David Myers, ‘14, is a freshman at Santa Clara University located in Silicon Valley. Myers is currently majoring in computer science and web design at SCU’s engineering school.
Q: How would you describe Santa Clara?
A: It has a surprisingly very vibrant party scene. Pretty much everyone here is a jock—lots of good-looking people in not a lot of clothing. The nerds hide away in dorms, but they’re there.
Q: Where do people go to party?
A: I’ve heard of a few parties being busted at the dorms. Most of the parties happen really close off campus. It’s easier to get away with stuff there.
Q: What if you had to describe it in two words?
A: Smart and pretty.
Q: Just how smart are the students?
A: You hear horror stories from other freshmen that everyone at their college is so much less intelligent than people from Country Day. I’ve been constantly surprised at how smart people are here.
Q: Is it hard to meet people?
A: I’ve met a few. It’s harder for me to meet new people because I don’t go to the gym.
Q: How do people dress?
A: The bro tanks are very strong here. There’s hardly a single guy you could find that doesn’t look like he could belong in a gym right then and there.
Q: What’s your favorite class?
A: Computer science without a doubt. I love the class. I’ve always loved computers, and Country Day never offered a computer science class. Now I’m able to create a program to accomplish an objective, which is really interesting.
Q: What’s your least favorite class?
A: Probably my English class. For some reason, the reading in that class is harder than the reading in my philosophy class. Plus, my teacher is very pregnant, which is kind of concerning. I worry that my paper is going to be graded differently because of her mood swings.
Q: Do you like the professors?
A: Most of the classes are really good, and the professors are really passionate about teaching.
Q: How’s the food?
A: The food is good. I mean it’s cafeteria food. After several months it will become disgusting, but for right now it’s good.
Q: How was orientation?
A: My orientation was back in July, and it was good for what it was. We had a sleepover night in one of the dorms. The groups were divided up into what dorms we would be staying in. I wouldn’t write home about the orientation, but it was a good way to get to know a small portion of who was in your dorm.
Q: How’s your dorm?
A: It’s the eight-story party dorm, which is the worst if you’re not into having a party every day every night. The dorm across from us is identical, but it has air-conditioning and we don’t. But ours has a great view of the dumpsters.
Q: Are fraternities and sororities big?
A: They aren’t officially supported, so you won’t find the fraternities or sororities funded by the school, but they are present and have a big effect on campus life. But for my little social circle, I haven’t found a big impact in any way.
Q: Planning to rush?
A: Probably not. It’s not really my scene. I don’t need a gym membership.
Q: Are you in any clubs?
A: I’m in an anime club, a board-game club, and this hiking, stargazing and philosophy club that I forgot the name of.
Q: What’s board-game club like?
A: They officially meet up two times a month to have a giant board game.
Q: Any advice for the class of 2015?
A: For the first two weeks it’s almost hard to distinguish college from a summer camp. It felt like I was starting another vacation with some schoolwork. So for those first two weeks, accept that you’re going to make more mistakes than you ever thought possible, but you’ll never make those mistakes again.
Q: What mistakes?
A: I almost snuck into a Jewish dinner on the first day. I’ve locked myself out of my dorm.
Q: A Jewish dinner?
A: On the first day I was chatting with my roommate, and we heard about some free food. We get to the food area, and my friend says, “By the way, this is a Jewish dinner.” My friends snuck into the Jewish dinner, and I said, “I don’t want any matzo balls.” So really I snuck out of sneaking into a Jewish dinner.
Q: And you also locked yourself out?
A: I left my keycard in the dorm, and the keycard is also used to print in the library. In 30 minutes I had to print my paper, get in the dorm, and get to class, which was conveniently at the exact opposite end of campus. I was sweating buckets.
Q: Did you make it?
A: I was two minutes late. It was the most stressful morning I’ve ever had.
Q: How’s your roommate?
A: I don’t really know him very well because he’s never in the room. He’s always with people or at parties. It feels like I have the room to myself sometimes just because he’s not there. He stumbles in at 1 a.m. every night. I can never tell if he’s drunk or if he’s clumsy. He’s a cool dude, though.
Q: Have you been to any sports games?
A: The first night there was a women’s soccer game. I went to that. It was kind of empty, so I left early. There hasn’t been anything big that’s happened yet. The only sport that is really going on right now is soccer.
