Getting a college acceptance letter is one of the most affirming moments anyone can experience, but at the same time, it can be one of the most confusing. Deciding which college to go to determines a lot about your future and where you are headed. After receiving my acceptance letters, the easiest part was over, and now it was time to make a decision. I decided to choose Cal Poly San Luis Obispo not only for its amazing location, wonderful people, or it being named “The Happiest City in America,” but because of its motto, “Learn by Doing."

Cal Poly’s motto “Learn by Doing” is a prominent reason why students choose to attend the school. The ability to learn is given at any college, but the ability to learn through experience isn't always presented at other universities. After going through my first year of college, I could never fully express how happy I am that I chose the school with the motto “Learn by Doing” and how excited I am to start my second year in the next few weeks.

As I look back on my freshman year of college, I realize that I was successful and content in my academic life because of our motto. I would have never in a million years wanted to learn the scientific names of plants or about their habitats otherwise, but leave it to Biology 114 (Plant Diversity and Ecology) to take you on adventurous field trips around San Luis Obispo County. This left me with the yearning to know the names of all the plants I discovered and the places I had been. The simple act of "doing" in this class inspired me to want to learn, and as a result, I fell even more in love with the school.

Alvin Padilla, an Environmental Protection and Management major, relates to this experience in the way that his "labs were the classes that confirmed I had made the right choice with my major and my school. I had never experienced classes where we actually got to go out of the classroom to learn, and man, it is great. College is so much different than high school, and its great to be around other students who want to be there.” Olivia Woods, a Liberal Studies major, proclaimed that a class she took "gave me the opportunity to go to an elementary school in San Luis Obispo and mentor children. It was great practice for my future teaching career, and I enjoyed every minute of it!”

Cal Poly takes already intelligent students and makes them brilliant by exposing them to hands-on experiences. "Learning by Doing" increases productivity through practice and self-improvement and leads to positive changes in our world. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo would not be the school it is today without the motto “Learn by Doing," and neither would any of the students.