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.”

1. Wearing Birkenstocks
2. Wearing Birkenstocks with socks
3. Wearing Birkenstocks any time
4. Coed bathrooms
5. Using nongendered pronouns
6. Boba
7. Doing your homework outside
8. Shopping at Goodwill
9. Squirrels everywhere
10. Squirrels coming up to you and trying to eat your food
11. Hiking
12. Composting in the dining hall
13. Vegan options in the dining hall
14. Smoking something
15. Poppin’ peacies
16. Round “hippie” sunglasses
17. Tie-dye
18. Having your computer science major friends fix your laptop
19. Ordering cheesy sticks from West Coast Pizza
20. Using the term “the Man” to reference authority figures
21. Eating organic
22. Eating vegetarian
23. Eating vegan
24. Listening to podcasts while you work out
25. Listening to indie music
26. Cutting your hair in a “hip” way
27. Dying your hair an unnatural color
28. Dreadlocks
29. Saying fun facts all the time
30. Mentioning any current event
31. Being offended by offensive things (i.e. cultural appropriation, slut shaming, unfit uses of the word “gay,” etc.)
32. Reading “The Communist Manifesto” for class
33. Not shaving
34. Hair wraps
35. Knowing all of the Sproul Plaza regulars by name — or, at least, by nickname (Fishing Pole Guy, guy with megaphone, etc.)
36. Using “going to a protest” as a reason for an excused absence (and actually getting it excused)
37. “No smoking on campus” only applying to tobacco
38. Talking to homeless people daily
39. Knowing someone who’s been punched by a homeless man
40. Actually studying during dead week instead of using the week off to party
41. Talking about “House of Cards” at fraternity parties
42. Studying between game days and nighttime festivities
43. Skipping class to do homework
44. Having to leave the library because the person sitting next to you hasn’t showered for at least two weeks
45. Applied math majors determining the precise angle of beer pong throws
46. Staying up all night in Wheeler Hall to protest tuition hikes
47. People’s Park
48. Random llamas on campus
49. Midterm questions that are so hard that even the GSIs get them wrong
50. 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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