A bilingual Berkeley native who loves horses, Ethiopian food and mint chip ice cream: meet Tivon Brown, ’17.
Major: Biology
Hometown: Berkeley, CA
Year: Sophomore
Relationship status: Taken (sorry, ladies)
HC: So the first question might be a little bit cliche, but why Cal Poly?
TB: Initially because of the location. It was close to the beach and provided me with close access to horses. The main thing was the horses. I appreciated the weather, too.
HC: What do you aspire to be in the future?
TB: I aspire to be a large animal veterinarian, specializing in horses. My grandpa had a horse and it’s an easy way to reflect on him and how he’s influenced me to become who I am today. He passed away my incoming freshman year, so it allows me to reflect on him, and allows me to have fun at the same time.
HC: What’s some advice you’d give to your thirteen-year old self?
TB: You have time to grow and mature, appreciate the area that you grew up in and the people that help you become who you want to be. Focus on where you want to take yourself in the future.
HC: What’s your favorite foreign cuisine?
TB: Ethiopian food.
HC: Pick one: go back to the dinosaur age, or travel to the year 3005. Which would you rather do?
TB: Dinosaurs, definitely. I like to visit history. I feel like dinosaurs are a huge part of what came before the human race. I’d love to see how they behaved in comparison to how modern animals do.
HC: What do you like better on girls, converse or heels?
TB: Converse are dope. Especially the white ones.
HC: Who do you look up to?
TB: When looking up to people, I try to look at my peers and the friends I’ve grown up with to compare where I’m at. I have a friend who’s studying abroad in Spain right now. He went through a bilingual immersion program since kindergarten – and I did the same thing because my best friend did. We were the only African American people in the class, so he was a huge influence on me. His name’s Brandon Small.
HC: In your opinion, what’s the best thing you can do to help other people?
TB: Communicate with them. That’s a big key of how you can gain success, through expressing how you feel and how they feel towards you. Also, just having an open mind and working together as a group.
HC: Favorite ice cream flavor?
TB: Mint chip.
HC: What’s the funniest thing you’ve seen at Cal Poly so far?
TB: Seeing one of my teammates slowly fall off their horse was extremely funny. It was slow-motion falling. She slid off the left side. Also, on the first day of tryouts for the equestrian team, I showed up in Kobe Bryant’s Nike shoes and their first response was, “Where are your riding shoes?” And I was like, “um…these are my riding shoes.” I have cowboy boots now, though!
HC: What’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever done for a girl?
TB: Surprising my girlfriend and taking her to Half Moon Bay that included lunch on the beach, then dinner overlooking the water, with a walk on the beach after, right before she left for her second year of college. She goes to Tulane.
HC: Do you have any advice for people visiting Berkeley?
TB: I would advise people to check out Panoramic, which is a view spot located above the Cal campus where you can see the whole array of the city, including San Francisco