A look at LBSU life, thus far

A LOOK AT LBSU LIFE, THUS FAR

Written by Jensen Puckett

Honestly, Long Beach State was not where I thought I was gonna end up. I’m from the middle of nowhere in Texas and I had big dreams to go to New York City. lol. I woke up one day in quarantine and decided I wanted to switch it up and go to Ssouthern California. CSULB was the only school I applied to here and I was excited to be living in the great county of Los Angeles. If I told my freshman self what I was doing with my life and everything that has happened since August 2020, my freshman year self would be shocked and confused. My current self is also still confused on life and processing all that has happened here, but she’s okay with it now. So, let’s take a look back on what’swhats happened to me in the last 2 plus+ years, brought to you by Cal State Long Beach State.

My whole life growing up I was told college was gonna be the hardest thing ever and how important it was. I think it is important for some people, but it doesn’t have to be for everyone. I also think how hard it is is subjective. I don’t think we should continue to scare future generations into making college the biggest, scariest thing ever. Since being here, I’ve learned sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it’s not. Some majors have a lot more or less work than others. What is hard for one person may be easy for another so comparing struggles is the worst thing to do. Some people graduate and some don’t. Some make all A’s and some, like me, may not do the greatest every semester. Some people join clubs and some want to just keep to themselves. I thought I could never change my major or try different departments in college, but I finally realized it’s good to. The point is, we’re all out here struggling and that just looks different for everyone. Shoutout to Long Beach for helping me realize that lol. Iit would have been nice to not have put as much pressure on myself my whole life, BUT I’m happy I at least know now.

Hmmm, what are some other things I’ve learned?

OH. The stingray shuffle. My freshman year was during COVID and everything was pretty strict, so me and my friends spent a lot of time outside at the beach. Apparently, stingrays are for sure real and they for sure hurt. I knew they were real but I had literally only heard of them being caged up in aquariums. Growing up with the Gulf of Mexico as my closest beach, I was used to warm, but dirty, water and occasional jellyfish. I was always told “if a jellyfish stings you, you’re supposed to pee on it.” So when I was told to do the stingray shuffle I didn’t know what it was. Also, there’s literal stingray seasons??? Like, definitely never thought about that. Long story short, a bunch of my friends got stung and then all I thought about was Steve Irwin, so it’s safe to say, I now know how to do the stingray shuffle. If you’re from out of state and didn’t really go to do the beach growing up like me, LEARN THIS lol.

There are lots of fun things that I’ve realized while being at Long Beach. I’ve learned to always carry pepper spray and have my guard up everywhere. Growing up, I could roam around my town and safety was never something I had to think about there. I’m not saying I came here expecting it to be super safe, but I guess I wasn’t expecting how much different it would be. Being afraid in my dorms of the people getting arrested outside was not on my radar. I mean, it just only happened twice, but I only lived in the dorms for 3 months. It may not seem like a big deal to others and now it’s not really to me, but when I first moved here it was a shock.

The petitioners. Wow. That’s what we need to be warning future college students about. Rain or shine, they are outside and they don’t care if you have no time or all the time in the world, they want your signature. Some of the petitions, I would love to learn more about and maybe even sign, but when I’m on my way to class and either don’t respond or say I have class, it’s pretty inconvenient when they continue to follow you for a bit and pester you. I know that isn’t just a Long Beach campus experience thing but I’ve learned how to deal with that here and learned that people can have no shame in their petition tactics.

This was kind of all over the place on things I’ve learned by because of coming to Long Beach, but I have learned a lot and my life has been all over the place. I never know whats happening and honestly, I don’t think I ever will. I came here pursuing photography/ acting and now I’m getting a degree in journalism and American Sign Language. I wanted to work in film and photography literally since I could talk and now I’m doing things a lot differently. I think the best thing I’ve learned at Long Beach is that change is a good thing. A lot of times it may not feel like it but overall the changes I’ve had have shaped who I am and the path I’m on. Even the ones I didn’t like, I see now that they were good. So, it’s okay to change your mind about what you want to study, whether or not college is for you, the people you spend your time with, literally about anything. All of these things may seem simple, but I wish I knew them before I did. I guess that’s the college journey though, learning and changing. Growing, one might say if they were being a little cheesy… anywho, Live, Laugh, Long Beach Love