Welcome Week is equal parts exciting, overwhelming, unpredictable and slightly chaotic. One minute you\u2019re collecting free tote bags at Calapalooza, the next you\u2019re simultaneously at three club fairs with a boba in one hand and a flyer you\u2019ll probably never read in the other.<\/p>\n
Everyone experiences UC Berkeley differently during those first few weeks. Some people already have color-coded schedules, while others accidentally end up at three different welcome events in one afternoon. So which Welcome Week character are you?<\/p>\n
The club collector<\/p>\n
Your tote bag is overflowing with stickers, pins, flyers and merch from clubs you\u2019ll definitely \u201clook into later.\u201d Unironically, you signed up for 47 mailing lists before your second lecture, and your inbox is already waving a white flag. Every booth convinces you that its club will change your life, and honestly? You believe them. Will you end up joining all of them? Probably not. But for one glorious afternoon at Calapalooza, every organization feels like your future.<\/p>\n
The future founder<\/p>\n
You found SkyDeck before you found your chemistry classroom. You\u2019re already bookmarking startup events, attending a networking mixer and casually dropping \u201cI\u2019m working on something\u201d into at least one conversation. While everyone else is shopping for dorm decorations, you\u2019re wondering if your roommate wants to help build the next billion-dollar app. Your LinkedIn profile is updated, your Notes app is full of ideas and you\u2019re convinced the next great startup could begin over late-night Crossroads cereal.<\/p>\n
The homesick hero<\/p>\n
You convince yourself you\u2019re doing great \u2026 until your mom asks if you\u2019re doing okay. You still call home almost everyday, keep photos on your desk and secretly get excited when someone mentions your hometown. While UC Berkeley feels huge and unfamiliar, you\u2019ve learned that missing home doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re not enjoying college. Eventually, your favorite coffee order, study spot and campus traditions start making Berkeley feel like home too.<\/p>\n
The social butterfly<\/p>\n
You never leave an event with the same number of friends you arrived with. Walking across Sproul takes 20 minutes because someone is always stopping to say hi. You already have three different group chats, recognize half your floor by name and of course end up getting dinner with people you met in line at GBO. At this rate, you\u2019ll recognize more faces than campus buildings.<\/p>\n
The schedule architect<\/p>\n
If it isn\u2019t on your calendar, it isn\u2019t happening. Everything is color-coded: classes, GBO events, office hours, club meetings and even reminders to do laundry. You know exactly where you\u2019re supposed to be at 2:17 p.m. next Thursday. Sometimes your friends make fun of your planning, but when nobody knows where the next event is, they\u2019re all asking you.<\/p>\n
The wanderer<\/p>\n
Why take the shortest route when there\u2019s another corner of campus waiting to be explored? You somehow end up discovering hidden staircases, quiet gardens, random art installations and viewpoints you didn\u2019t even know existed. You\u2019ve wandered into Doe Library just because it looked interesting and accidentally found yourself watching the sunset from Panoramic Hill. Every unexpected turn becomes your new favorite place on campus.<\/p>\n
Oski\u2019s biggest fan<\/p>\n
You have exactly one goal: find Oski. The moment you hear there\u2019s an event involving UC Berkeley\u2019s most chaotic mascot, you\u2019re there. You\u2019ve already taken three photos with him, own more campus merch than necessary and end every conversation with \u201cGo Bears!\u201d Whether people love Oski or are slightly terrified of him, you\u2019re convinced every Welcome Week is better when he randomly appears.<\/p>\n
The \u201chell yeah!\u201d guy<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t actually know him, but obviously you\u2019ve heard him three times today. Every campus has its legends, and UC Berkeley has plenty. Whether it\u2019s the guy enthusiastically yelling \u201cHell yeah!\u201d across Sproul, Birdman biking through campus or another familiar face who seems to exist at every event, you\u2019ve quickly learned that UC Berkeley comes with its own cast of recurring characters. At first they seem random. By October, you wouldn\u2019t want campus any other way.<\/p>\n
No matter which Welcome Week character you matched with, chances are you\u2019ll find a little bit of yourself in more than one. The first few weeks at UC Berkeley are full of new friendships and moments you never could have planned for. Before long, Welcome Week will be over, but the memories \u2014 and maybe a few inside jokes \u2014 will stick around long after your first semester begins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome Week is equal parts exciting, overwhelming, unpredictable and slightly chaotic. One minute you\u2019re collecting free tote bags…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[764,173239,14758,171600,143,145,144,53855,40176,173240,26656],"class_list":["post-436428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-berkeley","tag-calapalooza","tag-doe-library","tag-golden-bear-orientation","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-oski","tag-panoramic-hill","tag-skydeck","tag-sproul-plaza"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}