Occidental: The Big Picture
Occidental has been an amazing place for me, and as I've been here, I've only grown to love it more and more. I love the size of the school; I think that the idea that a school can be "too small" is a complete myth, and I feel its nearly impossible to ignore the advantages of a small professor/student ratio. For example, in the last two years here, I've taken 14 units of independent study. This enabled me to work closely with a professor and craft a senior project that I am proud of and really feel I can call my own.
Occidental Academic Life
As a small liberal arts college, the academics at Oxy are certainly more geared toward learning for its own sake, but thats not to say you can't find guidance in terms of a carreer while still at school here--you just have to go out of your way a little. I feel, though, that this really stimulates the intellectual community, the discussions in class and just around campus in general. More and more I feel like I'm going to a place where a lot of people are really serious about learning, something I think is surprisingly rare on campuses everywhere. A big factor in all of this is the fact that we are able to work so closely with our professors. I've never had a professor who didn't know my name (just this year as a graduating senior, in fact, I ran into 3 of them again who remembered me from my first year here and struck up a genuine conversation) and I know quite a few professors who I've never even taken classes with.
Occidental's Student Body
Oxy's student body is an interesting mix of people. I think we are known worldwide for our diverse students, and I know that a lot of people here think we aren't yet diverse enough and a lot of people here think its all a scam. The point is, there's a lot of discourse going on regarding these issues which makes it an exciting time to be here. With so many different types of people around, I don't think you can really feel out of place here any more than you would anywhere else.
Occidental Student Activities + Social Life
The social life at oxy is remarkably open to interpretation, if you can say such a thing. What I mean is that there isn't one type of activity or group of people who dictate what everyone has to do every weekend or every night. So many different things are going on and the coolest parts of LA are so close by, that there is always something different to do. True, that means that we don't have the biggest frat or sorority parties in the world (for which I am eternally grateful), but we have some, and if you don't wanna go, you won't be the only one on campus sitting around not playing beer pong every damn night. Museums are free all around us, Chinatown is 10 minutes away, all your friends at UCLA a short drive down the road--the possibilities are endless. When you get old enough, happy hour at the Yardhouse (think upscale Chili's with over 150 beers on tap and killer mini-burgers) and a movie at the Paseo in Pasadena is one of my favorite evenings--you can even get cheaper tickets in the student center in advance!
