CSUMB has developed quite impressively since my fall 2004 matriculation.  The base, I mean campus, was kind of creepy and weird at first.  There were two abandoned military barracks smack-dab in the middle of the quad, which was odd; the technological infrastructure was a bit antiquated; and the track and athletic facilities were mostly remnants of Fort Ord days.  All of that has since been changed.  The two barracks are gone, the entire campus has brand new fiber optics, and the track has been renovated extensively, most notably with the addition of a multi-million dollar athletics building.  The new library is less than a year from completion, and the campus’ “lighting issues” have most assuredly been remedied. 

General education academics are a joke, as pointed out by many of the first-semester reviewers.  However, the business program, both lower- and upper-division, is absolutely amazing.  There are professors from Harvard and USC teaching here, my accounting teacher is from Dartmouth, and the chair of the business school is from Oxford.  The School of Business is most definitely THE academic force on campus.  And it’s getting even better: they’ve recently added an accounting concentration by establishing a relationship with a prominent accounting firm; the School is scheduled to move into a brand new building in two years; and the one-year-old Business Club is adding significant culture to the School.

One of CSUMB’s greatest strengths is its newness and youth.  I liken the school to a start-up company most of the time.  Since it’s so new, you, as a student, have significant power to create change.  It may sound trite or cliché, but truly, this generation of CSUMB students will shape the future of this university.  It’s easy to bash the school and not do anything about it.  At this school, if something really “grinds your gears”, you can do something about it.  The most successful students at this school are those who actively seek out ways to get involved. 

So, if I had the opportunity to go to another school, would I?  Nope, not now.  If I left CSUMB my freshman year, I wouldn’t have experienced college the way I have.  The education would have been similar at CSU Sacramento, but the student-life experience would’ve been tremendously different.  I’m an integral part of this community, a community where my ideas are heard, and a community where I can turn my ideas into action.