I was very excited to attend UC Berkeley for the Fall 2012, since it was the school I dreamed on attending. My experience began with move in day, an exciting and difficult day because I had never left my house before; it was the first time I was separating myself from my loved ones. My floor was a way I was able to get a close family away from home, I am good friends with the people on my floor and able to talk to them whenever I need someone to talk to. I have meet great people in the dorms.
My first week at Cal was not what I expected; the class size was the biggest difference from high school. My Public Health course was about 600 people, a tenfold from my graduating class. I felt a bit alone at first, but then began talking to others in the class that were in the same shoes they needed to get to know more people to talk to and feel a bit more welcomed. The courses at Cal are very challenging and require a lot of reading. All my courses required intense reading that was very hard to understand, and I was only given a day or two to finish reading the text. My classes also gave other homework such as big essay that were due within a matter of days, this was the hardest thing to adjust to. I was used to having a whole week to compose a good essay, but here at Cal a great coherent essay was to be finished in two or three days. After a couple of weeks of adjusting to the daily routine of homework, I have gotten used to the workload required from the classes and I am now on a daily routine to finish this semester strong and complete my first year at Cal.
My experience as a college student has been as I had expected; a great place to meet and interact with people, but also a great deal of work. I have been able to meet interesting people from all over the United States. I have also great people at various clubs, such as Hermanos Unidos and Rally Committee. College has impacted my life and has made me seek for further knowledge. I plan to continue on my education by continuing on to Graduate School. College is a great experience that everyone should be able to have, it makes one think in a different manner, you learn to understand each other and see the world with other set of eyes. College is challenging but rewarding.
-Gustavo, UC Berkeley
