I couldn't help but feel excited as I stepped onto the campus of California State University at Northridge for the first time.
At first glance, it embodies everything one would imagine when thinking about Southern California: it's dominated by thin, high palm trees, the bleached white concrete of the sidewalks reach out like spider's legs in all directions, to protect the grass from impatient corner-cutters, and the bright sun beats down onto the asphalt of the massive parking lots, many of which are only shaded by solar panels. It's a small campus in comparison to the likes of UCLA, but it's spacious and has a distinctly urban atmosphere despite sitting in the buzzing San Fernando Valley.
It was easy to spot the help stations by the parking lots where we could get our visitor's pass, and since it's Friday, there are plenty of parking spaces to choose from. Looking at the map, I could tell that the campus would be easy to navigate. The buildings and sidewalks run at correct angles and appear to be built on specific lines.
As I strolled along, I knew immediately which building was the library without even consulting my map. It's massive and recognizable, easily the most architecturally interesting building there. The lawn in front is wide and open, the steps giant, and it's framed on either side by a few precise rows of palm trees, shading some lounging students.
On this campus, there are four food courts: the Sierra Center, which is popular for it's location in the building where most general education classes are location; the Bookstore Complex, smaller than the rest with the feel of a mall eatery only smaller; the Student Union, where the campus hosts it's wildly popular Matador Nights, last year with the band Yellowcard; and the comparatively new Arbor Grill, a delightful, spacious structure with the selection of a large gas station (full sized cans of Pringles!) and a delicious, quite healthy, you guessed it, grill.
Each of these locations houses one of the local coffeehouses, the cleverly-named Freudian Sip, and they all have a great selection of foods for any type of student or faculty member.
Just north of campus, past the abundance of sports fields, are the dorms. There are 15 or so dorm buildings with a new one under construction now. Each building has three or four floors and the newer structures have elevators. Across the northern road is a very large parking lot available to students, and on the eastern side there's a parking structure.
Back on campus, I found the library to be utterly sufficient and quite breathtaking. There are an abundance of computers available for anyone to use as well as a printing station. The library appears easy to navigate and has a very helpful staff, even a place to sign up for tutoring.
With an amazing array of classes, a legendary music department, a wonderful rate of growth (new dorm building, new music building, new science building, oh my!), and a relaxed, friendly, Californian atmosphere, I would encourage any type of person to check out this school. I know I'll be coming back!