As Berkeley students, we have certain things that are just expected of us. We’re not talking about grades or careers. Oh no, we have our sights set toward much more interesting goals. Exploring the best of the Bay Area and our very own city has to offer is a must that we expect all of you to accomplish before you put on that black robe and walk toward a diploma! How many of these have you crossed off your own Berkeley bucket list?
1. Go up the Campanile. Come on guys, it’s free and right in the middle of campus. You literally can’t walk across campus without passing it. Just show your Cal 1 Card and shimmy on up to the top for a terrific view of basically everything! Even on cloudy days it’s a sight worth seeing. And did we mention it’s free?
2. Eat the carrot cake at FSM. We suppose you could survive without checking this off your to-do list, but it’s right on campus and involves DESSERT. Try at least one slice of sweet carroty yumminess. You can study while you happily munch.
3. Eat at Cheeseboard. If you tell people you haven’t been to Cheeseboard yet, at least half of them will gawk and vow to take you there themselves — probably because they want an excuse to go there again. It’s a little far, but scarfing down their fancy, delicious vegetarian pizza is a rite of passage.
4. Go to Fentons. Yes, we know we’re mentioning a lot of food. But even if you don’t like ice cream (which will also cause people to gawk at you), this creamery was in our favorite Disney movie, “Up.” Get on a bus and go to Oakland for the chance to say you were in the same place as the balloon-house-riding Carl!
5. Hike to the Big C. It’s like the gym but better. Count it as your exercise for all four years of school for all we care — even though the hike isn’t very difficult. Just get up there and snap some Instagram-worthy pictures.
6. Do touristy things in San Francisco. We’re always talking about how lucky we are to live so close to a big city like San Francisco. But how often do we go there? It’s so easy to take BART to Union Square or head over to Ghiradelli Square. (Seriously, we love food.) And besides, who doesn’t love boats and chocolate?
Image source: pasukaru76 under Creative Commons
