FollowHere’s a riddle for you: what is thin, fits in your wallet, has an awful picture of you from freshman year on it, and is something only Berkeley students and faculty have?
That’s right, it’s that thing you always forget at home, your Cal 1 Card! Shockingly, this flimsy piece of plastic is like a portable club bouncer giving you exclusive VIP access to all the coolest places. In plain English, you can get a lot of free stuff with it. Well, if you don’t count the cost of tuition.
So since you are already paying for it, and you’re probably as broke as I am, why not take advantage of the perks?
1. AC Transit/Bear Transit
Yes, the bus is always late, it smells weird, and the other people on it never seem to understand the concept of moving to the back of the bus when it starts to fill up. However, the Class Pass sticker and Cal 1 Card, giving you free all-you-can-bus rights for your entire stay, is pretty amazing. Why pay for Uber, or even your own car (and gas and parking), when you can get on any AC Transit or Bear Transit bus for free? If that’s not selling you, think about how sore your legs are after all those long, uphill walks, or the sketchy people you meet walking home alone at night. The bus is definitely worth it.
2. UC Botanical Gardens
Up the hill from the noisy distractions of the football field and campus lie 34 gorgeous acres of plant life. You can spend hours in here wandering around, and not see everything. It’s a great place to take a study break, have a picnic, take that special someone on a date, or explore with friends. Some must-see sights are the Puya raimondii, which only blooms every 80 years; the Garden of Old Roses, which has a great view of the Bay; the Chinese Medicinal Herb Garden; and the Tropical and Arid Houses. Right now, you can also see the Food of the Americas exhibit with your free admission. Plus, the Garden Shop has some great gifts that your parents will love and cheap plants anyone can grow. During the week, you can take the Hill Line up to the Garden, but if you’re feeling ambitious you can make the trek on your own two feet.
The Garden of Old Roses is one of the many beautiful spots in the UC Botanical Garden. On a clear day, you see the Bay from up here.
3. Lawrence Hall of Science
Lawrence Hall of Science is on the left.
If you take the Hill Line one more stop, you will be at the Lawrence Hall of Science. They have animals and insects and microscopes and a planetarium—what more could you want? Your trusty sidekick Super CalOne will get you free admission to this nerdy kid’s science playground heaven. Not to mention, there is a gorgeous view of Berkeley and the Bay outside the museum, so if you’re not into the science-y stuff, check out the view while your STEM friends go wild inside. You’ll be jealous of all their cool new toys from the Discovery Corner Store, though, I promise.
4. Berkeley Art Museum
John Brewster, Jr. (attributed to): Portrait of a Boy in Green, at the BAM now.
The Berkeley Art Museum, or BAM for short, is here for all your pouty-artsy-moody-black-clothes needs, without the expensive and timely BART ride to San Francisco. At the moment, they have fascinating exhibitions, including American Wonder: Folk Art from the Collection, John Zurier / MATRIX 255, Looking Intently: The James Cahill Legacy, Hofmann by Hoffman, and many more, all ending on December 21st. You can even stay L@TE certain Friday nights to listen to awesome music or RE@D with awesome writers and poets, all for free. But only if you remember to bring your Cal 1 Card with you.
5. Open Computing Facility (OCF)
The OCF houses every student’s fantasy: free printing. The only catch is that each student has a limit—250 pages per semester, 15 pages per day on weekdays, and 30 pages per day on weekends-so choose your free pages wisely. Still, 250 pages will cost you $20 using campus printers, so be sure to treat yourself after finals for a job well done. It is located in Hearst Gym, room 6A.
6. Moffitt/Gardner (MAIN) Stacks
Lots and lots of books.
Berkeley has plenty of libraries, but only Moffitt and Main Stacks are open to Cal1 cardholders. That means no homeless people asleep on the good chairs, no old and sticky computers, and wonderfully late hours—until 2:00 am on weeknights. In Main Stacks, you can book a study room to work on a group project, have a club meeting, or just be extremely selfish and book a whole room to yourself for some much-needed alone time. Moffitt Library has a Media Resources Center, a Microcomputer Center, a laptop loan program, and lots and lots of printers. Trust me, there will come a time when the OCF is just too far away and the printers in Moffitt will be calling your name.
While taking advantage of these six Cal1 perks may seem obvious too you, and you think you’ll get around to them eventually, don’t put it off. Make every cent of your college tuition worth it, which means more than maxing out units every semester and bragging to your friends back home about Berkeley at every chance. Enjoy yourself and use the money you’ve saved for a fancy dinner at Chez Panisse. You’ll thank me sometime around the dessert course.
Image source: bampfa.berkeley.edu, bravoyourcity.com
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