This fall, I will be a freshman at CSU Long Beach, and like all freshman I attended SOAR (Student Orientation, Advisory and Registration). My SOAR date was Friday, June 17. There I learned so much about the campus and its many traditions, including the best place to take a nap- the silent study floor of the library! Most of all, though, SOAR got me pumped to attend CSU Long Beach because in the beginning, I was not super thrilled about the school.
I first learned about CSU Long Beach through the debate team at my high school through the Jack Howe Memorial Invitational, a tournament hosted by CSULB at the end of September. It was the first tournament of the year for my team, and one I competed in for three years. When I began applying to colleges my senior year, I put CSU Long Beach on my list as a back-up to UC Berkeley, Stanford, USC, and several other top-ranked institutions. When I heard back from schools, the news was underwhelming. I had been rejected from most of the schools I had applied to except for CSU Long Beach, and I was deferred to UC Merced. I ultimately chose CSU Long Beach over UC Merced not only because of my familiarity with the institution, but also because of its incredible debate team. I was still a little sad that I didn't get into my top choice schools, and my declared major, history, was not known to be one of CSU Long Beach's strongest.
I gradually became more optimistic when I was able to go down to the school on May 23rd and meet with one of the debate directors to discuss joining the debate team. At the meeting, I became even happier when I found out the school had recently hired a new director of debate, who prioritized the style of debate I wanted to compete in- policy debate. Even after the meeting I continued to have reservations about this school and its caliber. I had even met with advisors at UC Berkeley to see about transferring either my sophomore or junior year.
Then SOAR came along. At first, I was really nervous because I had never seen so many future classmates in my life, and also because I had to separate from my mom—being an only child, this was somewhat hard. As the day went on, I became more enthusiastic, because I introduced myself to a couple of girls who became my buddies for the day. I also learned about notable alumni of CSU Long Beach, such as Misty May Treanor and Steven Spielberg, which made me realize that I could go to this school and emerge successful. The definite highlight of SOAR was when the SOAR advisors did a flash mob to Justin Bieber’s Sorry, which was certainly a pleasant surprise, as well as a distraction from the burning heat outside. Then came the fun part- picking classes! I picked five exciting classes, including Intro to Hip-Hop and Greek Mythology.
After SOAR, I was genuinely excited to attend CSU Long Beach not only because of how knowledgeable and inclusive my SOAR advisors were, but also because I had a solid schedule of classes that intrigued me.
I definitely look forward to becoming a CSU Long Beach student this fall!
