By Cameren Brown, Courier Staff Writer
ICL seniors took a field trip to the beautiful SF State campus earlier this month, meeting early in the morning and lasting until the end of the school day. Bart and local SF public transport reached the campus by nine-o’-clock where the tour guides or “mentors” , who were senior and junior college students, awaited.
Before entering any building, there was a game of icebreaker. The basic concept being someone having to stand in the center as they introduce themselves and then say something along the lines of: “ I plan to major in Kinesiology, and everyone wearing red, run!” After several rounds we finally geared up to begin walking.
The library was presented first, as it was just newly refurbished. A large building with several stories even consisting of a basement. The guides informed us that the higher the floor, the better it is as a study area. But all floors eventually close the later it gets except for the base floor which is built in with 24 hour coffee for those extra hard study sessions.
Further on we were guided through all the major departments, including the English, Arts/ Music technician’s, and Science buildings. The science department was the most decked out, equipped with its own greenhouse and observatory with plenty of telescopes look through. Around the area included a dog park, and mini nest where observers could look down at a rabbit family.
After a half hour lunch, the last part of the trip went underway. The mentors formed groups among themselves then split students into several groups and sat them down on a balcony above the cafeteria for a question and answer session. They started by asking the students, “What are your guy’s plans for college?” Students detailed their various plans, some planning to transfer from community, some applying straight to UCs. Afterwards, the mentors told their stories of why they chose SF state and how they got there, some wanted to stay local, while others were attracted to the campus; what made their stories most interesting was that most of them were first generation college students.
With such a large and lush campus filled with a plentiful variety of students, resources, and activities; SF state seems like a great choice for the future.