Student Profile
Lila
- Class: Senior
- Major: English
- Gender: F
- High School: Huntington Beach High School
- Transfer Student: Y
Big Picture
Location! Location! Location! SFSU is a microcosm of San Francisco...large but entirely manageable and filled with all different kinds of interesting people. Most people hear "San Francisco" when I tell them I go to SFSU. The city is supportive of the school, but has far too much going on to be considered a "college town". It is a large state school, but everything for me has always run smoothly. I mostly just hang out at the Cafe by the Humanities building talking to people and drinking my espresso. We are a low key student body. We like our school, but we're not going to be obnoxious about it. Last year, there were some student walk outs to support the faculty in their negotiations with CSU, and even that wasn't too crazy. Protests? All in a days work. I don't know what people complain about in regards to school...usually when I hear someone ****ing it is personal.
Academic Life
Two of my favorite class experiences: Imagery, Metaphor, and Symbol with Professor Langton. The whole class grade was based on your final research paper...no homework, no textbook, no tests or essays. And the final paper was no easy task, 10-12 pages, and to get an A he said the paper must "delight and amuse" him. But students still showed up, because his lectures were so interesting. He used to read snippets of great poetry and talk about how many words in English weren't English at all, like "canoe", "kimono", "gazelle", etc. I also loved Lord of the Rings as Epic, taught by Professor Tuma, who had created the class with his wife over twenty years prior! He was a specialist in really old English, Arthurian and medieval and stuff. He wanted to retire when his wife fell ill but admin. convinced him to stay because no one had ac***ulated the kind of broad but specific knowledge needed to replace him. This class was the last he ever taught at SFSU, and the last class was a retirement party for him with champagne and spiced wine and everything. So in general, faculty and students care about personal academic growth over competition. They want you to have IDEAS, and there is always an exchange of ideas occurring, whether between students or between students and teachers.
Student Body
I love the variety of life at SFSU! It is like the city itself...you kind of have to interact. It is hard to ignore the person crammed next to you on the subway train! I like the political hoopla (although sometimes they piss me off when I am feeling moderate). A student really committed to conservative values may feel out of place...if you are not open to people of different races, religions, sexual orientations, and political outlooks you will have a lot of people around to close off! We are a casual urban campus, where you are not going to see a bunch of girls in heels. We are all about stylish coats and hoodies and flats and Pumas and vintage clothes and stuff. On any given day, four tables would be filled with: Asian freshman playing some cool card game I don't even know about, an older twosome discussing a project or the faculty member they are assisting, a louder and more artistic group talking about music or mutual friends, and finally probably someone sitting alone with their laptop or a textbook open while they eat.
The Best Things
Art and culture and life and opinion!!
The Worst Things
the surrounding neighborhood is boring
