“CSUSM is my only option left, really?”

My senior year of high school, I was excited to be accepted into a four year university, but I was bothered that UCSD and SDSU rejected me, leaving me with only Cal State San Marcos as my last option.

CSUSM was my safety school that I didn’t care for. In fact, I didn’t even visit the school. I just applied and figured I would never go there. I knew nothing about the school, never came to the campus and didn’t even know what it had to offer. I had my heart set on any school but this one.

Now it’s my fourth year, and it’s the best blessing in disguise I could have received.

Regardless of your major, class sizes at CSUSM are small. Being a Literature and Writing major, I love the fact that my professors know who I am, and what my strengths and weakness are as a student in their classes. I’m not just a number in their eyes, I’m a person who is passionate about learning in my discipline.

Although CSUSM is only 25 years old, it’s a tight-knit community that is growing annually. My first year here in 2013, we had approximately 10,000 students, now in 2016 we have over 13,000 students. As the student enrollment goes up, so does the campus life here!

As a commuter, CSUSM does an excellent job of helping all students get involved on campus in some way. Whether you join a club, sorority, fraternity, or partake in U-Hour events on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, there is always something to do. I decided to join the university’s newspaper, and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made in my college career.

I love being a Cal State Cougar. Although we’re a small campus, we may not have a football team, and we’re the youngest CSU in the system that no one seems to ever hear about, it’s the best experience I could have received in my journey of pursuing a higher education.