I awoke to a fine sunny morning with a feeling of excitement and anticipation. Today we were going to tour around the University of California’s Berkeley Campus, and meet with some of the students within the geography department.

Michael talking about the golden days in his old residence at Berkeley

The campus was much larger than I could have imagined. There were hundreds of students speed walking past us, with so much going on that it was almost overwhelming. Michael Tripp, an alumnus of the Berkeley campus took the lead as he showed us around the campus, starting off with the residence that he once lived in 40 years earlier. Although much had changed, he told us, it still had the same essence as it once had.

Cody talking with some Alumni

We met briefly with several current students at Berkeley, who were in the Geography program. Of the few that could make it, all were involved in either a masters of Ph.D. program. They were all very interesting people with great stories and advice. After this we asked them a few questions, ate some lunch, then headed off.

a busy square at Berkeley

Berkeley had consumed most of our day, but we still had an arranged meeting with the San Francisco City Planning Department. Here we met with a few of the mover/shakers of the city. We talked about many subjects, asked many questions, and learned quite a lot. San Francisco is one of the most populated cities in North America, and to have an opportunity to meet with these people was certainly a great experience.