• Campus Conversations
• Student Voices
• Enter{ing} the Tiger

Enter{ing} the Tiger

Hey, Folks!  onglay imetay onay eesay, hmm? As promised, I will talk about my decision to come to Oxy--why I chose oxy and all that jazz. But before I do that, I feel that my title is in need of some explaining; the title is a reference to this gem.

Now, on to my tale! Once upon a time, not so long ago, I was but a junior in high school, unsure of where life would lead me, but searching for my place in the sun (literally; I was mostly considering schools in LA). What initially attracted me to Oxy was that it was (and still is) a small, liberal arts college in a big city. Of course, by merit of you reading this, you're already interested--on some level--in Occidental, but I can't help but gush just a little. It's all part of the narrative, so bear with me. ANYWHO.  As anyone who has tried to buy shoes online can attest, some things seem like a fit in writing but in reality are 3 sizes too small. With this in mind, I came to Occidental in the spring of my junior year to see if I could imagine myself here. It was love at first sight. From the palm trees and the academic quad to the classic buildings and lively campus, I knew this was where I wanted to be. It just felt right. However, saying that I decided to come here because of a "feeling" isn't very concrete.

I know when I was looking at colleges, I wanted facts, reasons, answers. If you are one of those cold hard facts people, read on. Once the "head in the clouds" feeling wore off and I had to make my final decision, there were actually a multitude of reasons I chose Oxy. In fact, these factors can be used by anyone to decide whether Oxy (or any higher learning institution) is right for them. 1. Weather Like many people here in the land of milk and honey, I wanted to avoid the freezing cold winters of my hometown. Snow can be pretty, but after scraping the ice off your window every day for five months, you get to the point where endless sunshine sounds pretty nice.  It might seem like a trivial point for picking a college, but honestly, if you don't like the part of the country/world you are studying in, it can (and probably will) have adverse affects on your studies. Which brings me to number two... 2. Location

You know what they say, the three most important features of real estate are location, location, location, and I must say, Occidental is pretty ideally located. Eagle Rock is an up-and-coming neighborhood with lots of funky little shops, a farmers market, and Trader Joe's. What more could you need? If, however, you hunger for more, it's there at your fingertips. Old Town Pasadena is just a 10-minute shoot down the 134, and Glendale isn't too far away, either. Traffic permitting, it doesn't take more than about half an hour to get downtown, and it take 45 minutes to get to Santa Monica (on a good day). 3. Community Involvement

One of the things that really intrigued me about Oxy was how involved everyone seemed in the school. I think the epitome of that is Dance Production which, as you may have gathered from recent posts, just finished for this year. Like 250 other students, I participated, and as always, it was a blast. Dance Production has the highest participation on campus, and as evidenced by the fact that we sold out both nights, is highly anticipated by the Oxy community. More than that, though, is the sense of closeness at Oxy. Everyone seems to know each other, and not just in the "oh, your face looks familiar" kind of way, but "oh, why hello there Oswald, how goes it? your stripes are looking stunning today" kind of way. It didn't hurt that nearly every person I talked to was extremely friendly and helpful--something that hasn't changed since my admission to the school. 4. Small Class Sizes This kind of goes along with the small liberal arts school bit, but I wanted to go to a

school where my professors actually know who I am on a personal level, and I could definitely see that Oxy had that. The smallest class I've had thus far has 7 people in it, but having such a small class is unusual. Typically, there are about 16 to 20 people in each class. I think the largest class I've ever had was 35 people, which all things considered isn't that big. 5. Food

It might seem trivial, but you're going to be eating almost all of your meals at school for at least a year of your life, so you might as well enjoy it. I've visited a lot of schools, and I have to say Oxy had the best options, both in terms of variety, accommodations and quality. There are many places to eat on campus at any given time: the Marketplace, the Cooler, the Coffee Cart, the Green Bean, the vending machines outside the library. Really, the possibilities are endless. If, however, you do get tired of Oxy food and hunger for something different, never fear; there are at least 10 (affordable) restaurants within walking distance of the school. 5. Study Abroad I knew that study abroad was something I absolutely wanted to take part it, so it was

important to me that wherever I ended up had a strong International Programs Office (IPO). Not only does Oxy have great study abroad opportunities, but they try to make it possible for as many students to go as is feasible. Even if you have a science major and are worried about getting all your credits in, Oxy tries to make it possible for anyone to go, as long as you meet all the requirements. Moreover, if you don't want to commit to a full semester abroad, you can apply for a Richter Scholarship to do research abroad during the summer or winter. (There is more detailed information here if you're interested.) 6. Overnight Visit I already briefly touched on this, but what really helped me make my final decision to pick Oxy was my overnight stay. After being accepted, I came back for a round two visit to see if my feelings had changed now that I was older; they hadn't. I really do think that, if possible, everyone should do an overnight stay at their top contenders, or at the very least visit. Nothing beats experiencing a place like visiting it. 8. I think these speak for themselves.

                     

Until next time, here's a poem that will make you doubt your fluency in English. And a fun video on linguistics!