applying, assuming the deadline had passed, but submitted anyway.

The odds were steep: 500 applicants for just 20 intern spots across all Port of Oakland departments, with 30 people competing for the single cybersecurity position. "There is no way I can compete with so many people; I'm from community college," Arina remembered thinking. She got the offer anyway and became the program's sole cybersecurity intern. 

The same day she learned she'd been accepted as one of the lucky interns, she also received her admission letter and offer from UC Berkeley. 

The internship, which wrapped up in mid-August 2026, gave Arina her first taste of professional life. She learned about the inner life of a massive harbor, from touring it by boat and watching cranes load cargo ships, to standing beneath a plane on the airfield to see its wiring up close. Just as valuable, she says, was the network she built with fellow interns from across the Bay Area.

Arina's scholarship support tells its own story of persistence, including awards from MESA, Avanzando, financial aid, and the American Association of University Women Healdsburg branch. Now settled near Berkeley, she's looking ahead to internships in the private tech sector next summer — and toward a career at the intersection of AI security and protecting people online.