As the saying goes, there’s a whole world out there waiting to be explored, discovered, and taken advantage of. Or, er, for the busy, broke Cal student, there’s a whole Berkeley out there.

It’s easy to take the same path to class and back every single day to the point where you know how many steps to the next crosswalk—which, speaking of, does the concept of a crosswalk even exist to a Berkeley student? I’m starting to think not, after my numerous narrow escapes from nearly being hit by a car—the same cafe to your left, the same classrooms to your right, the same lunch from the same place as yesterday.

As one might guess and, more likely than not, know from first-hand experience, forming this daily routine can lead to monotony and can even make that load of homework and responsibilities seem even more foreboding than they were before. Also, Berkeley has so much to offer, and capturing these opportunities are certainly a vital part to an enjoyable college career—way more so than capturing that A on that midterm that is strapping you to your desk chair for a week; uh oh, am I encouraging slacking off? There’s no better feeling than that refreshed, renewed, revitalized, take-on-the-world attitude that one experiences after breaking this string of scheduled, robotic events—just from doing something different.

My three friends and I adopted a tradition towards the beginning of the semester to prevent ourselves from falling into this habit. Once a week we take turns picking somewhere new to eat dinner in an area that we can explore after our meal. We call it “Adventure Saturdays.” Whoever’s turn it is for the week picks an area of town that we don’t usually go to and then “Yelps” nearby restaurants to choose where we’ll eat—usually a relatively cheap place that has unique food, such as our last Saturday when we had Indonesian cuisine.

Once we eat our dinner, we wander around the surrounding area and go into random stores, such as Tibetan luxury shops—who knew?—where shenanigans are certain to ensue. Or we hit up Rasputin and look around for some records or stare at awe at the man with the longest fingernails in the world in the Guinness Book of World Records in one of the many bookstores in town.

I urge other students to implement their own version of “Adventure Saturdays,” for it sets you up for the week as well as gives you something to look forward to. Get out of your zone and reap the benefits of a fun night out and an extra boost in your attitude. There’s a whole city out there: go for it.

Trending Articles: