We are sure you have a lot of preconceptions of what Berkeley is all about. We hear it all the time. We’ll be with our J. Crew-clad high school friends and mention how awkward it is when we run into last night’s hook-up in the residence hall’s coed bathroom when they all look at us and laugh: “Wow, only in Berkeley!” We force a giggle, but inside we’re beaming, because we know that although Berkeley may in some ways exemplify the hippy-dippy stereotype, we are so much more. What is it that makes us “so Berkeley?” A lot of things. But stereotypes often stem from reality, so we have compiled a list of things that non-UC Berkeley kids didn’t get — and that maybe even we didn’t get — before we ourselves became “so Berkeley.”
- Wearing Birkenstocks
- Wearing Birkenstocks with socks
- Wearing Birkenstocks any time
- Coed bathrooms
- Using nongendered pronouns
- Boba
- Doing your homework outside
- Shopping at Goodwill
- Squirrels everywhere
- Squirrels coming up to you and trying to eat your food
- Hiking
- Composting in the dining hall
- Vegan options in the dining hall
- Smoking something
- Poppin’ peacies
- Round “hippie” sunglasses
- Tie-dye
- Having your computer science major friends fix your laptop
- Ordering cheesy sticks from West Coast Pizza
- Using the term “the Man” to reference authority figures
- Eating organic
- Eating vegetarian
- Eating vegan
- Listening to podcasts while you work out
- Listening to indie music
- Cutting your hair in a “hip” way
- Dying your hair an unnatural color
- Dreadlocks
- Saying fun facts all the time
- Mentioning any current event
- Being offended by offensive things (i.e. cultural appropriation, slut shaming, unfit uses of the word “gay,” etc.)
- Reading “The Communist Manifesto” for class
- Not shaving
- Hair wraps
- Knowing all of the Sproul Plaza regulars by name — or, at least, by nickname (Fishing Pole Guy, guy with megaphone, etc.)
- Using “going to a protest” as a reason for an excused absence (and actually getting it excused)
- “No smoking on campus” only applying to tobacco
- Talking to homeless people daily
- Knowing someone who’s been punched by a homeless man
- Actually studying during dead week instead of using the week off to party
- Talking about “House of Cards” at fraternity parties
- Studying between game days and nighttime festivities
- Skipping class to do homework
- Having to leave the library because the person sitting next to you hasn’t showered for at least two weeks
- Applied math majors determining the precise angle of beer pong throws
- Staying up all night in Wheeler Hall to protest tuition hikes
- People’s Park
- Random llamas on campus
- Midterm questions that are so hard that even the GSIs get them wrong
- Having a hodgepodge of so many different, interesting and totally brilliant people surrounding you at all times — because, at the end of the day, that’s what makes us all “so Berkeley.”
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