This was a beautiful place. UCSB is a school right by the ocean—from the dining hall (De La Guerra, or DLG as we called it) to the beach, it was only a 10-minute walk. I often found myself walking to the shore after dinner on Friday evenings, just to watch the sea.
The campus isn't surrounded by a city, so there wasn't much in terms of entertainment nearby. But the most interesting spot was Downtown—a stretch of buildings with a resort-like vibe. Come to think of it, UCSB itself kind of felt like a resort. On weekends, I'd sometimes head to Downtown, find a coffee shop, study for the afternoon, and grab dinner with friends.
If you wanted to go somewhere for fun, LA was pretty much the only option. The most common way to get there was by Amtrak, though driving could actually be faster if you had a car. Since I only stayed for one year, I barely made it out to LA. I went to Universal Studios once and visited Santa Monica Beach—it was beautiful.
I studied piano for a year with Professor Paul Berkowitz. I had been learning piano since I was six, all the way through high school. When I got to college, I thought I wouldn't have much time for it anymore. Luckily, at UCSB, I found a piano teacher who was willing to take me on.
