Cal is the first school in the UC system (which is why we can call ourselves Cal). It was founded in 1868. Originally there was the College of California out in Oakland. A lot of saloons and such began to form out there and the powers that be felt they were a bad influence on the students, so they sought a new sight. The place they found was a town they named Berkeley, after an English philospher who dreamt of a community where things were learned for learning's sake. The first buildings on the Berkeley campus were North and South Halls, which were brought over stone by stone from the original campus in Oakland. South Hall still stands today and houses the department of Library and Information Studies. North Hall fell, along with Bacon Hall, during the 1906 Earthquake (8.2 on the Richter scale).
Because the campus is so old there's a great deal of history on the campus. So much that I don't want to get into it right now. I will work on this for the future. For those of you who are now very familiar with this page, don't be disappointed, it isn't that I don't know the history it's just that there's WAY too much for me to write out in one sitting. I'll try to collect the stories in various pages and create a list of stories for the interest of you webbers.
Why do I know so much about all of this stuff? I'm a former CalSO counselor! I was paid to know this stuff!
Well, here it is, year four. I've changed my major a total of four times and, as always, swear this new major is just right for me. It's sort of a journalism thing.
So the question at hand is whether I still feel the same way I did when I first got here. Well, let's face it, any institution has the ability to get on your nerves when you've been there for two long, and Berkeley is no different. I'm sick of school. I work about 30-40 hours a week at The Daily Californian and I'm burning out rather quickly. My transcript is a comedy of errors and definitely reflects a weel-rounded individual, but not necessarily in a good way. I can not wait to graduate from here, but I'm currently looking toward a fifth year.
So, do I still like this place. Hard to believe, but the answer is a resounding "Yes!" I hate the parking system in the city, but that's really my only complaint about that. The school's bureacracy still bugs and baffles me, but after four years and plenty of hours at the newspaper I think I've gotten to the point where I can safely steer my way through the churning seas of Sproul Hall. Chances are quite good that I will remain in Berkeley for quite a while after I graduate with the intention of not leaving the Bay Area any time soon. While I want to travel and am currently pondering the possibility of living in Spain for a year, I feel fairly sure that I will eventually settle myself down somewhere around the bay, raise that family and strive for the old American Dream, failed or not.
See, Hope does spring eternal.