J.J. Jenkins is a journalism freshman and Mustang Daily freshman columnist.
What a difference a year makes. Just 365 days ago, most college freshmen were in the midst of senioritis when they received Cal Poly’s acceptance letter.
After the less than satisfactory application process, we were just glad to see our status pending because it meant Cal Poly had received our papers. Mercifully, the day came when the status changed and, after a quick celebration session, we notified our parents whose dreams of us being turned down, thus saving thousands of dollars, came crashing down upon them.
Whether or not Cal Poly was your top school or your backup, for some reason or another you chose to come to San Luis Obispo, committing four (who am I kidding, five) years of your life to this college.
The last two months of high school were a complete pain in the ass. We begged teachers to let us get on with our lives and sat through too long graduation sessions (Was that acoustic Jay-Z cover by the girl going to Juilliard really necessary?) before finally holding our tickets to Cal Poly.
In this year of growth, we, of course, grew infinitely wiser, and I believe it is now my duty to speak to any current high school senior creeping on the Mustang Daily website or leafing through the paper on their much too long campus tour.
My first piece of advice is to avoid the addiction of College Confidential and other similar sites. I assure you, as much as the alumni from 1954 or that mom who posts 100 times a day claim to know, they are not current freshmen and simply parrot what they hear from other sources that do not know much either.
Another thing to be aware of is that we future upper classmen are honestly stoked to see the class of 2015 around campus during Week of Welcome (WOW) in September. I have daily discussions with my future Co about how great our WOW group will be and the fun activities we have planned.
The calls of “WOWie!” heard when you walk around campus at SOAR or Fall Launch are not meant to patronize, we have honestly just waited months for your arrival.
Another unique aspect about Cal Poly I failed to realize before I pulled up in San Luis Obispo is that the majority of students you see walking around campus are freshmen and sophomores. Few juniors or seniors live on campus, so your first two years are spent socializing with people around your age.
This also makes the campus feel smaller in terms of the number of students because upper classmen tend to occupy a different social sphere off-campus. The 18,000 (or whatever they say it is now) undergraduates end up feeling like 6,000 to 8,000, not exactly a small liberal arts college but certainly not the typical state school.
I can rarely walk to campus or grab food without running into at least two people I know.
Before I meshed into my current friend group, I went to 19Metro Station for dinner alone a few times expecting to sit in silence, but each time I found groups of people that eagerly welcomed me to sit with them.
But now to the juicy part. The social scene at Cal Poly is both more and less intense than I previously imagined. If you like to party, there are people who will make up stupid alliterations involving the day of the week (i.e. Thirsty Thursday) to give credence to a desire to loosen up.
Although noise ordinances pain party throwers, using good judgment can keep you out of sticky situations.
On the flip side, if you do not like to drink or grind with random girls in a dark basement, a significant segment of campus (more than I thought), refrain from the typical college social experience.
Hanging out downtown then heading back to the dorms for a movie with friends is not an uncommon occurrence on weekends. As a person who does not fit squarely into one group or another, I’ve found that when I do go out there is little pressure to drink or engage in behavior that I otherwise would avoid.
By finding good friends on either end of the spectrum spectrum, you will be pleased with your choice of Cal Poly.
In the meantime, get back to work declining those other colleges, send out those graduation notices to rake in the cash (you will need it once you get addicted to Firestone) and start getting pumped for San Luis Obispo.
High schoolers feel free to shoot me questions at jjjenkins.md@gmail.com (three Js), I apologize if I miss it as I sort through my fan mail.