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Maggie Bartony

Miss Skirtich
11 December 2015
English 10: Honors World Literature
University of California, Berkeley
Located in Berkeley California, the University of California Berkeley started accepting
students in 1869. Henry Durant founded the university. He merged the private College of
California in Oakland and the Agricultural, Mining and Mechanical Arts College together and
created Berkeley University. At first, forty students and ten faculty members occupied the school.
Today Berkeley holds 37,581 students and 1620 faculty members. The Schools motto, fiat lux in
Latin, translates to Let there be light. This pushes the school to bring joy into the world.
Berkeleys mission "to contribute even more than California's gold to the glory and happiness
of advancing generations" (Berkeley.edu) motivates the school prepare the students for life after
college. The school started out very small, but now it occupies many students and holds a very
good academic program making it the number one public school to attend. Attending University
of California Berkeley will set on up for post-baccalaureate life because of its superior mass
communication major, its great traditions that teach good morals, and its positive atmosphere
which helps with making unbreakable friendships.
The mass communication major consists of four major courses. In the courses students
learn the history of journalism, about the value of the media, the effect of the media, and the
impact of the public on the media. The professors encourage the students to partake in
anthropology, sociology, political science, linguistics, and journalism in addition to the core
classes. After completing the four main courses, the university pushes you to focus on a certain
branch of mass communication such as, television, radio, or written. The official Berkeley
website states, Our emphasis in this major is analytical and historical; we are largely concerned

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with developing in students the ability to assess the roles and impact of the major mass media on
American life, rather than with developing specific media production skills (Berkeley.edu).The
faculty enter from a variety of disciplines and bring perspectives from their field of study to bear
analysis of the mass media. Critical analysis in Media Studies involves identifying and
evaluating evidence, understanding theoretical concepts and being able to apply them to new
media materials or situations, and examining the relationships between words and images.
Berkeleys mass communication major gives a good background of the media to their students
that will help them in post-baccalaureate life.
The University of Berkeley, California subsists of diverse traditions that teach their
students good morals to help the students in their later life. There are multiple traditions the
students take part in. These traditions range from volunteer work to protecting the Big C clost
to game night. The students care for the Big C in the hills above campus by keeping the C clean
and painted gold. On the night the team plays Stanford, the students protect the big C in the grass
from the other team. This tradition creates a sense of pride within the student body, Owing to its
prominent position, the Big "C" is often the target of pranks by rival Stanford University students
who paint the Big "C" red and also fraternities and sororities who paint it their organization's
colors. One of the Rally Committee's functions is to repaint the Big "C" to its traditional color of
King Alfred Yellow (Wikipedia.org). This tradition taught the students about caring for
possessions. It also taught the students about loyalty and dedication. The students also take part
in multiple service opportunities and projects. Students volunteer at two hundred seventy
community organizations. The students constantly volunteer at public service centers and they
also help teaching middle school through high school. They volunteer at places like the gardens
and the Lawrence Hall of Science. This teaches the students to take nothing for granted and to

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give back to their community. University of California, Berkeleys traditions teach students good
morals that help them succeed in their later life.
Berkeleys positive atmosphere makes it easy at forming friendships that will last a
lifetime. Part of the college experience includes creating close bonds that are unbreakable.
Berkeley gives the students this opportunity, Typically, 95 percent or more of incoming
freshmen at Berkeley choose to live on campus. There are more than 1,000 student organizations,
ranging from political groups to a hang gliding club and everything in between
(rankingsandreviews.com). This quote shows the many opportunities available for meeting new
people. The Sophomore Lawn invites students to make new friends. At the Sophomore Lawn, the
students sit in the grass and form friendships with those all around them. Berkeley encourages its
students to meet new people with different backgrounds. Many friendships form through football
games too. The students unite for football games and cheer on their team. This creates new
friendships and unforgettable memories. The students gather for many events at Berkeley and all
of this brings the student body at Berkeley very close. Berkeley gives the students the
opportunity at creating new friendships.
Berkeleys atmosphere and academics set one up for post- baccalaureate life. According
to a college review, National rankings consistently place Berkeley's undergraduate and graduate
programs among the very best in a variety of disciplines (topuniversities.com). The University
offers the correct classes to help one succeed in a mass communications career. Attending
University of California, Berkeley helps one succeed in post-baccalaureate life because of its
superior mass communication major, its great traditions that teach good morals, and its positive
atmosphere which helps with making unbreakable friendships. The universitys motto, fiat lux,
truly applies for the school.

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Works Cited
"Home | University of California, Berkeley." Home | University of California, Berkeley.
N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
"University of California--Berkeley." University of California--Berkeley. N.p., n.d. Web. 10
Dec. 2015.
"University of California, Berkeley (UCB)." Top Universities. N.p., 06 Dec. 2012. Web. 10
Dec. 2015.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

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