Mustang News April 5, 2022

FROM

CAL POLY TO

FASHION WEEK

Meet the student who doubles as a TikTok influencer APRIL 5, 2022

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IN THIS ISSUE

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LEADERSHIP Tessa Hughes

Editor in Chief, Mustang News

MUSTANG NEWS NEWS

Catherine Allen Editor Chloe Lovejoy Assistant Editor Sierra Parr Amelia Wu Mckenna Rodriguez Benjamin Anderson Cole Pressler Ethan Telles Esther Lo Emmy Burns Allister Loftus Elizabeth Wilson

OPINION

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

Claire Lorimor

Sofia Silvia

Sophie Lincoln

Victoria Bochniak

Creative Director

Radio News Director/ Special Sections Editor

PHOTO

Emilie Johnson Editor Maddie Harrell Jacqueline Espitia Kayla Stuart Shaelyn Ashamalla Lily Tenner Emmy Scherer Fenn Bruns Jenna Pluimer Tiana Reber Eyasu Betwos Andy Sherar Jackson Damhorst

COPY

SPORTS

SOCIAL

ARTS & STUDENT LIFE

MUSTANG NEWS

Ashley Holly

Managing Editor

Nicki Butler Editor Brayden Martinez Elijah Winn Neta Bar Owen Lavine Zoe Denton Rebecca Caraway Diego Sandoval Editor Kyle Har Gabe Arditti Miles Berman Derek Righetti Gwendalyn Garcia Kylie Hastings Nick Bandanza Noah Greenblatt Mia Isobel Craig Matthew Ho

UPFRONT

Cameryn Oakes

Kiana Hunziker Editor Abigail O’Branovich Alisha Nazar Elissa Luce Lauren Emo Olivia Meis Naomi Vanderlip Krithi Sankar Tini Nguyen Emma Robertson Lauryn LaDuc Mari Stusser

DESIGN

Claire Lorimor Creative Director Megan Anderson Kayla Olow Karen Ma Coby Chuang Zara Iqbal

VIDEO

Sofia Silvia Video Manager Brady Caskey Matthew Bornhorst Ava Kershner Ariel Lopez Ellie Spink Angelina Salgado Gabrielle Downey Harrison Kaseff

Grace Woelbing Zara Iqbal Audrey Ryan Elise Bodnar Sarah Chayet Brett Vollrath Ashley Holly Social Media Manager Kiana Meagher Daisy Kuenstler Chloe Chin Talia Toutounjian Jillian Butler Claire Han

DATA

Omar Rashad Editor Stephanie Zappelli Sydney Sherman Alexis Bowlby Ryan Hunter Sophie Moore Sucheen Sundaram Jack Clark Jezzia Smith Roselyn Romero

EN ESPAÑOL Diana Beas José González Mike Esparza Ava Farriday

KCPR

LEADERSHIP

Social Media Manager

Video Manager

Digital Director

KCPR NEWS

Sophie Lincoln KCPR News Director Alexa Kushner Tessa Hughes Ava Kershner Nikki Morgan Lauren Boyer Torstein Rehn Amanda Wernik Violet Macguire Sophie Corbett Jennie Le Nicolas Vinuela Jillian Butler Sofia Silvia Victoria Bochniak Trevor Baumgardner Jordan Triebel Avery Elowitt Maddie Harrell Abigail O’Branovich

KCPR.ORG

Zoe Boyd Managing Editor Eden Baker Assistant Editor Abigail O’Branovich Addie Woltkamp Cayley O’Brien Emily Tobiason Emma Hughes Michelle Mede Ashley Oakes Emily Brower Alina Jafri Kaelyn Bremer Lily Tenner Navie Bower

MMG BUSINESS ADVERTISING & PR

Brynna Barton Advertising Manager Carley Epple Marketing/PR &

Operations Director Ryan Manseau Small Team Manager Ellie Auerbach Small Team Manager

Nicolette Laventure Ashley Pagsibigan Caitlin Willard Matt Daugbjerg Samuel Hubbard Yuka Shindo

Sheri Donahue Marketing Director Nicole Herhusky Art Director Sophie Lincoln Radio News Director Zoe Boyd Managing Editor Liv Collom Programming/Music

ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

DISC JOCKEYS

ADVISERS Jon Schlitt General Manager Pat Howe Adviser Brady Teufel Adviser Patti Piburn Adviser

Director

Zoe Boyd Tessa Hughes Liv Collom Kyle Himmelein Jaxon Silva Melissa Melton

Sheri Donahue KCPR Specialist Elaine Do Ad Design Manager Katherine Olah Ad Designer Cindy Nguyen Ad Designer

Cal Poly is in tiłhini, the Place of the Full Moon. We gratefully acknowledge, respect, and thank yak tityu tityu yak tiłhini, Northern Chumash Tribe of San Luis Obispo County and Region in whose homelands we are guests.

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CAL POLY NO LONGER REQUIRES SAT OR ACT TESTING FOR ADMISSIONS STORY BY Sierra Parr DESIGNED BY Coby Chuang

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DIVR 360: BRINGING SCIENTIFIC SCUBA DIVING INTO THE CLASSROOM STORY BY Gabrielle Downey DESIGNED BY Coby Chuang

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FROM FASHION WEEK TO CAL POLY: MEET THE STUDENT WHO DOUBLES AS A TIKTOK INFLUENCER

STORY BY Krithi Sankar DESIGNED BY Megan Anderson

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A STUDENT’S GUIDE TO THE UNDERSTATED SPOTS ON CAMPUS

STORY BY Abigail O’Branovich DESIGNED BY Kayla Olow

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THE DATING GAME BROUGHT THIS COUPLE TOGETHER. NOW THEY ARE SEARCHING FOR THE ORIGINAL TAPE STORY BY Ari Lopez DESIGNED BY Coby Chuang

2022

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4

MEET THE SIERRA MADRE DORM DOG

NEWS

MUSTANG NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

L DEL RIO | COURTESY L Del Rio and her emotional support dog Arlo

BY ELIZABETH WILSON

Sierra Madre Residence Hall not only hosts students, but also a dorm dog — Arlo. Cal Poly, meet Arlo.

Arlo is a Chihuahua, German Shepherd and Corgi mix, and his effect on others is described as “phenomenal” by his owner, L Del Rio. Animal science freshman Del Rio adopted Arlo in December and registered him as an emotional support animal. After getting the required shots for him, Arlo began living with her. Having a dog on campus with her has made the college transition easier, she said.

Del Rio used to live in the North Mountain Residence Hall, but moved off campus to live with her aunt. While Del Rio does not live on campus anymore, she still had to go through campus requirements in order to register him. Del Rio and Arlo frequent the third floor of Sierra Madre where Arlo interacts with other students. Del Rio and Arlo go everywhere together.

Under Cal Poly policy, pets are not permitted on campus except in cases that the pets are registered service animals. The Disability Resource Center and University Housing determine the eligibility of on-campus housing for students seeking to house service animals.

For Del Rio, having Arlo on campus has made her social life much easier, and for other students living in Sierra Madre Tower 1, residents have said the community in the building has increased.

“I know around here we all have had stressful days and we start playing with Arlo. … he’s really doing his job as an emotional support animal.

It’s really cool,” Gabby Silva, landscape architecture freshman, said.

Del Rio said she hopes that Arlo can make a difference for students, as he has for her and dealing with her anxiety.

“We all run towards him and then we just like start talking to each other,” Silva said, who has taken care of Arlo on a few occasions.Another res-

I know around here we all have had stressful days and we start playing with Arlo...he’s really doing his job as an emotional support animal. It’s really cool.

GABBY SILVA Landscape architecture freshman

ident, Nathan Fadick, has taken care of Arlo as well and sees him when Arlo and Del Rio visit. “[Arlo is] oftentimes just wandering around on our floor and sometimes, if I leave my door open, he’ll just wander in and just kind of lay on the rug,” landscape architecture

freshman Fadick said.

He said that one time he went up to the third floor and some people linked his and Arlo’s appearance together.

“Some people, they’re like, ‘oh you look like Shaggy from Scooby Doo, go find Scooby!”, Fadick said.

Arlo goes everywhere with Del Rio — except for work, which is when others get involved in watching him.

“We have this little floor thing

where whoever takes care of Arlo when I go to work or need someone to take care of them, they get points and whoever has the most, wins [and] gets a pizza party,” Del Rio said.

For Arlo, Del Rio created the account @dormdog_arlo in January to “share the love of him,” as she said she hopes that Arlo can make a difference for others as he has made for her.

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CAL POLY NO LONGER REQUIRES SAT OR ACT TESTING FOR ADMISSIONS

BY SIERRA PARR

On March 22, the CSU Board of Trustees voted unanimously to eliminate SAT and ACT standardized testing from the undergraduate admissions process for all 23 campuses.

The move would “level the playing field” for students from all backgrounds, allowing greater access to a high-quality college degree, according to Acting Chancellor Steve Relyea.

“In essence, we are eliminating our reliance on a high-stress, high-stakes test that has shown negligible benefit and providing our applicants with greater opportunities to demonstrate their drive, talents and potential for college success,” Relyea said in a CSU news release.

The use of standardized tests in the admissions process has been suspended for two academic years due to hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic. However,

spokesperson Matt Lazier, the scores will not be used in Cal Poly’s admissions process, even if they’re submitted.

This last year’s class of 2021 that also didn’t have to take the SAT are thriving in college

KERRY INGLES San Luis Obispo High School guidance counselor

“If a student takes a test, we encourage them to submit their scores to be used for course placement purposes,” Lazier said in an email to Mustang News.

Without the use of standardized test scores, Cal Poly’s comprehensive admissions review gives the most weight to a student’s high school courses and GPA. Unlike the University of California system, CSUs do not require a written statement when applying.

However, participation in extracurricular activities and non-cognitive factors are also considered.

“I think this year is a great example of how hard it’s going to be to get into UCs and CSUs without testing,” Andersson said. “I think it’s just gonna shift how we are applying to schools. Instead of trying to fill that with a test score, people will start looking to internships and extracurriculars and that’s gonna make everything a lot more competitive.”

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

Listen to how Cal Poly students reacted to the listed mask mandate

of change involved.”

San Luis Obispo High School guidance counselor Kerry Ingles said the changes she has seen in the admissions process in the past two years have only been positive.

“I love that the data is coming out demonstrating that these tests weren’t the best indicator for college readiness,” Ingles said. “This last year’s class of 2021 that also didn’t have to take the SAT are thriving in college.”

Ingles said that while doing away with the requirement does release some of the pressure, there is still a stigma among students and their families that choosing not to take a standardized test can negatively affect their chances of admission.

“There’s still the underlying culture here and a lot of our students are still taking the test,” she said. “They seem to be relieved, but I don’t know yet if they fully believe it.”

According to university

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ongoing discussions concerning the role of standardized testing in admissions eligibility had taken place prior to the suspension.

Carlsbad High School junior Cate Andersson said that she’s still undecided on whether or not she will be taking the SAT. “I’ve gone into high school with strong academics but not really being able to perform at high stakes tests,” Andersson said. “So it’s definitely a little bit of a relief to know that it’s something I don’t have to worry about at all.”

The decision for permanent discontinuation comes at the recommendation of the CSU’s Admissions Advisory Council, which includes students, administrators and faculty.

“Why should three, four hours of an ACT or SAT show anyone how good I’m gonna be,” Andersson said.

“From what I know of college, it’s a lot more than just school — it’s being able to live on your own, there’s a lot

NEWS

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TORN BETWEEN TWO WORLDS: WHAT IT IS LIKE BEING A PARENT AND A FULL-TIME STUDENT AT CAL POLY

BY NAOMI VANDERLIP

ARTS & STUDENT LIFE

MUSTANG NEWS

TUESDAY,APRIL 5, 2022

English junior Holley Hochman wakes up as the sun rises at 5:40 a.m. but before she can prepare for her own day as a student, she must first prepare for her own kids.

She gets ready and makes lunches for her four children between the ages of 5 and 13. They all shuffle into the car and the family makes four stops, one for each school.

Around 8 a.m., she starts the drive from Paso Robles to Cal Poly. The rest of her day includes attending classes, picking up her children from school or after-school activities, dinner, bathtime and, finally, storytime. She gets around to her homework in the late hours of the night and is ready for bed at 11 p.m. — ready to start the cycle all over again when she wakes up.

I am just there to do my classes and then I leave and I have a whole other day full of activities to do. I would love to participate, but my life doesn’t allow for that.

TARA HENDRICKS Child develoment senior

This routine may seem unusual to the typical Cal Poly student, however, this is everyday life for those with children, Hochman said. Now with the reintroduction of in-person classes,

TAR A HENDRICKS | COURTESY Family photo from left to right, includes Tara Hendricks’s husband, Jacob, herself, and their two sons, Eli and Gabriel.

student parents have to juggle their education and home life, while reconciling their dual identities.

Child development senior Tara Hendricks has two sons, one 15-yearold and one 11-year-old.

She prefers having her classes scheduled close to one another or virtually to allow more flexibility and time with her kids. Yet, this limits her ability to participate in the typical college life: studying at the library, working out at the Recreational Center or attending club meetings, she said.

“I’m just there to do my classes and

then I leave and I have a whole other day full of activities to do,” Hendricks said. “I would love to participate, but my life doesn’t allow for that.”

Maintaining a sense of structure was essential for Hendricks and her family, especially during the height of the pandemic and now with her school schedule.

“I had each of my kids create a plan for themselves, so that they stayed on track, because if they didn’t have things to do, I wouldn’t have been able to get anything done myself,” she said.

Although given her unique situa-

tion, Hendricks said she feels no need to shy away from her parental status.

“I don’t hide anything about my identity. I tell people from the get go [that] I have kids. It’s such a part of who I am,” Hendricks said. “There’s no way I could hide it and people have been receptive.”

Hendricks said being around college-age students gives her an intimate perspective others her age might miss out on.

“It gives me this insight into [their life], ‘Okay, this is what [my son’s] experience might be like [and] that this [is what this] age group worries about

or what they’re concerned with’,” she said.

Student parents deal with extra considerations weighing on their mind, like higher-education graduate student Maya Valree, who has a 16-month old daughter.

Valree said she lacks focus since she is a mom, particularly at school.

“I always feel I’m on that time constraint. [When I get] her from the Children’s Center, I’m like, ‘Okay, it’s at this time. I need to walk to my car,’” she said. “I’m always looking at the clock.”

Some changes that Valree thinks

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MAYA VALREE | COURTESY Maya Valree and daughter, Gianna, at Dinosaur Caves.

Vasquez mainly opts for a Zoom option for her classes due to being high risk and the recent closure of her child’s daycare, but this decision requires making sacrifices.

“Do I go to class when I know I’m going to get a better grade or do I just protect myself?” Vasquez said. “My body is definitely feeling the stress of not being able to fully be there and not getting the material completely because of it.”

Vasquez said she would like to see more support for the student parent community with a unified support group, a designated place to study that students can bring their children to and financial support as well.

“If we don’t have those things for our family, then that means we have

ARTS &STUDENT LIFE

institution to one: to mitigate [discriminatory practices when looking for housing] from ever happening by providing housing,” Valree said. “I also feel I’ve incurred unnecessary debt too because I’m going to have to take out a loan [to pay for off-campus housing].”

Juggling the pandemic and school presented unique and challenging situations for many, including sociology senior Esme Vasquez. She has four kids, ranging from three to 22-years-old.

“I would constantly tell my toddlers to be quiet. ‘Mommy’s not available right now,’” Vasquez said. “It was heartbreaking to see their faces — ‘how can you tell me you can’t be with me when I see clearly you’re here?’”

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

could aid student parents, like herself, would be extending The Children’s Center hours. Many graduate students who have night classes are forced to leave class early since it closes at 5:30 p.m. and parking by the center closes. Valree said not having to undergo the walk from the commuter lot would be ideal.

Valree said she dealt with discriminatory practices when looking for housing in San Luis Obispo being a black woman. The landlords she connected with did not look at her credit and said an apartment was no longer available, although it was still listed.

After this experience, Valree said Cal Poly should also prioritize family housing on campus.

“The responsibility rests on [the]

“We were able to get a different classroom and then my other class got a different classroom and I just don’t touch anything [and sanitize myself when I get home],” Hochman said.

“That was the biggest determination: if I could keep her safe.”

Coming to Cal Poly initially presented culture shock for Hochman, who came from living on a farm in Paso Robles to a campus that looks like “a little city,” but she said she now loves the experience.

“I do love the change of pace and I love being surrounded by people who want to better their lives and are like-minded. My brain has always really starved for educational and stimulating conversation and I get my fill of that here,” Hochman said.

Her decision to attend Cal Poly was ultimately one of her own ambitions, but she always orients her studies around her children.

“I’m already very solid. I make really good money. I own a home,” Hochman said. “I don’t need to do this, but I want to do this because I’m bored and because I want to set a good example for my kids.

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MAYA VALREE | COURTESY Maya Valree and her partner Francisco with their daughter Gianna at their first Thanksgiving celebration.

to take on more hours at work, which takes away from education, which makes our long term educational goal extended because we can’t take the classes we need [or we do badly and have to retake a course],” Vasquez said.

Vasquez said she feels disconnected from the rest of the student body — whether it’s a weird look because of her older age, no one to talk to in class or not knowing where to go between classes.

“We [student parents] have to prove ourselves that much harder to show them we are here because we deserve to be here,” she said. “It’s been very hard to be there and feel like sometimes when you need services, you don’t know where to look, and you feel alone.”

Hochman said a major concern was more opportunity for potential exposure to COVID-19 — one that almost made her drop out of Cal Poly.

“In week three, when we went back in person, I was like, ‘I can’t do this.

I am scared of COVID,’ because my daughter is immunocompromised, so why would I infect her or affect her or endanger her because of my own ambition?” she said.

Yet, through talking to the English department, Hochman was accommodated and felt safe enough to continue.

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DiVR 360 D i VR DiVR 360

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MUSTANG NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

BY GABRIELLE DOWNEY

Most people won’t get to experience the vastness of life under the ocean.

They won’t get to experience pulling on a wetsuit so thick they can’t bend their arms just to stay warm in the freezing pacific. They won’t get to feel how heavy an oxygen tank is on their back nor the attached buoyancy control device, which keeps them from sinking straight to the sandy floor.

They won’t get on a boat, review their safety plan with a diving buddy, and find a spot off the coast to anchor down. They won’t get to dive down under the water while breathing through a mask to see the coral reefs, kelp forests and rocks and sand that litter the ocean floor. They won’t get to see the sea urchins attached to the rocks or see any fish swim by them.

Scuba diving is difficult; it takes extensive training, has detailed safety measures, and is only really available to people who live near or have the means to travel to the coast.

Scientific diving requires an even higher level of certification than just normal vacation scuba diving. For the majority of people, science and learning takes place solely on land.

However, individuals in Cal Poly’s marine science program are looking to change the way people learn about marine life and the ocean. They want to bring the ocean into the classroom and teach young students how to scientific scuba dive.

DiVR 360 is a project started by Cal Poly associate professor Crow White. The project is a part of White’s larger marine science program called Dive Beneath the Surface.

Dive Beneath the Surface focuses on marine science outreach and education in elementary, middle and high schools.

“The DiVR 360 project is an effort for my lab to do more than just scientific research,” White said. “[It will] also inspire the next generation of people to love the oceans and be interested in being scientists themselves.”

Bringing Scientific Scuba Diving into the Classroom

MEG BEYMER | COURTESY Lemon sea slug and sea urchins underwater.

Using virtual reality, the project focuses on teaching middle school students how marine scientists conduct experiments underwater.

Students will be able to experience what scientific scuba diving is like and how scientists learn about the ocean through interactive videos on their phones or computers.

The process to create the virtual reality science experiment videos and the lesson plan for the classroom required an intense amount of work from White and his team.

White oversaw and managed the project, and biological sciences senior Meg Beymer, Cal Poly alum Maddie Verburg and biochemistry senior Landon Keller all worked on the day-to-day operations of this project.

“I’m really interested in science, science communication, marine science and education.” Keller said.

“So [White’s project is] a perfect intersection of all that, so it sounds like a great opportunity.”

Keller, Beymer and Verburg worked with computer engineering students and liberal studies students to develop the lesson plan and decide which experiments to conduct.

Last summer the three students and White dove in Montana De Oro and Avila Beach to create the 360 virtual reality videos that will be used in the classroom.

Each student had to be certified in scientific diving in order to work on this project and Beymer, Keller and Verburg were all certified in Cal Poly’s scuba diving class. The class — Scientific Diving Course (MSCI 410) ­— is held over the summer and only admits eight students a year.

“I really wanted to scuba dive,” Beymer said. “This is a lab that does that and I’m also really interested in

marine science outreach. I used to volunteer at the aquarium a lot and it’s just incredibly fun.”

The DiVR 360 project will also inspire the next generation of people to love the oceans and be interested in being scientists themselves.

CROW WHITE Cal Poly associate professor

In order to film the videos, the divers used a 360 degree camera that filmed in all directions underwater.

It is made up of three GoPro-like cameras placed in big clear domes and it’s attached to a long stick, so the divers wouldn’t accidentally film themselves. Then they took the camera scuba diving in several different places. They filmed under the Cal Poly pier and in Corallina Cove in Montana de Oro. Beymer and White both said the camera was a challenge to work with.

Before the camera could be taken underwater, several steps needed to be taken to keep the camera safe.

The camera had to be housed in a waterproof casing; any slight issue with that casing could cause major problems.

“If you seal the camera and you have just one human hair that gets in the O-ring on the seal, that could

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MEG BEYMER | COURTESY Meg Beymer holding the 360 camera underwater.

marine scientists do underwater.

With the exploratory video on the pier, they’ll learn to count the organisms — sea stars, sea urchins and anemones — and compare those amounts to the depth of the pier.

“They’ll basically learn how to be scientists,” Beymer Said. “They have to make their own hypotheses and then they explore the underwater environment. They actually collect the data with us,” Beymer said.

The class will then be split into two groups – one group will observe wildlife in the first environment and the other will do the same in the second environment. Afterward, they will share their data and conclusions with each other.

MEG BEYMER Biological sciences senior

never look at, and yet, they’re right there,” White said.

Once the team has worked out the issues, they said they hope to implement it in schools across the U.S. and to students who have never seen the ocean before.

“People who are growing up inland and people who are not as well off, not as privileged, might not have access to as many resources for going scuba diving,” White said. “So this is a way for them to start to dip their toe in the water and see what it’s actually like scuba diving.”

While the DiVR 360 project started on the Central Coast, White has plans to bring the project to ocean environments around the world. He said he is planning to implement the DiVR 360 project in Antarctica to

film the clear waters under the ice for students to view back here.

The implementation of the project in Antarctica is in collaboration with Cal Poly associate professor Heather Liwanag who studies seals. They are planning on taking it to Antarctica in about three years.

But for now, students will be learning about the ocean close to home.

The team said that generating an appreciation for the ocean is important in its protection.

“I think environmentalism in general is pretty important. I think that starts with enthusiasm about the environment, whether that’s appreciation or recognition of its importance to our functions,” Keller said.

“I think that starts back when you’re a kid.”

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“It was really mportant to me to teach them science communication.” Beymer said. “They’re learning not only from doing their own data, but also learning how to present and how to learn from each other.”

L ANDON KELLER | COURTESY 360 Camera on the dive platform at Cal Poly Pier.

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

They’re learning not only from doing their own data, but also learning how to present and how to learn from each other.

Virtual reality lessons are not typically used to teach students about science in a classroom, but since students can’t be brought underwater, this project aims to change the way they learn science.

“I think it’s important just to spur interest in science and in marine science and the environment — Just get kids excited about doing something school related,” Keller said.

“Because I think it’s a little more interesting than some of your run-ofthe-mill lectures.”

The DiVR 360 project will teach the general middle school science curriculum and apply those concepts to marine science, so students can gain an understanding of the marine environment while still gaining a well-rounded science education. Virtual reality opens a whole new world for learning how to experiment.

“I think that education is really important and I just remember that when I was in middle school and high school, a lot of the labs are very cut and dry,” Beymer said. “It was just really important to me for this project to change that up a little bit and teach them how real science actually works.”

In addition to giving young students more tools to learn science concepts, the divers said they hope to inspire a love of the ocean and marine life in the next generation of students.

“We would love for the students to get out of this an appreciation for the ocean in general and an appreciation for the fact that there is a host of diversity and crazy looking organisms underneath the surface of the water that most of us never get to see,

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create a leak and then the camera takes in water and that ruins the lenses and the cameras inside,” White said.

The casing also needed to be tested for pressure so that it didn’t break while in the ocean. Underwater, the divers needed to be careful to not scratch the camera with their scuba gear or by knocking it against the rocks and reefs underwater.

“It requires a lot of diligence and that’s something that the students working on this project have learned about and they’re outstanding with that,” White said.

The divers filmed three videos: one exploratory video and two science experiment videos.

The divers filmed at the Cal Poly pier in Avila for the exploratory video.

In the video, they point out specific animals living in that habitat, like big purple sea stars and sea urchins that live on the pier pilings.

They also went to Corallina Cove to film the two science experiment videos. They filmed two different environments underwater — a rocky habitat with visible wildlife and a sandy habitat with no visible life on top of the sand. They also laid down a 100-meter measuring tape on the seafloor and filmed along it, showing the comparisons between each spot.

The DiVR 360 team plans to test the project in a Laguna Middle School seventh grade classroom in the spring. The idea is that seventh grade teacher Lesley Salter will teach her students the two-day lesson plan and provide the team with feedback on what did and did not work.

The divers hope students will be able to get a sense of what actual

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FROM

CAL POLY TO FASHION WEEK MEET THE STUDENT WHO DOUBLES AS A TIKTOK INFLUENCER

ARTS & STUDENT LIFE

MUSTANG NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

JACKIE ESPITIA | MUSTANG NEWS

BY KRITHI SANKAR

In the backdrop of a black box theater, models catwalk in luxe white, cream and black clothing and contrasting shining gold plated body armor and jewelry. Renowned athletes like Neymar Junior and Serena Williams and “Riverdale” actor Charles Melton were in attendance for the Balmain Autumn/Winter runway show at Paris Fashion Week on March 2.

Among those in the crowd was Tanya Ravichandran, a Cal Poly graphic communication junior minoring in computer science.

“I’ve been doing this for such a long time,” Ravichandran said. “It’s kind of where I’m meant to be.”

Ravichandran is a full-time social media influencer with 1.1 million followers on TikTok. Her passion for fashion is 10 years in the making — something she said she was born to do.

Ravichandran’s journey didn’t start

with fashion, however. Her first love was actually photography. When she was 11 years old, she said she was inspired by her father’s hobby of extensive photography sessions during their family’s annual vacations.

The first camera she ever used was a DSLR borrowed from her father, which fully piqued young Ravichandran’s interest. Ravichandran began doing photo shoots of herself and her friends while familiarizing herself with applications such as Instagram and Photoshop.

Ravichandran said her inspiration to become a professional photographer stemmed from a dark place.

She faced severe bullying from a young age up until the end of her first year of college, primarily due to her weight and having a “tomboyish” sense of fashion.

“I was the bigger kid growing up, so I was bullied for that my whole life,” Ravichandran said. “I never had friends, but it was also a benefit because I would sit in the locker room

during lunch in high school and call modeling agencies in New York.”

So I ask myself, how can I go against the industry I once wanted to conform with?

TANYA RAVICHANDRAN Fashion influencer and graphic communications major

Though she was an outcast at school, Ravichandran was able to channel her love for fashion and beauty to dedicate herself fully to her craft. Ravichandran used most of her

free time outside of school to coordinate photo shoots with local Bay Area models, setting up and designing shoot locations and subsequently posting her work.

Eventually she worked her way up to shooting for brands like Princess Polly and Aéropostale. Ravichandran first approached the PacSun Director of Photography via direct message and spammed his likes in an effort to gain his attention. It eventually paid off with an offer.

For the next four years, she was a regular photographer for PacSun and her pictures spanned their storefront and promotional emails. Ravichandran gained a larger following after working for the brand. She was able to secure 10,000 followers on her photography Instagram at the time, which has since tripled to nearly 30,000.

“I ask myself, how can I go against the industry I once wanted to conform with?” fashion influencer and graphic

communication junior Tanya Ravichandran Ravichandran completed multiple related trips in the meantime, like shooting the senior final collection at the Parsons School of Fashion or traveling halfway across the world to Chile for a high school trip. However, Ravichandran took a deliberate break from photography during her senior year of high school to focus on college applications.

Ravichandran ultimately decided on Cal Poly because of the uncertainty she had for her future aspirations; with her parents’ guidance, she was assured to attend an in-state, public school that is known to have a considerable return on investment.

Ravichandran re-entered the scene towards the start of the pandemic. It was at the end of her first year at Cal Poly, in 2020, that she created her TikTok account.

After posting photos from some of her past photo shoots on the app, one photography video of Tanya’s

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Scan for a behind the scenes look at one of Tanya’s photoshoots

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

She now works every day with her manager to reach out to brands she clicks with via Instagram.

While Ravichandran said she already feels like an outsider in the industry due to being a woman of color, she still pushes to work with brands that align with her personal beliefs. Her priority is highlighting small, sustainable brands usually owned by designers of color. Ravichandran will buy their pieces, post in their clothing for Instagram and tag their account in her outfit looks.

All her work right now is leading up to her most ambitious goal yet: to start a company that combines her interests in both technology and fashion. Ravichandran is currently in the patenting process for it so she’s well on her way to hitting yet another milestone.

MUSTANG NEWS

ARTS & STUDENT LIFE

went viral on April 11, 2020.

That video served as the catalyst for her to consistently post on social media and she began posting regular fashion content soon afterwards.

Ravichandran began to receive PR from huge clothing brands and amassed a cult following that she had never imagined.

“I didn’t start my account with the intention of being an influencer,” Ravichandran said. “I posted stuff that I liked and it seems like other people were attracted to it too.”

A little over a year after posting fashion videos, Ravichandran hit 1 million followers on June 23.

Ravichandran also branched out to posting on Instagram in January 2020 — and her account currently has 358,000 followers.

She cultivated her own personal digital brand because she refused to seek external validation from companies or social media followers alike, she said.

“A lot of these brands are looking for cookie-cutter skinny white girls.

That’s the hard reality of it and I’ll be very honest,” Ravichandran said. “So I ask myself, how can I go against the industry I once wanted to conform with?”

Ravichandran uses her massive platform to advocate for issues that cares about such as supporting sustainable fashion designers and reducing clothing consumption.

Ravichandran eventually got noticed by an agency and received representation through Evolve Models.

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STUDENT’S GUIDE TO THE

UNDERSTATED SPOTS ON CAMPUS

BY ABIGAIL O’BRANOVICH

Far out, in the undiscovered, cobweb covered corners of Cal Poly, lies treasures yet to be hit by the sunlight.

While most of us attend campus here for four years, there are many spots we have yet to discover. We will leave here never even cracking the surface.

Without further ado... here is your guide to the treasure trove the Cal Poly Campus has to offer.

ARTS & STUDENT LIFE

MUSTANG NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

LEANING PINE ARBORETUM Where: Environmental Horticultural Science unit. Part of the Horticulture Unit in building 48.

When: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except academic holidays.

No admission fee.

According to the Horticulture and Crop Sciences website, the Leaning Pine Arboretum is a collection of “class projects, laboratory exercises, and senior projects” that have evolved over the past half century to give the visitor a memorable experience.

This hidden gem is located on the Cal Poly campus, occupying five acres of land overlooking the palatial mountain peaks. It has a variety of vegetation from the world’s five Mediterranean climate regions: Australia, California, Chile, the Mediterranean Basin and South Africa. Each climate region is granted its own garden, featuring plants local to that area. The Leaning Pine Arboretum also has the Formal Garden, Primitive Garden and Palm and Aloe Garden available to visitors.

FENN BRUNS | MUSTANG NEWS

CAL POLY CREAMERY Where: The Eugene and Rachel Boone Dairy Science Complex on Mount Bishop Road in builing 18.

When: Students can make an appointment using the online form to pick up their dairy of choice.

The Cal Poly Creamery has been in business since 1903. All of their dairy products are “farmstead,” meaning they source from their own cows in a local pasture across the street from the creamery.

You may have seen their products before at a booth during Thursday night Farmer’s Market. They are known to sell their cheeses and ice cream not only downtown, but also in select San Luis Obispo markets and in nearby towns.

The Cal Poly Creamery’s products are available for pickup and shipping, within California and the U.S. Check the website for more details.

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POLY PLANT SHOP Where: Located at the top of Via Carta road in building 48.

When: The Poly Plant Shop is currently closed for the season. However, they are scheduling appointments to visit in–person through their website.

The Poly Plant Shop is a sanctuary of cut flowers, landscape and interior plants. The Plant Shop gives students the opportunity to work retail in the full-service plant shop, gaining hands-on experience of garden center management and operations.

The shop offers a variety of botanicals: ranging from floral arrangements, bouquets, wearables, plants for your room and soil for composting.

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

SCAN TO VOTE FOR WHICH OF THESE IS YOUR FAVORITE SPOT ON CAMPUS

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ARTS & STUDENT LIFE

CAL POLY OBSERVATORY Where: Between wings D and E of building 52. On the Cal Poly map, it is located under building number 52-B. When: The Cal Poly Observatory is currently closed for public viewing until further notice due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The Cal Poly observatory is a great way to become one with your universe. Take the chance to look up at the stars right from your room with their very own “All Sky Cam,” a real-time look at the sky from the observatory’s telescope.

The hours of the observatory are set specifically for each quarter. In the past, the observatory has held events for the solar eclipses and local fundraisers.

REMEMBRANCE POND Where: O’Neil Green, by the Orfalea College of Business.

Originally created in the 1930s, the Remembrance Pond is a place of serenity. The pond was dedicated as a memorial to Ted Howes, the Ornamental Horticulture Department head and instructor. There is even a plaque on the backside of the pond in his honor.

With a wall of rocks surrounding the backside, it creates a beautiful backdrop for the koi fish that live in the pond. In addition, the pond also has plants and a waterfall, one of the only working water features on campus (the other being the fountain in the Rose Garden).

The Remembrance Pond provides a quiet getaway to study and hide away from the stress of school.

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ACRO-YOGA MAKES ITS WAY TO DEXTER LAWN

BY CAYLEY O’BRIEN

KCPR

MUSTANG NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

Dexter Lawn is commonly known amongst students to be a central part of Cal Poly’s campus and student life.

Here, students can be spotted hurrying to class, fundraising at their club booths, napping in the sunlight or taking time to hang out with friends during a busy school day.

However, among this hustle and bustle of college life, one group of people stand out among the rest: the acro yogis.

Being outside is really special because you are interacting with the elements of the wind, the sun, the Earth [and] the grass, [so] the noise is not distracting

VERONICA BLISS San Luis Obispo local

Every Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m.-12 p.m., a large group gathers in the center of the lawn to meditate, talk about the universe and practice acro yoga.

Acro yoga is a practice that combines acrobatics with yoga. It is usually done with a partner — one person being the “base” on the ground and one being the “flyer” above. The base uses their arms and legs to support the flyer as they twist, contort and stretch mid-air.

Acro is a unique style of yoga and

has a wide range of movements that traditional practices do not include, such as lifts.

Interdisciplinary studies junior Caedmon Krabilll has been practicing acro for over a year and a half and participates on Dexter every week.

“There is a lot of stuff in acro that you cannot do in a normal flow just because you are being propped up by another human body,” Krabill said. “I enjoy the therapeutic aspects of it.”

Many yogis begin with more traditional styles of yoga, such as Hatha, Bikram, Vinyasa or Kundalini, before beginning to practice acro.

Krabill said he recognizes the benefits of having experience in other types of yoga but does not think that one necessarily needs a background or history with yoga to try basic moves in acro.

“You do not need a foundation to start acro, but it definitely helps,” Krabill said. “I would say at least one person in the equation needs to have some sort of practice.”

According to Cal Poly yoga instructor Liz Crosby, the practice is designed to fit all people — regardless of age, size, flexibility or skill level — and just like other styles of yoga, it is designed to improve physical, mental and spiritual health.

“You would not think it, but it is not just the physical body. There is so much more,” Crosby said. “Once you learn how to work with each other, there is so much trust that is engendered into that relationship.”

Although yoga is traditionally an individual and peaceful practice, Crosby said that the commotion of Dexter Lawn does not interfere.

“I do not mind being in a big group of people,” Crosby said. “Because I feel like all these people, even if they do not attempt it, walk by, see it and their interest is piqued.”

Krabill said they feel similarly.

“I would say [that the chaos] enhances it,” Krabill said. “I was kind

of hesitant at first, but then I came out here and realized we all have a human body. It should not affect anything.”

San Luis Obispo local Veronica Bliss said that being amidst the chaos is helpful.

“Being outside is really special because you are interacting with the elements of the wind, the sun, the Earth [and] the grass, [so] the noise is not distracting,” Bliss said. “It just contributes to the general heightened vibration of the space.”

The Dexter group encourages students to come out and try acro yoga because of the benefits it can provide.

“Learning how to support yourself in your gridlines is going to be absolutely quintessential and it can be a comfortable and even blissful experience,” Crosby said. “Get out, explore and it’s completely free. So why not?”

CAYLEY O’BRIEN | KCPR Caedmon Krabil and Liz Crosby perform a shoulder lift.

LILY TENNER | KCPR Liz Crosby spots Veronica Bliss in a complex yoga pose.

CAL POLY RODEO CELEBRATES ITS 80TH YEAR

BY ALYSON SMITH

The top collegiate rodeo athletes in the west coast will compete at the 80th annual Poly Royal Rodeo Finals, held at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 at the on-campus Cotton Rosser Rodeo Complex.

Participants will compete for championship titles in several events, including barrel racing, team, breakaway and tie-down roping, saddle bronc, bareback and bull riding, and steer wrestling.

The event will also feature a concert by country music duo Thompson Square.

Agriculture senior and rodeo team member

Manu Lataste, the French Bull Jumper, flipping over a bull at the 79th Poly Royal Rodeo.

The Poly Royal Rodeo features multiple events, including bull riding.

Grand Ave performing at the 79th Poly Royal Rodeo.

NEWS

The Poly Royal Rodeo is one of the largest on-campus attractions during Cal Poly’s Open House, according to a press release from Cal Poly News.

This year’s rodeo will be the first since the pandemic began in 2020, the last rodeo being hosted in 2019.

The first Poly Royal Rodeo was held at the same on-campus rodeo complex in 1942. The event has been held at Spanos Stadium in recent years, but will return to its original location while the stadium is closed

Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band performing April 12, 2019 at the 79th Poly Royal Rodeo.

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

T YREE COCHRANE

DIEGO RIVER A | MUSTANG NEWS Luke Dolan flying through the air.

MUSTANG NEWS

The stadium is amazing and loud and super fun, but there’s nothing better than getting back to our start at the rodeo grounds

for turf replacement.

“It’s exciting to be back at the practice arena and get a super personal feel with the crowds,” Cal Poly rodeo team member and agriculture senior Tyree Cochrane said. “The stadium is amazing and loud and super fun, but there’s nothing better than getting back to our start at the rodeo grounds.”

The first round of competition will take place Friday, April 8, also at the on-campus rodeo complex.

Attendance for the first round of competition will be limited, but the finals are open to the public, with tickets on sale now.

ASI will host an additional student night, also at the rodeo complex, at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, with gates opening at 4:30 p.m.

The Cal Poly rodeo team also worked with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to ensure 12-year-old Maddie Owens of Winton, California could participate in the competition.

She will make an appearance at the Poly Royal as a barrel racer and a special guest of Cal Poly.

Maddie was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, an aggressive form of bone cancer, at age 10. She has since undergone treatment and surgery, and is now preparing for the Poly Royal.

Maddie met the Cal Poly rodeo team in early February for her first training session. She also met Oscar, the horse she will be competing with at the Poly Royal.

Maddie will return to Cal Poly in March, when she and Oscar will be running their first competition together at the Cal Poly rodeo team’s weekly barrel racing jackpot series.

“We had an absolute blast with Maddie,” Sierra Spratt, a Cal Poly rodeo team member and an agricultural education graduate student, said. “At the end of the trip, she gave us yellow bracelets that said ‘#TeamMaddie, Ewing Sarcoma sucks and Jesus heals.’ We’re all still wearing them.”

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THE HIDDEN WORLD OF ESPORTS AT CAL POLY

JACOB GOLD | COURTESY Gold playing a game at his computer.

SPORTS

MUSTANG NEWS

TUESDAY,APRIL 5, 2022

BY MIA ISOBEL CRAIG

Historically, football, basketball and baseball dominate the headlines in collegiate athletics. The cheering, buzzing student sections and blaring referee whistles highlight these college sporting events.

However, there is a new sport that is gaining traction rapidly. It is not played on a court or a field in front of student sections and large crowds, yet esports has quickly become one of the largest sporting attractions in the world, according to Statista.

At the college level, UC Irvine was the first public university to create an esports program in the spring of 2016.

Many other schools followed suit, including Cal Poly.

Now, the Mustangs have Division I teams for Valorant, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rocket League and League of Legends.

League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena game in which ten players are split into two teams of five.

The teams then battle it out on a map called Summoner’s Rift. The funda-

mental goal of the game is for each team to destroy one another’s base before the other team destroys their own. Games can last anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour.

Each year, Cal Poly’s Division I team plays in the Collegiate League of Legends (CLOL), which is run by Riot Games, the game’s developer. CLOL is a group of schools throughout North America that compete to play in the League of Legends College Championship.

If the team wins enough games in pool play, they would advance to the West Coast playoffs. After the West Coast playoffs comes the National tournament.

The furthest Cal Poly’s team has advanced in its history was round two in the 2017 West Coast playoffs.

However, they weren’t as lucky this year when they placed 27th out of 36 teams.

Software engineering freshman Kyle Tran, who currently plays on the Division I team for Cal Poly, addressed what needs to be worked on to find more success.

“The biggest problem with the team was communication,” Tran said.

“And I feel like it’s an issue that can be fixed with time. Our current roster was formed last second, so we didn’t get to play as a team much before the tournament.”

The esports team at Cal Poly has a much harder time garnering sponsorships and funding than the school’s 21 NCAA Division-I teams, according to club president and computer science senior Jacob Gold.

Gold created a pitch deck for the team, which is a brief presentation that gives potential sponsors a reason as to why they should sponsor the club during an event.

“We started from zero. I had no idea what a pitch deck was,” Gold said.

“But what we did is we compiled all the statistics – how many people we have in our Discord server, how many Twitter followers, the number of people watching our Twitch streams and how much engagement we are getting.”

Although creating a pitch deck to garner financial support is a signifi-

cant difference between the esports team and other sports teams at Cal Poly, there are some similarities as well.

Playing together bonded us because we all had personalities that meshed well together

KYLE TRAN Software engineering freshman

One of these similarities is that the esports team watches replays of their

games to see what they can improve upon and learn about the playing tendencies of their opponents, similar to film review sessions in sports like football and basketball.

However, their practices and games are done in the players’ separate rooms, with their only interaction being a voice call. This is what makes communication vital in the game.

Tran said that the team is able to form bonds even though they are not physically in the same room.

“Playing together bonded us because we all had personalities that meshed well together,” Tran said.

Also similar to the NCAA-sanctioned teams at Cal Poly, the esports team scouts new players and holds tryouts for each new year during the fall quarter. “[The scouts] are looking for not only skill but also cohesiveness, teamwork, communication and the ability to learn,” Gold said. “A lot of times, we’ll get people who happen to be good at the game but are not team players… we want it to be a commitment from all the players.”

Even though esports has grown a lot in recent years, Gold said he hopes to see a professional esports program with an arena and fulltime staff in the future. Although he said that he has had conversations with administrators across ASI, the college of engineering and other campus entities, it’s hard for those conversations to develop without funding.

“It’s going to take a lot of student support,” Gold said.

In the meantime, League of Legends continues to increase its popularity, as the 2021 World Final Match was the most-viewed global esports event, with an average minute audience (AMA) of 30,604,255, according to LOL Esports Media.

“I think esports is its own thing — it’s a digital transformation of competition,” Gold said. “I think there are a lot of things that esports can do that regular sports can’t do.

They both serve a really important purpose for a lot of reasons: for strengthening the campus community and for getting people involved.”

“THE DATING GAME” BROUGHT BROUGHT THIS COUPLE TOGETHER

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Now they are searching for the original tape

BY ARI LOPEZ

TESSA ESPINOZA Daughter of Cal and Nancy

Espinoza said that although her parents met on the show, “it’s really not the defining story of [her] mom and dad’s marriage.”

Espinoza described the hobbies and interests that her parents shared, saying that “The Dating Game” was a means to an end. She said that they had to put in work to make their marriage and family last.

Amy Goymerac, their other daughter and an applied voice teacher at Cal Poly, said that to her, her parent’s marriage was not simply one that started on tv and only continued despite it. She said that their marriage taught her love, understanding, compassion and patience.

Cal and Nancy are currently still living out their love story, which includes searching for the original taping of the episode in which they first met. The couple has searched for the tape of show 198 for years, but each time it averts them.

Cal was able to get in direct contact with a Sony vice president, but was told that the show was taped over since the show was recorded on a film reel, just a few years before VCR became the industry standard.

The only choice that the couple has to rewatch their first meeting is if someone, somehow, has the tape in a collection. The couple said they hope to recover the tape before their

50th anniversary on April 8. To follow the couple’s story and see if there is an update, Cal created a blog at calvinstevens.wordpress.com and watch a Mustang News video about them at the QR code below.

VIDEO

ters, both of their children said they realized that how their parents met wasn’t normal.

“It’s like your parents are the original dating or the original reality TV star couple that actually made it,” their daughter Tessa Espinoza, the Senior Director of External Relations and Director of Development for Student Affairs at Cal Poly, said.

CAL STEVENS | COURTESY A photo of Nancy and Cal from the August 1973 edition of TV-Radio Mirror magazine.

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

It’s like your parents are the original dating or the original reality TV couple that actually made it.

CAL STEVENS | COURTESY A recent photo of Nancy and Cal.

MUSTANG NEWS

Two, 198 and 50 are all numbers that mean something to Calvin Stevens, a Cal Poly business professor. While the numbers all seem to be inconsequential, they all played a major role in his life. See, Cal didn’t meet the love of his life, Nancy Nylen, on September 14, 1971, in chemistry class, but on show number 198 of “The Dating Game.”

In the 70s in Southern California, most young people knew someone who auditioned to be on “The Dating Game,” — it was almost a right of passage, the Stevens said. Before filming the show, Nancy and Cal both felt like nothing was going to come of it, except maybe an all-expenses-paid date.

“The Dating Game” is exactly what it sounds like. According to IMDb, the show ran from 1965-1985. The game involved a single woman asking three concealed and unknown bachelors questions related to her or hypothetical questions about their would-be relationship in front of a live studio audience. After thoroughly vetting her options she would then choose which bachelor to ask on a date. A multitude of celebrities also appeared on the show hoping to find their true love, such as Tom Selleck and Farrah Fawcett.

Nancy and Cal’s show began like any other: with Nancy on one side of the partition and three eligible bachelors on the other. Cal was lucky number two (that’s where the number two becomes significant).

Nancy recalls that she liked him “immediately” after Cal answered her questions, although they were tweaked by the show’s writers a bit.

She chose him to go on a date with and from there they went into the next step: meeting Nancy’s parents who were at the taping of the show.

They then went to dinner, started dating and, after seven months, the couple got married on April 8, 1972.

As for their first date, that too was unusual.

Normally, the couple was simply sent to the movies or dinner around the corner. However, even the showrunners could tell that Nancy and Cal had something special.

Their official Dating Game date was set to be three days at a resort in

the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee about three weeks after their initial meeting on the show. Cal said that this was “a big deal” as it wasn’t just dinner. Cal and Nancy both assured that they had separate lodging and a chaperone during this time, as Cal noted that this was 1971.

Looking back at his time on the show, Cal remembers it fondly.

“I’m glad. I’m glad we met and I did this,” Cal said.

Nancy added that this just simply felt like the way that the couple was supposed to meet.

The couple currently live in San Luis Obispo with their three children and three grandchildren.

When asked about how they lasted 50 years together after their unusual meeting, Cal lovingly stared at Nancy and said that she was and is his best friend. Cal said meeting at the show “felt like that was the way that [they] were supposed to meet.”

Looking back on their time spent together, Nancy said the cliché that all couples in love say — that she wouldn’t change a thing. When asked about how the couple has reached their 50th anniversary, Cal responded with, “we are friends, we really like each other.”

When talking to their two daugh-

FIGHTING

18

FOMO IN COLLEGE

BY REBECCA CARAWAY

MUSTANG NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022

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Rebecca Caraway is a journalism junior and Mustang News opinion columnist. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang News.

College is physically and mentally exhausting.

We spend the weekdays running to and from classes and trying to turn in assignments by 11:59 p.m. We work in between so we can actually afford to take said classes, eat and get gas for our car to get to that job and school.

At the end of the week, I’m exhausted. Sometimes it’s nice to go out on the weekends and blow off steam, but sometimes I have to say no.

It’s not easy to say no. Your friends are all getting ready to go out but you just want to make dinner, do laundry and go to bed early. You need a

mental break, but you also can’t help but feel like you’re going to miss something by not going out. You worry about missing new memories, inside jokes and a night that will go down in infamy.

You’re experiencing FOMO, otherwise known as “the fear of missing out.” As much as you don’t want to miss out, the last thing you want to do is leave your house, put on tight clothes and do your makeup.

It’s okay to say no. It’s okay to stay in on a Saturday night when all your friends are going out. There is nothing wrong with wanting to put yourself first.

If you do go out, you might have a good time. It might be worth it to get dressed up and go out. But it also might be better to catch up on sleep, homework or just let yourself be alone for a few hours. It’s okay if your friends have a good time without you and that doesn’t mean that you missed out.

So many people tell us to take advantage of our youth, to enjoy going out while you still can. Yes, we should take advantage of all life has to offer, but the experience of taking care of yourself is just as importantt as going out and creating memories with your friends.

OPINION

REBECCA CARAWAY Jounalism junior

When I was debating going out a few weeks ago I called one of my best friends from back home. I told her that even though I just wanted to stay home, I had a fear that this night

would become “iconic” and I would miss out. What if it became one of those nights that you are constantly referencing and talking about how great it was?

It’s not that I was so afraid of missing a great night — I was afraid of missing the references and jokes of a great night.

My friend told me that it wouldn’t be one of those great nights — because I wasn’t going. While that idea is nice, it’s not true. Great nights will happen with or without me. That’s okay.

This one night won’t be the last great night. You don’t have to be there for every amazing night out.

There will be plenty more that you will be a part of.

So many people tell us to take advantage of our youth, to enjoy going out while you still can. Yes, we should take advantage of all life has to offer, but the experience of taking care of yourself is just as important as going out and creating memories with your friends.

A night of Netflix won’t be as memorable as a night in a bar, but you don’t have to live for the memories of your future self. Live for who you are, right now, at this moment. If you just want to stay home and catch up on sleep, then do that. Time spent taking care of yourself is never wasted time.

Who cares if the next day you’ll regret not going out? This version of you, right now, wants to stay home.

Listen to that.

Don’t discount those feelings the next day either. Trust that you made the best decision that you could at the time. You did what you needed to do.

College is a great time to make friends and memories. It’s also a time of stress and heavy work loads. It’s okay to take a break from all the social excitement and spend some time recharging. You aren’t going to miss some life-changing night and even if you do, that’s okay. You’ll be there for future great nights. Don’t beat yourself up for staying in and taking care of yourself.

IMPORTANT

SAFE, INFORMAL, AND CONFIDENTIAL PATHS TO RESOLUTION

ABOUT DIABLO CANYON POWER PLANT

Welcome to Cal Poly. We are glad you have chosen to make San Luis Obispo your home.

Located within the county is Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP), a nuclear power plant that generates approximately 10% of California’s electricity.

If a serious emergency were to occur that would require you to take action, the County would sound the Early Warning System sirens. The sirens are an indication to tune to a local radio or television station for emergency information and instructions. When at sea, tune to Marine Channel 16.

The siren system is tested regularly throughout the year and may be used for any local emergency.

STUDENT OMBUDS SERVICES A SAFE PLACE WHERE STUDENTS CAN SEEK CONFIDENTIAL GUIDANCE ON UNIVERSITY RELATED CONCERNS OR COMPLAINTS.

Additional emergency planning information regarding DCPP is in the current Emergency Planning calendar, and at www.ReadySLO.org

www.ReadySLO.org

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