As Cal Day approaches in the upcoming week, a lot of potential new baby bears will be seeing Berkeley for the first time in an extremely glorified light. The number one public university in the world? You bet! But here’s the flip-side view that you won’t hear about until you’ve lived it.
There will be days that you will feel lonely even when you’re surrounded by 37,000 students. On more occasions than you hope, you will have to spend the day at the library, grinding away at the essay or for the midterm you have. While the studying is expected, a lot of “productive” studying at Cal is done alone and others will often concur that group studying is rarely effective. Be prepared to comfortably spend time alone.
On the opposition, there will be moments when you feel as if there are way too many people and you will need a break from the crowds. The lines around campus are never short. Expect Bancroft Avenue and Telegraph Avenue to always have lines out the door from 10am-8pm. Understand that you will never go to a place and be completely free from the noise and distraction of people. If you enjoy working out, gyms will be packed in the 9am-12pm and 6pm-10pm. If you enjoy studying at cafes, be warned, the cafes in Berkeley won’t be the same relaxing space as the cafes back home. Most cafes will have tables filled with studying students and a lack of chill vibes. Expect too many people in your lectures. Expect too little space to decompress.
Regardless of what others may tell you, the competitive high school days are not over. The competition is real here and school will be the topic of 2/3rds of your conversations. Be prepared to hear immense amounts of complaints about school and be less prepared to hear any true passion. Having been here for three solid years, I can attest that less than half the people I meet are truly interested in what they learn and that is a shame. Find what you love. Find what gears you up, find what you cannot stop talking about positively, mind you. Never for a second listen to what society deems as “acceptable” or “successful” or you will understand a new depth of misery for the next four years. Not to bring in personal anecdotes but it holds significance when your happiest friends are the ones who are straying from the typical “success-based” majors.
Be real with yourself. Don’t allow the hype of Cal keep you from following exactly what you know is best for you, in your hearts of hearts.