Pretty excellent

After being in Santa Barbara for a while you can lose sight of how awesome the city actually is. It's mid November and it's  65 degrees and sunny. Probably the best part of going to city college (apart from academics) is the location of the school itself. It's literally perched on a hill directly next to the beach. Look all over the country and guaranteed you'll have a hard time find a place to match it. The only other school I know of like it with its building on a hill next to the beach is endicott college back in my hometown on the east coast. The difference is that right now endicott is 35 with high wind chill and no sun and it'll be like that until April. Overall, SBCC is pretty excellent and has a lot going for it. Affordable class, good extracuriculars, and a location that's unbeatable. 

This is a view from outside the bio tutor room. One of the many views on campus

Camping

All over Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, there are excellent camping areas. This past weekend my friends and I went down in Ojai. The campsite was affordable and super awesome. The campsite was big enough for all the people with had with us, which was about 15, to have there own area for their car and rent. Best part of the weeken was how prepared everything was. We all had space for our tents and because everyone was assigned a meal to cook prior to going, food was completely taken care of. Only downside was that it gets pretty chilly at night so if you're planning on going camping during the winter months, bring plenty of layers and a good solid sleeping bag. Definitely suggest going camping with a big crew at some point. 

Maddie and I found a nice spot to hike

For bio majors....

Now don't get me wrong. I love my major and it's been rewarding in many ways but when you're a bio major, you better bring your game face. Certainly, every major in college has its challenges but undoubtedly you'll see more than your fair share as a biology major. I registered for classes for my final semester at city college and I'm taking organic chemistry with a lab, physics with a lab, and cell biology with a lab. Now this is all with the intention of going to either ucla, uc Berkeley, uc Davis, or uc San Diego. Keep in mind that transfer requirements are varied from school to school, but in general they will typically be the same for biology major transfers. The difficult part of these classes isn't necessarily the material but more so the sheer workload. So if you think you're tough enough to work through a poor exam, handle a heavy workload, and pursue an education that can lead you towards the career you want, the rock and roll future bio student. Maybe one day you can tell me what all this means. 

This is an infrared spectroscopy chart for the compound eugenol. The peaks of the chart represent specific fictional groups that are present in the compound. If you can tell me what are the peaks mean then you're probably pretty good at chemistry

If you're looking for a new car

Take to craigslist and don't really bother with dealerships unless you have the money. While dealerships around here tend to give you some sort of benefit from buying cars from them, they also cost several thousand more. When my car was totaled about a year ago when I got t-boned going through an intersection finding a car became an immediate priority. I searched around Craigslist for a pretty short amount of time and ended up finding my current car. A 2001 VW Cabrio. It's basically a little manual go-kart but it gets crazy good MPG and it's super fun to drive. I spent around 4000 and was able to haggle with the previous owner. At a dealership this car would have cost at least 7000 and I wouldn't have been able to negotiate the price. I highly recommend taking to Craigslist for your next vehicle purchase. 

This is my car. It's named Toad. For those of you who play Mario Kart you'll understand the name. 

Boathouse

One off favorite restaurants around the sb area is definitely boathouse. The place is excellent and has a great happy hour. Today I went by just to grab a bite with some friends. It's right next to the beach and isn't too expensive. The seafood they have is on point and well worth the trip. It's just down the road from city college and a great place to go with with all the homies. I highly suggest the popcorn shrimp. Super tasty. 

Not a great pic but it's a cool spot nevertheless

Found a cool spot

I was hanging out with my brother a little while ago and we found a cool spot for checking out a sunset. It's basically a straight shot from city college and really easy to get to. From city college head towards the Mesa. Keep going straight on through the lights and follow the road towards Hendrys beach. Continue past Hendrys around the bend past the parking lot. About 2 minutes from there is ther clearing we found. It's perched on a little hill and is just the spot to kick it for a minute and relax. 

This is my brother and I chillin there

Doggy day care

Recently I got a new job but previously I worked at a dog day care named Dioji. Place was awesome. It's cage free so all the pups get to run around together and play. For those of you with dogs I definitely recommend bringing them to day care for a day to check it out. The dogs have to go through a evaluation so that staff can be sure all the dogs will get along but on the day of your dogs evaluation they get the whole day free. There are two locations. One in downtown sb and the other off of hollister in Goleta.

This is a pic of one of my favorite dogs, maddie. She'll take another dogs leash in her mouth and walk the dog. Super cool