UC Riverside Visit

by Roz on January 15, 2008

My sister commutes to UC Riverside for school on Mondays-Thursdays (I know, crazy, right?), and I’ve never been to her school before. She is a sophomore. Yeah, that’s pretty sad that I’ve never been there. But since I figured I’m still on my winter break and have nothing to do anyway, I’d go with her one of the days and also visit some of my friends who go there.

Now, let me say some things first: my sister hates UCR. The reason she commutes is because she thinks UCR is too ghetto and sketchy, and she doesn’t like the people there. She also hates the area, and feels like there’s nothing to do. So, that being said, I went on Monday with my sister expecting some pretty shitty things.

Now, to my surprise, I actually liked UCR. The campus itself is fairly large, and it’s new (compared to Berkeley and most of the other UC’s). It’s spacious, the architecture is nice…I’m not quite sure why she doesn’t like it. So I guess we established that the campus isn’t ghetto, but the area around it is. There’s a nice University Village just outside of the campus, and it’s got a movie theater, tons of places to eat, two Starbucks, a GameStop, and other stores. And, there is also student housing inside the University Village plaza place, and it looks nice as HELL! I said she should totally live there next year…

UCR is different from Cal because I guess people drive a lot, since it’s so spacious, whereas at Cal you can’t drive through campus!! UCR’s campus actually kind of reminded of UCSB, just because it’s got the “chill” atmosphere and has a lot of space and everything is just spread out. So…I really am not sure why she hates it. I think if that were my school, I would definitely not hate it as much as my sister does.

What surprised me though was the lack of active clubs. I asked my friends to take me to where the clubs usually would be. And all I saw were frats/sororities recruiting. This is the beginning of their quarter. This is the prime time for clubs to recruit new members. At Cal, almost all clubs (or at least the clubs that count) are recruiting like crazy. But seriously, at UCR, the clubs were no where to be found. I was a bit disappointed at that…and refused to believe there weren’t any clubs. So after I got home, I went on UCR’s website and looked it up. And for this year, there are over 150 clubs registered with the school! What the hell, where ARE they???

Universities and colleges are the breeding grounds of activism and student involvement, especially through clubs where students can bond through common interest. So why is it that only fraternities and sororities are recruiting there? I wonder if this happens on all other college campuses, or is UCR just a special case? I’m a bit confused. And a bit disappointed.

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  • http://mega-fono.blogspot.com/ Raisa

    Hey. Nice site, lovely layout. I just wanted to say you have a great site. Your ‘about’ section is nice to read too (specially the orange country ‘essay’ – http://pointlessly.org/about/living-in-orange-county/ – mainly, because i’m peruvian and I’m studying development communication, so I can do something for my country).

    Take care,
    ♥

  • http://mega-fono.blogspot.com Raisa

    Hey. Nice site, lovely layout. I just wanted to say you have a great site. Your ‘about’ section is nice to read too (specially the orange country ‘essay’ – http://pointlessly.org/about/living-in-orange-county/ – mainly, because i’m peruvian and I’m studying development communication, so I can do something for my country).

    Take care,
    ♥

  • http://www.withering-rose.net/ Shivon

    This is a prime example of why I always want to check things out for myself before taking someone else’s word. lol

    <3 Voni

  • http://www.withering-rose.net Shivon

    This is a prime example of why I always want to check things out for myself before taking someone else’s word. lol

    <3 Voni

  • http://lovetap.skyy.nu/ JenaLyn

    I have a few friends who go to UCR and they seem to enjoy it, so far — it’s their first year, and they’re dorming there as well. I go to UCSD, and from my view, it always seems like there’s always something happening, and clubs / frats / sororities alike are all constantly stalking students around the center of campus and bombarding them with flyers in order to get their attention.

    Perhaps she hates UCR because it wasn’t her first choice? Hell, I hate UCSD — partly because it wasn’t my first choice, partly because the parking sucks, partly because it just pisses me off. I don’t know why, I just hate being here. Maybe your sister and I share the same feelings for our schools. We can’t help it, our school’s just leave us with nasty tastes in our mouths. And headaches. Guhhh. At least, for me it does. Bah.

    Maybe the clubs were more active in different parts of the campus that you didn’t see? Or maybe they’re more active at night? :)

  • http://lovetap.skyy.nu JenaLyn

    I have a few friends who go to UCR and they seem to enjoy it, so far — it’s their first year, and they’re dorming there as well. I go to UCSD, and from my view, it always seems like there’s always something happening, and clubs / frats / sororities alike are all constantly stalking students around the center of campus and bombarding them with flyers in order to get their attention.

    Perhaps she hates UCR because it wasn’t her first choice? Hell, I hate UCSD — partly because it wasn’t my first choice, partly because the parking sucks, partly because it just pisses me off. I don’t know why, I just hate being here. Maybe your sister and I share the same feelings for our schools. We can’t help it, our school’s just leave us with nasty tastes in our mouths. And headaches. Guhhh. At least, for me it does. Bah.

    Maybe the clubs were more active in different parts of the campus that you didn’t see? Or maybe they’re more active at night? :)

  • http://www.boscardin.org/ Maria

    Yeah, clubs are always fun to check out. I really like joining close knit ones because I feel as if you could get a better connection with people. That is odd though that the clubs weren’t recruiting. Maybe they have their own week to do it? Who knows.

  • http://www.boscardin.org/ Maria

    Yeah, clubs are always fun to check out. I really like joining close knit ones because I feel as if you could get a better connection with people. That is odd though that the clubs weren’t recruiting. Maybe they have their own week to do it? Who knows.

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