Being a New Cal Grad

I guess I should finally talk about the topic my entire blog is founded on: being a new graduate.

A little bit about where I went to school and how I got there: I’ve been in the Bay Area my entire life. Born, raised, and still here for now. I’ve moved once in my life within the same city because my parents wanted me to attend a more competitive high school. I grew up visiting UC Berkeley because my dad had attended the school for his PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and to be honest, it was on my last of list of schools to attend just because I a) didn’t want to follow my dad and b) because I was pretty drawn to the idea of a pretty, private school. My parents’ rule had been: you don’t get to visit the school till you get into the school. Which sounds like a pretty stern rule but if you think about it, it’s fair. Why fall in love with a school that you might not get into? So my second semester senior year, I had the opportunity to travel to Missouri and New York and SoCal (not a state, I know) and set my heart on some pretty expensive schools. When Cal Day came around (Cal’s HUGE open house), I didn’t even want to take the time to visit. I thought I’d seen it all. But my mom woke up a begrudging me on Cal Day (http://calday.berkeley.edu/) and when I walked into Haas Pavilion and watched the Men’s Octet sing and saw the campus decked out in blue and gold, I was sold.

I think secretly, or not so secretly, I was a little worried about straying too far from home since I’ve never been too far from home before. I’ve been away from home before but not for long extended periods of time. Additionally, I was admitted as a Spring Admit and I felt a bit strange not starting school with everyone else I knew. Luckily, the whole Spring Admit thing worked out in my favor and I was able to travel for a full semester while taking classes online at a community college. Traveling abroad let me experience living away from home and I found out I adapted well to it. After starting at Cal in the Spring of 2010, I was pretty used to living on my own and Cal wasn’t too far away from home so if I needed to, I could always make a quick trip home.

Graduating from Cal has given me a broad education and new insight into so many things. Despite it being known as a highly liberal college, one of my favorite professors, Professor Dan Schnur (@danschnur), was a Republican but taught his political science class with such non-partisan bias that you could never tell. He could play Devil’s Advocate to both sides and it was evident that he loved politics and not partisanship. I’ve learned about Southeast Asian politics and campaign strategies. I’ve met international students and students who write bills. Being at a large, public school has given me the opportunity to branch out and meet people in an expansive way.

California Memorial Stadium on my graduation day. 

I dreaded writing this post because everything I say sounds so hopelessly shallow. I’m not even sure how to explain why I’m so proud to be a graduate of the UC Berkeley class of 2013 but telling people that gives me an innate sense of pride. I wanted to start this blog so I could convey a sense of what it’s like to be a new graduate but at the moment, I’m not so sure what that means myself. Hopefully with more posts to come, I’ll get a better idea of what it really means to be a graduate of 2013.