Bay
Area student in LB sees So Cal, MySpace
Patrick
Creaven
I’m not even graduating (I’m a screw up), but I have spent four
years slowly understanding Cal State Long Beach, and it’s not what I
expected.
I come from a small town called Benicia on the outskirts of the San Francisco
Bay Area. The cliche, “everybody knows everybody else,” isn’t
exactly the case in Benicia, but it is a tight-knit community. But getting
out of town and going to a huge metropolitan area like Los Angeles was appealing.
For people outside of So Cal, there is a lure about Southern California. So
when my choices for college came down to Long Beach or Chico State, the decision
wasn’t that hard.
What I didn’t understand, and now I at least think I do, is the culture.
With CSULB being a commuter school, students don’t need to interact with
their classmates after class. This, combined with a competitive individualistic
atmosphere in Southern California, leads to students trying to do the impossible — stand
out from the group.
Getting attention is a basic human need. It boosts self-esteem and it makes
people feel important. In a “normal” society, getting a sufficient
amount of attention isn’t that difficult. Usually the community takes
care of its own, but when the individual doesn’t feel like they are part
of a community, all of a sudden being noticed isn’t so easy.
So we do the ridiculous for attention. Guys put monster stereos in their cars,
so everyone in a one-mile radius can hear what they’re playing. Girls
look like they’re going to a club when they walk to chemistry class,
not just to impress the guys, but to also show up the girl next to them.
The irony is the students at CSULB don’t even like the culture they are
living in.
This is clear when in the library more people can be seen on MySpace than BeachBoard.
Students don’t want to fend for themselves; they want to be part of a
group, so they go on MySpace looking for that connection.
The University of Michigan has a student population slightly higher than CSULB.
There are currently 731 Wolverines on MySpace, but there are at least 18,800
49ers.
The need for being part of an Internet community isn’t there for Michigan
students. They live next door to their friends, not in the neighboring town.
At Long Beach we can’t knock on our friend’s door to see how they’re
doing. We post a comment instead.
CSULB is, always has been, and will continue to be a commuter school. Having
students feel like they are part of the school, even though they live 25 miles
away, is not easy. It will take innovative ideas, but it can be done.
All of this said, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at CSULB. But sometimes
I feel like I’m not really going to college. I go to Long Beach State.
Patrick Creaven is a senior journalism major.
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