Cal Visit | Random Tidbits of Thought

So my buddy Chris Le visited Cal on Friday for a tour of the campus, eager to learn about college life at Cal. I had an awesome time being a tour guide, and Chris, I really hope you become a Golden Bear. Yes, our mascot is golden…unlike that other ursine creature in LA…just a thought.

This is just a quick recap for all you interested in what goes down on a typical Friday at Berkeley, at least for me. And Chris, I know you have that awesome video from the visit, but I think an additional written account won’t hurt.

So I woke up that morning, met Chris at Cafe Milano, and headed over to Wheeler Hall for the first lecture of the day: UGBA 10 (Intro to Business) at 9 am. We grabbed some food and coffee at the Golden Bear Cafe afterward, and headed back to Wheeler for my second lecture, History 7B (US History after the Civil War).

We proceeded to learn about Berkeley in the 60s, including the Free Speech Movement and the hippie movement. Chris really enjoyed learning about sex, drugs, and rock n roll of the 60s, and the lecture saved me a lot of trouble in explaining Berkeley’s colorful activist history. (Of course, it’s not at all like that here in current times, for those of you worried about becoming a hippie after coming to Berkeley).

We brings me to a subpoint. I noticed that everyone who visits Cal has the preconceived notion that we’re all a bunch of tree-hugging liberals. This is a sweeping generalization that is not at all true. I feel that a lot of things have changed here from the 60s, and even though there is still a pretty liberal sentiment, you will not become a hippie after coming here.

Okay, back to the post. After lecture, Chris and I walked through the famous Sather Gate and hit Sproul Plaza, where all the clubs table on a daily basis. We talked to my co-worker, Kim, who was tabling for the Air Force, and stopped by the ABA table, where we talked about the intramural basketball programs at Cal.

Since we had an hour to kill before my last discussion of the day for Music 26AC (Music in American Culture), I decided to show Chris around campus. We were walking toward the west side of campus when we ran into Austin Le, who also goes to our high school and was visiting with his family.

He joined our group and I showed them the Valley Life Science Building, Main Stacks and Moffitt Library, Evans Hall, and Haas School of Business, just to name a few places. 1 pm hit and we headed over to music discussion, where we talked about hip-hop, taiko, and bhangra in American society. I think Chris really liked the Missy Elliot song our GSI played during class. And we learned that Snoop Dogg did not come up with the term “-izzle.”

Soon, we were back at Cafe Milano, met up with Chris’s sister, and went to the Bancroft Clothing Company to buy some Cal Gear. Lunch at Asian Ghetto at Thai Basil after. Chris and I got the Pad Thai and Thai milk tea.

After lunch came a walk around Telegraph, a quick stop at the (in)famous People’s Park, and a visit to my dorm at Clark Kerr Campus. The last stop of the day was Haas Pavilion, where Cal basketball games are held, and the Recreational Sports Facility (RSF), where students have an entire gym at their disposal for only $10 a semester.

That was the visit. Again, I had an awesome time showing Chris and Austin around, and I really, really hope they will consider Cal. It’s such a great school, there are so many things to do, and you will definitely NOT regret your decision if you take advantage of the resources offered.

Hopefully, you’ll make things easy for me and not force me to write another post convincing you exactly why you should come to Berkeley. Then again, I just might do so for all you sitting on the fence or still deciding on which college to attend.

I love Berkeley, and I know you will, too.