student life

Making the Most of a Bay Area College Experience

November 18, 2021
Paulina Nguyen

One of the best benefits of going to a school like Berkeley, is not just what happens in school, but what happens outside of it. The Bay Area is a diverse area, full of options, from the beaches bordering the chilly northern Pacific, to cities with major metropolitan offerings, to even mountains and beautiful California scenery. With so many different adventures to choose from, I’m here to share my favorite memories.

I’m a big foodie, and I love to try new cuisines from different places. One of the places I love to go with my friends is Fruitvale, a neighborhood in...

How to Build your 4 Year Plan as a MCB (Molecular and Cellular Biology) Major

November 30, 2021
Vincent Ooi

Will you be declaring as a MCB (Molecular and Cellular Biology) major? Do you need some help in getting things started with planning out the next four years of your undergraduate career? Well, I’m here to help! As an out of state student who came from Hawaii, I didn’t have any connections in Berkeley so I started planning everything out from scratch. During my freshman year, I was actually required to submit my 4 year plan (the courses that I am taking for each semester) in my 6th week of class due to a requirement that I had to satisfy in my Army ROTC program. Yep, that...

Berkeley: A Concert-lover’s Fantasy

December 2, 2021
Alyssa Hurtado

Being a live music junkie is easy in Berkeley, almost too easy. Being located in the Bay Area, a favorite spot for many artists, makes this the perfect city for concert lovers of all types. Whether you want to attend a small show at Cornerstone, conveniently located right off Shattuck, or you want to Bart over to the Civic Center in San Francisco for a rave at Bill Graham, the opportunities are virtually endless!

Being able to buy a ticket for a friend and I to see one of our favorite artists and know that, one way or another—bus, Uber, or Bart—we’ll...

How I Became the President of 3 Organizations at Cal

December 14, 2021
Vincent Ooi

What is the process of going from a member of an organization into leading it as the President?Is there some kind of secret way on getting to the top? These were all questions I wondered in my first year at UC Berkeley. Before I begin elaborating on my experiences on how I became the president of multiple organizations (the Omniscient Tutor, See the Lord, Student Pre-Medical Advising Network), I would like to mention that you should only commit your time to organizations that you truly care about and would want to make a difference in, specifically within the field...

Breaking Through Into Business Clubs

February 22, 2022
Paulina Nguyen

Besides the incredible academic and research opportunities, a diverse student population, and an impressive faculty roster, one thing that I will always rave about at UC Berkeley is the variety and professionalism of student extracurricular clubs. While what we learn in the classroom is vitally important to our futures, taking advantage of our Bay Area location and career oriented resources is what truly ensures that Berkeley will set us on an ideal post-grad path.

Berkeley has dozens of business clubs, some of which are notoriously difficult to join. From consulting to finance to...

The Unsung Heroes of the Big Game: the Cal Band

December 16, 2021
Emily Conway

The weekend of November 20th 2021 was one of the most highly anticipated in the Bay Area. Each year, two prestigious and spirited Bay Area universities meet to celebrate a 124-year-long football rivalry: the Big Game. The celebration of the game is an all-day affair, with students and alumni alike tailgating, traveling and greeting friends in anticipation. The stands this year were particularly full as spectators were not allowed at the previous year’s game due to COVID-19.


Spirit groups of all kinds gather to cheer on their side, from cheerleaders to dancers to Cal’s very own...

Ranking All the Boba Places in Berkeley

March 8, 2022
Lisa Zhou

To start, I am not someone with a strong opinion, especially on food and drinks. Everything just kinda blends together, so it’s really hard to impress me. If it’s cold and refreshing then it’s probably a decent boba drink. Why am I ranking drink places if I don’t have strong opinions, you ask? Well, I don’t know honestly. My housemate gave me the idea and promptly ranked everything on the spot, so I was like why not. Besides, I’m also curious as to how this goes.

Disclaimer: I am only ranking places that I have tried which is, fortunately, a whole lot. Yes, I say...

CS@Cal

June 13, 2022
Jeffrey Zhou

Hey!

Hey you!

Yes you. You look like you clicked on this article looking to get a better sense of what studying Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley is like!

Well that’s what I’m going to try my best to do in this delightful little blog post here, so bear (ha ha) with me as I take you through a beginner’s guide of this wild and wacky world of CS @ Cal, everything from classes, to projects, to the L&S declaration process, and finally a little sneak peek at what you could potentially get out of this small, niche, oft under-the-radar major here...

What’s “relaxing?”

June 22, 2022
Alyssa Hurtado

Since I was 7 I remember being constantly on the move, going from one thing to another. After school, I had gymnastics at least 9 hours a week and was dragged to everything my older sisters had to be at – meetings, doctors appointments, sporting events, etc. My whole life, I haven’t known anything other than hustling. After being knowingly overwhelmed in high school with AP classes, sports, school clubs, and other extracurriculars, I decided that I wouldn’t let myself put too much on my plate when I got to college.

So I didn’t… until eventually I did. Freshman...

Why ALL FIRST-YEARS Should Do Summer Bridge (coming from a former bridgee!)

June 24, 2022
Ethan Collier

Hey there! Congratulations on making it to UC Berkeley! You are about to embark on an amazing four-year journey here. Now, you may be wondering… How can I make the most of my summer? Well, I have got the answer for you! Summer 2021, I was exactly in your situation. I was doing Golden Bear Advising (GBA) and wondering what else can I do to get a head start on creating my Berkeley experience. That’s when I signed up for Summer Bridge at the very last minute. Do I regret it? Absolutely not!

What is Summer Bridge (no for real though)?

Wait,...