Is Cal Poly SLO the right place for me?

tbhwhatscollege
Sat, 26 Mar 2016 08:23:34 +0000

Okay, so let me start with a little bit of background info. I’m from the Bay Area and very much used to the diversity that I’ve been surrounded by since forever. I definitely wouldn’t categorize myself as one of those girls who loves to get drunk and party every weekend, but I would prefer there to be a party scene of some sort that could potentially live up to the idea of the freedom of college life that I have been expecting. Although I’m not much of a partier, I still love to have fun and I want to eventually look back on these years and laugh about the young and naive times I had. But on top of this, I don’t see myself joining a sorority since it seems to be too much of a commitment and preppy for me. Aside from the party scene, I’m nervous about fitting in with the people at Cal Poly SLO. I’m Asian but I don’t fit in with the “smart asians” who have enough willpower to fight procrastination (I admire you. In fact, procrastination is my worst enemy). And, I also don’t fit in with preppy white people (I have no intentions of bashing on anyone by the way). I’ve always kept to myself but I am pretty outgoing. Still, I mostly prefer just having a few people that are close to me. I’ve always considered myself to prefer the buildings and lifestyle of the city over being secluded in the middle of nowhere, which is how I perceive SLO’s location to be. I think nature is beautiful and all but I’d be lying if I said that I preferred being limited in the middle of nowhere over the activities in the city (shopping malls, etc). I always envisioned myself ending up in LA or San Diego so when reality hit that I’ll be attending Cal Poly, I was a little thrown off. I guess with all of this said, I sound a little judgemental but to tell the truth, I’m just nervous about the unfamiliarity of SLO since, like I said, I always pictured myself going somewhere which is almost the opposite of the characteristics of Cal Poly. I’ve asked a few of my friends who are attending Cal Poly SLO and most of them have told me that they hate it and feel like an outlier. They’ve also said that they don’t seem to fit in or get along too well with the students at Cal Poly SLO. I’m going to visit Cal Poly soon and I understand that college is going to be different for everyone but I’m just trying to prepare myself for a big change (much like everyone else is).