My Berkeley story starts quite a long time ago, before I was even born. From 1981 to 1985, my mom was a student here at UC Berkeley. During her time here, she lived in Unit 2 Davidson Hall, was a member of the sorority Gamma Phi Beta, majored in French, studied abroad in France for a year, was a member of the Blue and Gold Yearbook and so much more. Berkeley was a part of her life and it was something that she cherished greatly. Further, her brother and sister-in-law also went to Berkeley a few years before her and settled down closeby in Walnut Creek. Because of this, my family would often visit Berkeley since it was a short 20 minute drive from my uncle’s house. I distinctly remember walking down Telegraph Avenue as a kid, seeing strawberry creek and the nature of campus and even watching a football game between Cal and ASU (which we won). Yet, I never actually thought I would attend UC Berkeley. I always knew I would apply but the school didn’t appeal to me because of its urban environment, a big difference from the quiet suburb that I grew up in. So, you might be wondering, what changed? I’ll tell you why I changed my view on Berkeley and why I’m so glad that I came here.
During my Junior year of high school, I started to research colleges and quickly realized that Berkeley was my top public school choice. I made a list of six public schools that I wanted to apply to and realized I didn’t feel any conviction of going to them except for Berkeley. One of the schools was a safety that I was applying to just to ensure I got in somewhere, another was a fallback school that my brother went to (so I didn’t really want to go there either) and then I didn’t feel a strong sense of connection with the other three based off of school atmosphere and location. Yet, with Berkeley, I enjoyed the idea of going to college in the Bay Area as well as the student life at Cal, so I was all in with Berkeley. Then, it came Senior year when I actually had to apply, and I was the most scared about the UCs. Realistically, the UCs were my best options due to the cost and location so I was hoping that I would get into the four that I applied to. First, I got into UCSB, and then UCSD, and then waitlist at UCLA, and then, thankfully, accepted into UC Berkeley. I screamed and jumped when I got in because I was so happy. A few weeks later, I drove up to Berkeley to walk around the campus (since there were no tours going on due to covid). I loved the campus from the start. It was by far my favorite campus that I had seen and I truly loved the nature and the openness of the campus. Without hesitation, I committed to Berkeley.
Let me now tell you a little about my time at Berkeley. I got involved right from the start by joining the UC Rally Committee, the head spirit group on campus. Rally Comm was a great way for me to get involved in student life and campus spirit as well as helped me find a community of friends. I went to football and basketball games with the Committee, traveled up to Oregon and attended so many fun events by being a member of the Committee. Another thing that I became involved in was my job as a Campus Ambassador. My job further allowed me to get into the Berkeley spirit by providing tours to guests and getting to interact one-on-one with prospective students. Moreover, I joined a research lab and began to be mentored by a PhD student, aiding my professional development. And lastly, I joined the Berkeley Scientific Journal (BSJ) to help develop my writing skills. BSJ also provided me with another community of friends and is something that I’m thoroughly enjoying. Overall, I’ve made sure that I made myself very involved in campus life and culture because I feel as though college is more fun when you’re involved.
That’s my current Berkeley story and I still have two more years of undergraduate education. As for the future, I’m currently applying to a study abroad program in Sydney, Australia for next spring. After I finish my degree, I will probably apply for lab technician positions in universities across the country and then pursue a PhD in the future. In the end, I know that Berkeley is going to take me far in life and is somewhere I won’t regret spending four years of my life.