Some of the following will be very simple things that you would hear about within 10 minutes of being in Berkeley. Others are not even specific to Berkeley, but I think are very meaningful, and others are small things that I have discovered while at Berkeley and are responsible for some of my favorite memories here.
1. Go to the Marina!
- Checkout Takara Sake and go Sake Tasting!
- Eat brunch at Betty’s Oceanview Cafe or Cafe M
- Get your groceries from grocery outlet SUPER CHEAP
2. Pseudo Illegal things:
Be careful if you attempt some of these… I’ve gotten lucky with a slap on the wrist, but being a short asian girl might have helped.
- Sneak into Memorial Stadium and pretend you’re NFL superstar
- Sneak into Greek Theater and pretend you’re Beyonce/Whitney Houston
- Climb onto the window sills of Doe Library (super dope on 420)
- It’s probably gone, but there used to be a couch on top of one of the clark kerr buildings, it was good for star gazing!
- I still need to be employable so I won’t say any more.
3. Dolla Dolla Sundays Ya’ll
So you can go watch horse racing for a DOLLA. On Sunday’s entry fee is only one dollar, and guess what else is only a dollar… BEER AND HOT DOGS. No joke, for real, it’s all only ONE dollar. And I don’t condone gambling, but betting here and there is fun! The minimum bet is $2, which for a non working student can add up, but who knows you may win, and it’s a fun way to hang out with friends and bet on the horse with the coolest name like Thunder Gulch or Passion Star Arising.
4. Go Outside!
There aren’t really that many great trails to run around Berkeley, but these few do the job.
- Indian Rock
- Big C
- Fire Trails
- Tilden Park
- Grizzly Peak
5. Do Research!
Doesn’t matter what field you’re in, I think it really shows you what’s really happening at Berkeley. Sure it’s this great academic institution, but above all else it’s a research institution, with some bad ass people. Furthermore Berkeley is a very theoretical school, and research allows you to apply things you learned in class, and research is the stuff happening at the very forefront of the fields, you’ll get to help push boundaries! Not only do you learn about your field (or others - who says you have to do research in your own field!?), you get over any fears of talking to professors and grad students, and make long lasting friendships - and hey recommendation letters never hurt nobody! And it may seem intimidating at first to get a research position, but trust me there is no shortage of opportunities.
6. Stay Well Rounded
- It can be very easy to pigeonhole yourself to stay with one group of friends, and I know that by sophomore year, you probably think you already know what you like and want out of your friends, but be open. You never know how someone can change your life (hopefully for the better) if you let them.
- And don’t forget to take fun classes, requirements are important, and maybe you love Chemistry SO much that you really want to just take all the relevant Chemistry classes possible, even graduate level courses, and that’s great, but try to take your breadth requirements seriously, even if you P/NP them, take the opportunity to learn! And take those classes to meet people outside of your major and learn from them! and omg look at that, below are some dope classes I think ya’ll should take, and some I wish I took!
7. Stay Classy!
- PH 116
- an easy and pretty insightful class, we had an undercover cop come in and talk about prostitution, we are quite sheltered on campus, but just next door in Oakland there are so many issues that we all should be educated on.
- Wealth and Poverty
- I shouldn’t have to say much about this class, the profesor dated Hilary Clinton and then introduced Hil to Bill, so we have him to thank for you know, alll o’ dat. And of course he’s one of the biggest proponents of income equality.
- FEMSEX:
- It’s a decal but holy shit it has changed my life. I cannot encourage you enough to take the course. I think I’ll have to write a whole other essay just to explain the importance of this class.
- Bike Decal:
- Biking is awesome, it’s good for the enviroment, your glutes, and gets you from point a to point b. Not to mention, bikers are just some awesome people. This class teaches you how to fix your bike, pretty much essential if you own a bike.
- CS 61A:
- I didn’t take this class, I took E7 :( but even if you have to take this class P/NP, do it.
- CS 70:
- So up until this class, I was a full on Biology fanatic. 61A will teach you how to program, but this class will teach you how to think (like a Computer Scientist). You literally go to class everyday and solve riddles. And that’s when I realized that I wanted to do more CS!
MCB 62:
- Drugs and the Brain! I never got to take this class, but the title should speak for itself.
Also I do suggest you take a graduate class if you can! Be it a seminar, or whatever, you get to see what the NEXT level is like. And also most of the time, they curve to an A for a bunch of funding reasons.
8. MORE FOOD
- Burma Superstar
- You don’t come here for normal food. You come here for salads. You NEED to get the Tea Leaf Salad and the Rainbow Salad. Thank me later.
- Daras or Cha’am
- So I’m in LOVE with Pad Thai, there was a time when I ate it at least once a week. These places are pretty amazing, Cha’am recently changed their recipe or something but overall, these two bad boys are right next to each other and both super delicious.
- Lucky House Thai
- Come here on Sundays! You get free Thai Iced Tea, and their pad thai is WHITE! Every bit as delicious, but it’s interesting.
- Brazil Cafe
- That Cilantro Sauce!! NOMS. Expensive for Berkeley, but so yummies.
- Gregoire’s
- Try their Potato ball things once, some love ‘em some hate ‘em but, I love any sort of fried potatoes, so my mouth is drooling just writing about them. Anyways for SURE get their Fried Buttermilk Chicken Sandwich I have had my fair share of these “chicken sandwiches” like at Bakesale Betty’s, but this one, is THE BEST (Thank you Michelle for introducing me to this magical sandwich)
- TOSS
- I don’t know, I just really like their food! It’s mongolion grill esque?
- Taras
- WAY better than ici’s. ici’s is overrated, but Tara’s is so creamy and it’s got all the same (if not more) of those avant garde flavors, plus they give you bigger scoops for a cheaper price. I’m not a big fan of cones, but Tara’s hand made sesame cones are the perfect combination of decadent and crunchy.
- Indian Flavors Express / House of Curries
- I don’t know much about Indian Food, but I also just really like these places!
9. Study Abroad
I didn’t get to do this, but it’s one of my biggest regrets, do this early! Or in the summer, so you can actually take credits like those pesky pre-res that matter (often easier abroad… if you’re into that). Or save up a bunch of breadth classes and take them all at once while you’re abroad!
10. Do Something You Don’t Even Think You’d Like
I wish I had joined a dance group, or acapella, or heck Korean Drumming. I found that I tried too hard to be all academic. But think about it! After you graduate, you don’t get these sorts of opportunities. I’ve been checking out meetup, a website where like minded people can organize and meet, sort of like clubs but it isn’t the same! Don’t just try and join professional clubs or honor societies, as great as they are, do what my asian parents would call “useless” activities and start new hobbies!
But also do things that will allow you to contribute back to the community, while learning real skills, like volunteer clubs, no matter what major you are you can apply your skills to help someone. I only know STEM ones such as Blueprint, BEAM, Engineers Without Borders, Suitcase Clinic… etc. Don’t get regrets like me :(
11. Rock it out!
You’re here to learn. To grow. To change. You’re here to find your bridesmaids, your groomsmen. If you are passionate about something, do it! Or hell, do everything until you find out what your passionate about. That’s what I sort of did, and I’m still not done figuring all of that out. But I don’t completely regret all the time I spent trying all the other things.