It goes without question that moving to a new school is hard, as the transition from the life and routine I had before coming to UC Berkeley has shifted. The days get longer, class sizes increase, and workload becomes larger, but as the seasons change from sunny September to an apple-crisp autumn, my love for this school starts to emerge.Â
Coming into UC Berkeley, the first thing I felt was imposter syndrome and feeling like I didn’t belong, as everywhere I looked, I was met with the intensity of the school’s reputation for greatness. My lectures became codes that needed to be decoded with Google Dictionary, and everywhere I looked, I saw many of my classmates gripping onto the course material with ease. On the other hand, I spent much of my Friday nights at home tackling my mountain of homework, trying to meet deadlines, and wondering to myself, How did I end up at this school in the first place?
But as the leaves turn to a hue of gold and the air starts to grow crisp, my love for Berkeley creeps up, and I begin to realize the campus’s beauty through nature itself.Â
Eucalyptus grove is where my story starts as I walk through its path every Friday morning with an iced coffee in hand. It was the end of my fourth week at Cal, and the only thought running through my head was my upcoming midterm for Rhetoric 103A, where I had to write an essay in class within the span of 30 minutes. I was in my personal bubble of academic stress when all of a sudden, it was popped by one of the many squirrels on campus, guarding the path in desperation for the croissant in my hand.Â
Although the adorable interaction lasted seven minutes, I couldn’t help but notice that around me, I was embraced with the slow projection of time, basking in the autumn sun, surrounded by the golden hues of the falling leaves. In that moment, I finally felt the calming feeling I’ve been yearning for since my arrival to Berkeley.
From there, my love for the school has slowly progressed through rainy afternoons inside Blondie’s with newly made friends, and the quaint sounds of Strawberry Creek at night surrounded by the serenade of crickets chirping in the air. Berkeley made me find the calmness within a sea of chaos, while also opening my heart to falling in love with a place.Â
Falling in love is never meant to feel like fireworks, in fact, it’s time and patience that make my appreciation for a place much more impactful. Love for a place is a feeling that creeps up like the change of seasons; however, once that love is realized, it becomes a part of you, making it hard to go back to the life I had before stepping through Sather Gate.