UC Santa Cruz Admitted Students Tour

On Friday, April 7, 2023 I went to UC Santa Cruz to attend the Admitted Students Tour with my mom. Stockton is two and a half hours away from the university. The drive was extremely long, but I have a tendency to daydream on long car rides, so it passed by in an imaginative haze. Miraculously, we arrived at the East Remote Parking Lot—a name accurate because it was in the middle of nowhere—right as the shuttle arrived to take us to the campus. It was raining the entire time—a light spray that wasn’t unbearable. There were redwoods everywhere. I could reach out my hand and run my hand along a tree as I walked if I wanted to. It felt nostalgic because the atmosphere and view was an uncanny reflection of the location of my 6th grade science camp. Our tour guide, Adam, was a really good conversationalist. If I remember correctly, he was a senior in college majoring in web and game design development. An interesting fact I found out was that I could study abroad at other Universities of California. It is a one mile walk from one edge of the university to the other, according to Adam, for over 50% of the campus is woodland. It is a great college for environmental and marine sciences because it is located right next to these ecosystems. Personally, I am going to major in cognitive science (study of the mind) and their emphasis on research was intriguing. Though the campus is split into ten different colleges, their individual themes do not affect what major I chose; I can choose what college I want to be in based on the theme rather than my major placing me. I found the overall vibe to be very relaxing. I could picture myself walking or biking along the trails in my free time—although I doubt the existence of that—and studying outside.