<p>I'm a new CS transfer student. During my life, I have always enjoyed being in the company of others, being outdoors, and being physically active. Back home, I have plenty of friends who share these interests. The problem is, everyone that I run into here at Cal is so stinking boring. They don't go out, they don't really socialize, and they just stay at home and play video games all day. I am guessing that this is probably a problem which is local to the CS/EECS department, but I don't really know.
My question is this: What things can I do to put myself in situations where I am around people who are not so boring? Are students in all departments like that, or am I just surrounded by the most boring people on campus because of my major.
I have a pretty light course load this semester, which is not going to he the case in the future; so I would like to have fun during my free time while I still have some. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>I’m a Freshman CS Major and I definitely feel that EECS/CS Majors spend a lot of time studying or doing HW/projects so they don’t really have a life during the weekdays.</p>
<p>I suggest joining a club that interests you and to be active in it… It definitely makes life at Cal a lot more bearable!</p>
<p>For me, I separate my CS friends from my club friends so I get the best of both the academic and social world here in Cal. </p>
<p>Although I’m still getting used to the fact at how much people study here…</p>
<p>EECS is boring for sure. Some people just don’t want to go out even if you try to twist their arms. Try to make friends in other majors. The IEOR girls are pretty cute.</p>
<p>No not really. I’m an English major and everyone I’ve met is pretty anti-social. Whenever I’ve asked to hang out I get the generic “I have to read/write/some other random bs.” Same goes with people at my student housing, a lot of people seem hell bent on their grades.</p>
<p>For a lot of the people whom I have encountered, even when they do have time to do something which is purely recreational, they prefer to stay at home – alone – and play video games or watch tv. It just seems like a miserable existence to me, and I want no part of it. But if you are constantly surrounded by boring people, then you will eventually become one. My greatest fear is that I will turn into one of them. Does anybody have suggestions on bars/clubs in Berkeley that are good? I haven’t been to any because I feel like a loser going out by myself, but I’d rather go out by myself and try to meet people than sit at home posting on CC about how bored I am! :)</p>
<p>Media Studies majors I think are pretty laid-back and fun…</p>
<p>In response to your title question: nope. Haven’t found any yet. I’m a transfer English major and everyone I’ve encountered thus far is incredibly oversensitive and PC with no sense of humor. I mean, surely not <em>everyone</em> can be like that…I just hope I can meet some genuine friends here eventually.</p>
<p>Fun? What is that?</p>
<p>Go join a frat. No, seriously. I know it’s too late to get into a frat now, but plan for next semester. Or try to dine at a student coop to get on their list/point system, if that kind of lifestyle floats your boat more. They sure as hell aren’t sitting around playing video games all day or studying. Shop around at some clubs and find some people that aren’t boring, if you really think everyone around is that lame. Find gym buddies, or take some classes at the RSF, because it seems like you want people who are physically active.</p>
<p>Obviously people care about their grades here–they had to have high grades to get into Berkeley, why do you think they would suddenly stop caring once they got to Berkeley? Hell, if I were an EECS major, I probably would spend the majority of my time studying too. If you wanted to party, why didn’t you go to UCSB? And trust me, there are plenty of people at Berkeley too who don’t care about their grades and are partying Thurs-Sat night, every week of every month without fail. There are clubs here with a lot of people who like to party. Look around, it’s not that hard to find them, I’ve been in some of them.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t get the argument that people in Bezerkeley are boring, because there are many kinds of people here, ranging from the people who study too much to those who party too much to everyone in between. And if you automatically think that everyone who would rather stay at home than party is boring, and aren’t willing to join any clubs/frats to find people who want to hang out with you, well then, good luck trying to make friends here. You’ll need it.</p>
<p>business majors are fun people O:-)</p>
<p>I joined a fraternity. Problem solved.</p>
<p>Nillawafer, your condescending tone typifies the attitude with which I am taking issue. How on earth did you read all of that from my post? You are assuming that I want people to stop caring about their grades? Are you kidding me?! My grades are absolutely a top priority to me, and it’s a good thing – I am getting straight A’s so far.
Your post perfectly demonstrates the erroneous assumption that so many people here make: that you can either have fun or get good grades, but the two are necessarily mutually exclusive. Taking one night (not even an entire day) off of school per week to go out and mingle makes me SO much more focused and efficient for the rest of the week, and allows me to pretty much never get burnt out on school.
Not once in my posts did I mention partying (though I did ask if there were any good bars or clubs around here), or suggest that people ought to study less. I said that when they decide to partake in some sort of purely recreational activity, it is one of dormancy and isolation. That is my complaint. I really think that a lot of these people would be so much happier if they were willing to go out and interact with others.</p>
<p>Looking back over my post, I realize I was unnecessarily rude. I’m sorry about that, you weren’t being rude enough to justify that kind of a response from me, so I apologize. But while you call me condescending, isn’t it <em>equally</em> condescending for you to refer to everyone at Berkeley as boring? I find it really, really difficult to believe that everyone around you studies 24/7 and has no life outside of their homework. I have a life, and most of the people I know at Berkeley do too.They work hard, but they also have fun too on the weekends, while maintaining good grades, as it seems you do. But your post is just one in a string of many recent comments that I’ve heard about people who whine about Berkeley being boring. So again, I’m sorry that assumed incorrectly about you, but it seems like most of the people with that complaint just want to party more and are upset that people at Berkeley don’t party enough. </p>
<p>But, if the people around you are really that “boring” and have no life, then my original point still stands. Go join a club, hang out at the frats, take classes at the RSF, etc. These are all great places to meet people who want to hang out. Your classes sometimes are good places to meet people, but in a competitive environment like EECS, they might not be that great for socializing. I’ve found that most of my friends at Berkeley are people I’ve met outside classes, like at the student housing and in clubs, which is why I think you should branch out a little more.</p>
<p>Canasta club. Chess club. Bridge club.</p>
<p>Those are all fun!</p>
<p>I did not mean to suggest that all of the people here are boring. That would be ignorant and obviously inaccurate. What I am suggesting is that the environment in which I have found myself is extremely boring and that, in my opinion, most of the people in my major are perfectly content with what I and most of my friends would consider to be very boring lives. I posted this question because I was curious if this problem was isolated to my major, or if it was common throughout all programs here. Perhaps it is condescending, but looking at the responses to this post, it would be hard to argue that I am alone. I really would prefer to generally avoid the party scene. I don’t hate it; it’s just not my preference. I would strongly prefer to get a group of friends to go on a hike, to go into SF, or to go to football games! I have met one person – ONE PERSON – in my major who ever goes to sporting events. I will be taking a class at the RSF next semester. If I had known that the social scene in computer science here was going to be this stagnant, I would have gone somewhere else. But it is too late, and I am now extremely motivated to do what I can to make the best of this. I just didn’t put myself in the right situations this semester, I guess. It is also extra frustrating for me because, as a transfer, I only have a maximum of 5 semesters here. I have very little time to get plugged in, and my greatest fear is that I will look back on my college experience with regret.</p>
<p>wow! I definitely expected this thread to go the other way. But I have definitely found it to be the opposite. I noticed a lot of people party way more than I thought they would…although not a lot of my friends do which sucks sometimes but I choose to make those types of friends sometimes. Just join clubs, and meet as many people as you can. Meet friends of friends too, or yeah you could join a frat or club or volunteer or something</p>
<p>Check out history courses. The home girl who sits in front of me a lot was looking for a das boot glass the other day. You know if she’s looking for something that tacky, she’s gotta be down to throw’em down, haha.</p>
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<p>nope 10char</p>