Lea Gorny, ’18, is majoring in animal science at Cal Poly but plans to change to English.
Q: How was the transition to college life?
A: It’s a lot more freedom. You end up just staying in the dorms with friends a lot of days; there are so many options of things to do on the weekend — it’s a lot more independence.
It’s a lot different from high school, especially coming from Country Day because of the class size. There are just a lot more people in college classes.
It’s a really different kind of transition compared to other things, and all in all it was a really positive experience for me. I’ve made lots of friends in my dorms and classes, and Cal Poly is a great place to start the transition to more independence.
Q: Do you like college life?
A: Yeah, I love it! It’s really great and so much fun. Living on campus is kind of hard, especially because you have to for the first year, but I think that in years to come, living off campus will be so much fun.
Living on campus isn’t such a bad thing either. I am really close to all of my classes, and I live in a new dorm. Another great thing is getting to know the area; SLO (San Luis Obispo) is so nice and beautiful.
Q: What is your favorite part about Cal Poly?
A: There are a lot of favorite parts, but one would have to be the new group of people here. The people here always bring different perspectives to things and new ideas, and the conversations are especially different because of the community. I experience a lot of different types of conversations that I haven’t experienced before at Country Day because we had such a small community there.
Another thing is the location, which is incredible. It is always so California, with great weather and sunshine, and I am only a couple minutes from the beach and great hikes.
Q: What is your least favorite part?
A: My least favorite part would be early morning classes. Early morning classes suck. Having to get up at six in the morning and hustle all the way across campus really sucks.
Another thing is when you have that one professor that you don’t like very much, or that you don’t understand, or that has a weird teaching style. I have one professor like that, but I am able to always smooth it out during office hours.
Q: What classes are you taking?
A: I am taking Animal Science 101, English 145, Italian 101 and Communications 102, which is public and group speaking.
Q: Which class is your favorite?
A: It is a tie between English 145 and Italian 101. I really enjoy learning a different language, and Italian 101 is just like Spanish 1 at Country Day put together into one quarter instead of a whole year.
I also really enjoyed English because we just finished reading the book “The Things They Carried,” and it was really impactful. We had some great discussions about it, and we have a great teacher who really teaches us how to write and think critically as well.
Q: Which class is your least favorite?
A: Communications, the speech class, is definitely my least favorite class. It is a prerequisite at Cal Poly, so everyone, no matter your major, has to take a communications class sometime in their first year. It is interesting, but at the same time it is just a class where you learn how to perform speeches, and I feel that at Country Day I already had a good foundation for that.
Q: What do you plan to major in?
A: I am at Cal Poly right now for animal science but have already made an inquiry to switch to English. I also plan on minoring in environmental studies. This will hopefully allow me to go to law school and become an environmental lawyer.
Q: Are you participating in any sports/clubs?
A: Yes, I am participating in an intramural soccer team.
Q: How do you like that sport?
A: It is so much fun. We go out Wednesdays at 8:30 (p.m.) and play some soccer. We’re in playoffs, so hopefully we can do pretty well. It is just a group of me and my friends getting together every week and playing soccer. Also, because we are the lowest level, it is just more fun than competitive, so we just go out and have a good time.
Q: Did Country Day prepare you well for college?
A: Yes, absolutely. Country Day is very hard-core, and it’s a college preparatory school. The teachers really help by giving a good amount of work and tell you how much you need to study for things and are always willing to talk you through stuff if needed. Going in at lunch to talk to a teacher is just like office hours at college.
Q: Is there anything that you wish you had known before college started?
A: I just wish that I knew not to be intimidated by all of the new people and the new experiences of college life, but I grew out of that pretty quickly. You just have to put yourself out there, and you will start meeting people and making friends.
Q: Do you have any advice for the class of 2019?
A: Don’t worry about finding the perfect college; college is what you make of it. If you get homesick, there are always other people who feel the same way, but you will always find people to talk and relate to, which will help make your college experience the best it can be.
Five-star or subpar?
Food: ☆☆
School Spirit: ☆☆☆
Location: ☆☆☆☆☆
Clubs: ☆☆☆☆☆
Student/Teacher Interactions: ☆☆☆☆
—By Arjin Claire
