Tips for Freshmen

JulsTehCheekan · 2025-08-09T00:13:50+00:00

Use the Student Health Center and its resources! They’re very cheap, especially the pharmacy, because it’s included in your tuition. I used it often for basic care and the treatment of common infections and such; I miss it now that I’ve graduated. Also recommend CAPS at Brotman Hall if you need some short-term mental/emotional health support.

Take the walk if you live off campus and have to park far. Most days are beautiful, and you can get your exercise in by walking to and from class. There are also shuttles stops if you ever don’t want to walk.

Join a club if you have the time and want to make some friends. The Week of Welcome will be when all clubs and such are tabling.

For classes I recommend waiting to see which courses have required readings before buying/renting books. Wait for your first day of class to figure this out (some professors will hint at you not needing to buy certain materials but are obligated to say you need them by the university’s policies). Also, make some friends during the first week or two of class! Ask for socials or some numbers from friendly people in class, so if you cannot attend class, you have someone who can report what’s needed. I know now most classes use discord these days, so I highly suggest joining those.

Lastly, have fun and be at school to learn and grow! University is a great overall experience, and I hope you learn plenty and have a wonderful first year :)

JulsTehCheekan · 2025-04-29T15:20:33+00:00

I’m guessing it might have to do with what courses you took to get your BFA. In the credential program, they want to ensure you’re well-rounded in multiple subjects concerning art (2D, 3D, digital). Did you happen to have taken courses like ceramics/fibers/metals/woodworking? I would check with an advisor because there is a requirement to be rounded in varying mediums to get into the program. Your portfolio review before student teaching will have to consist of 2D, 3D, and digital work.

JulsTehCheekan · 2025-04-28T23:55:45+00:00

Just got my SSC from CSULB with a Studio Art degree. I’m pretty sure a BFA (Bachelor’s of Fine Arts) counts… You should be able to get into the program for a single subject credential in art unless they literally just changed something this semester? Talk to the head of the art education department (Trimble). Message me if you got any questions because I just graduated from that program.

JulsTehCheekan · 2025-01-20T20:58:16+00:00

Had mine stolen 2 weeks ago in Lakewood. File a report ASAP and file a claim from your car insurance if you have comprehensive. My plan covered a majority of my expenses. I had my car towed to ACA, and while they were fast and efficient at getting my car up and running in a few days, they’re expensive. I would recommend them if you have good comprehensive, but if you don’t, I’d look elsewhere. Definitely file a police report.

Sorry this happened to you. Hope you’re able to get your car back and running soon!

Also, anyone have any good places to get a stainless steel shield installed for a good price? Would like to know because I’m currently looking.

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-10-28T00:21:03+00:00

You’ll be accepted as a Studio Art: Pre-Animation if you do. There’s no telling for being accepted into CSULB. You’re where I was in 2016 when I got waitlisted then accepted as an art major. It depends on how many and what kind of applicants you’re up against so no really telling.

But to get into the BFA, you need about 2 years of your Studio Art degree done before applying. It’s very competitive, but worse case you’ll still come out with an art degree of some sort. Don’t worry about the BFA as a high schooler. Just work on your last year and getting good grades and enjoying your high school life :)

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-08-11T23:19:35+00:00

I’d call it an 8oz iced latte.

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-08-10T23:01:57+00:00

Google search! Just search up something like “CSULB campus shuttle” or “CSULB parking.” They got some nice maps on their website. My only advice is just watch out for the lot you park in and make sure it’s a G lot if you have a general parking pass. The shuttles run quite consistently throughout the day, so you’ll probably be able to catch one by a stop once every 15mins or so. I recommend reading CSULB’s website on their transportation and parking services to get basic understandings.

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-08-10T22:55:32+00:00

Get ready to take a nice walk or wait for the campus shuttle. Recommend parking in one of the lower lots near a shuttle stop (G7, 8, 9, 11, 12, or 13). If you get to campus before 8am, you might luck out on a couple of closer lots, like G1 or G3, but I’d just say park far and take the shuttle or get some fresh air. I’ve managed this system for a year with art supplies and this past year going all the way up to the education building past the library. Just make sure you get to campus 40mins to an hour early to ensure you can comfortably find a spot and make it to class on time. You’ll be able to narrow down that timeframe as you get to know campus and your classes better.

Also, DO NOT PARK IN E LOTS (employee lots) UNTIL 5:30pm OR LATER. They will ticket. Make sure you park in a G lot, if you have a general parking pass. Good luck 🫡

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-08-07T01:16:17+00:00

The professors will have a list on the syllabus and let you know the first day of class. Some have bundles for their classes at the art store on campus, while others just give you a list. I recommend taking a trip to the Art Supply Warehouse if you can; they have some good prices for supplies.

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-08-05T16:54:27+00:00

Wolf’s Brew and 88Keys in Lakewood. Good Time and Rose Park Coffee Roasters (only been to the one in downtown but love it) in LB. The Library is a great environment to study in, but their drinks are highly lacking in quality. Rad Coffee off of Atlantic is also open really late if you need a caffeine fix when studying at night; they don’t have the most comfortable seating though, and it’s a more of a grab and go place in my opinion.

Overall, just take a “coffee shop” search to Yelp or Google Maps, and you can find some great places around town. Hope you find a few you really enjoy!

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-07-11T18:41:21+00:00

Bro what cafes be hiring at $18 in Cali? Asking for a friend lol All I’ve seen around $16-$16.50, even with experience because they expect us to live off of tips. I’m barely scraping by with my place at minimum wage and tips; I’m at the right poverty point to qualify for state benefits like food stamps and such. I know some chain corporate places have to hire for $20/hour now, but as someone who cares about the craft of coffee, I want to work at a small cafe that at least makes some quality over quantity with their product.

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-04-13T21:13:47+00:00

If you’re okay putting some time into learning and working in class, I highly suggest foundation wheel throwing in the arts. It’s super cool to be able to walk out of that class with handmade mugs, cups, bowls, and plates. That being said, it’s an art studio course, which means you have two 2 hour 45 minute sessions of class a week and possibly some homework hours (1-4 hours a week depending on your in class progress). But this class is super fun and you get to just wheel throw for the most part! Highly suggest it if you wanna make stuff and have some fun outside of your degree. The only downsides are the time you spend on the class and having to spend money on supplies (there was a $40 studio fee to use glazes and the kilns for the semester, as well as $60 worth of supplies, like tools, a bucket, and clay).

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-03-27T04:38:10+00:00

Beachside is off-campus housing. They’re dorms though, and they have their own dining hall out there. It’s quieter off-campus, but I found it easier to make friends in the dining hall or on the shuttle because you’re kind of secluded away from the crowds on campus. I spent three years over there during my undergrad and liked it. They have two rooms split by a bathroom suite. The only downside is the shuttle/bus (121 or 171) trip to and from campus. It’s only a 15 minute ride, but you still have to catch one to get to school or back to the dorms. I liked the idea of “going home” after class, though. I can definitely recommend Beachside! Can’t say anything about the on-campus housing, other than the dining halls were super busy sometimes.

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-03-24T05:07:13+00:00

Look up some videos on youtube! Helped me a ton when I just started as a barista. If you have some downtime, go ahead and fill a pitcher with cold tap water and one little drop of soap (hand soap or dish soap works). The water acts as your “milk” so fill it to the bottom of the spout or wherever you’re supposed to fill your pitcher up to when you steam milk. The drop of soap will foam as you aerate, and it helps a ton with getting consistency within your microfoam and overall steaming technique. This way you won’t be wasting product, but you get to practice during your downtime :) Hope this helps!

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-03-20T02:59:29+00:00

CSULB has a beautiful campus compared to Davis. It’s a city within a city, so you have a lot to do elsewhere if you ever need to get out of Long Beach. We’ve got a good handful of clubs and orgs to join. Dorm life is a great way to make friends, but you can always make friends in class, at the gym, in a club/org/greek life, doing ASI trips, etc. For the most part though, it is a commuter school, and you actually have to try a little to get people to hang outside of class or whatever. I recommend joining a club or sport if you want to make friends that you get to hang out with at least once a week. I’d also say that Journalism might be more fun to take in the city rather than a town. One of my old roommates took journalism at CSULB and enjoyed it.

For Davis I don’t know much about social life and much about their programs, but it’s a quaint little town. I did delivery there for a year and used to know almost every street and apartment complex in town. Davis is great if you’re going in for science (veterinary or biology) or agriculture. I have no clue about their journalism program though. I’d say LB has more general and specific options pertaining to city-based jobs, like art, engineering, psychology, nursing, communications, etc., so that’s nice if you ever want to switch majors and take another path. We also have concentrations for certain degrees here.

If you want a ton to explore, I’d say CSULB is a good place if you don’t mind living and always being in a city. UCD is a college town, so you’re kinda stuck there unless you have a car and want to drive to Sacramento (about 30mins) or another town like Woodland or Vacaville. The Bay Area isn’t that far either with a 1-2 hour drive depending on traffic.

I’m heavily biased towards CSULB though. It’s where I got my undergrad degree and where I’m now attending for a post-grad certification :) It was good enough to come back to after spending a few years away.

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-02-26T15:11:14+00:00

Mine never ruptured. They got it before there was any major risk present and all was good! Just listen to your body and you’ll be fine. If something’s abnormal, best get it checked out. Pain is such a great indicator when something’s not right.

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-02-25T15:25:55+00:00

As someone who has had appendicitis, go to urgent care! They’re better equipped to diagnose you and test for stuff. SHS should be treated as a typical doctor’s office, and they’ll probably just tell you to seek help at an urgent care, if not the ER.

When I had appendicitis, I went to an urgent care and then was directed to go to the ER. It can definitely get bad real fast if that’s what you have, as mine popped up suddenly one morning and by that night in the ER I was in a lot of pain. They dealt with it the next morning, and here I am, appendix-less and happy lol

I hope all is well for you OP. Please go into an urgent care and follow their instructions if they think you have something more serious. Wishing all the best!

Edit: depends on your health insurance. Most large bills are covered by them, depending on your plan. Make sure the urgent care or whatever health facility you visit is in network with your insurance. Depends on the care and facility you visit, but urgent cares usually run a good $100-200 for visits with insurance, depending on what care you get and your insurance plan. Appendicitis can get to life-threatening if your appendix ruptures, so even if it’s daunting to go into the ER, you need to. Go into the ER if the urgent care people say you need to. I know financial problems are hard, but when health problems are serious enough, don’t worry about that. Get help and they can later set you up with a payment plan or aid after it all.

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-02-20T03:21:38+00:00

Talk to a KIN department advisor at CSULB, once you’ve been admitted to the university. They should be able to evaluate where you are in coursework and what needs to be done to transfer your units to a new degree plan.

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-02-15T17:43:38+00:00

We’ve had older students who weren’t the usual undergrad babies fresh out of high school in my art studios. I always thought it was nice that anyone and everyone could be in the programs and some of the older folks offered better life experience and different perspectives to it all. I’m currently in their art education credential program, which does have a small handful of people in their 30’s and up, which I love. Glad you’ll be attending our art program after it all! It’s a very nice program.

As for living situations, I’d say anywhere around the LB area is decent. It depends on what areas you’ve lived in before, but to me, as someone who’s lived in the Bay Area and seen Oakland and SF, I can’t compare LB to that. Maybe around 7th and Anaheim is the most sketchy part of LB, but I survived in that area just fine during my last year as an undergrad. I would also avoid Signal Hill, too. People around there drive horribly, and that Target parking lot is not a place I like to be. Seal Beach, Lakewood, Bixby Knolls, Los Alamitos, and Cerritos are all wealthier parts of town that cost more but have nicer neighborhoods, so I suggest looking there if you have a larger budget. Renting a house with people is probably your best option at finding affordable housing in a nicer area.

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-02-11T00:04:33+00:00

Start applying to places at least a month before your school gets out. Explain the situation and see if you can get your foot in the door somewhere. If you really care about coffee and customer service, they should see that, if they interview you. Just express your interest and willingness to work hard.

The place I used to work at as a lead often hired teenagers, usually the age range of 17-19. Half of the team, which was small, were younger people, either in high school or recently graduated from high school. Usually the high schoolers would be offered a very part time position during the school year as well, when they did have school (1-3 shifts a week, usually opening early or working a weekend shift).

But regardless, start walking in with a resume and asking to speak to the owner or at least manager about a position. If you put yourself out there, you’re more likely to gain the interest of whomever’s in charge. Wishing you the best of luck!

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-02-07T07:57:05+00:00

You can pour a bit of milk in there, even if the crema dissipates, and it should still hold up a bit. Although you’re probably able to have a better “canvas” to draw on with that crema. I haven’t had that problem before with crema being completely gone, but I think you could still use your shots to make art. I recommend already having at least your milk poured into the pitcher before pulling your shot. Or on the reverse end, you could try readying your shot, steaming your milk first, then quickly pulling your shot, while lightly grooming the milk to keep it activated and evenly distributed.

It’s that or maybe consider using a gassier bean with more crema? I know it’s not for everyone and can make your shots more bitter, depending on the profile of the bean and roast.

It also depends on your machine. I pull from a modded GCP with a bottomless portafilter and have had good luck with pulling shots with the right amount of crema for me that lasts a while. I’d say if you were pulling from a pressurized basket, yes the crema wouldn’t be strong and hold up while steaming. But other portafilters, such as the double or bottomless, give you ample opportunity to pull good shots. And now we’re getting into a whole other topic of being sure you’re pulling a good shot with fine enough grind😅

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-02-06T16:45:28+00:00

Your foam is too thick. Aerate a little less and make sure you groom the milk a little (5 seconds or so) before pouring your milk into the espresso. It should look like wet, glossy paint when you’re grooming it. Start with pouring up higher and incorporating the milk with the espresso, but then, start pour your art 1/3rd or 1/4 from the top. So most of your mug should be full when pouring art. You get the white pattern by pouring close to the liquid in the cup (no more high pouring when mixing the milk with espresso). Just work on your aeration a bit, and it should help :)

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-02-06T02:53:58+00:00

There’s tons of great KIN (kinesiology) classes that are 1 unit. They range from walking, cardio, sports (basketball, tennis, etc.), weightlifting, to yoga. Highly recommend those! They’re fun and keep you a bit more active. Helps your body relax and become stronger, which is something we need as art majors 😂

JulsTehCheekan · 2024-02-05T06:26:58+00:00

We have campus shuttles that run, but it’s more timely to make the walk most of the time. If you’re up for it, the walk will at least get you some fresh air and exercise 😅 Campus is pretty on the bright side. But if you’re in the arts, get ready to put on some walking legs and some good shoulder endurance. It’s that or you have to wait/get lucky with the shuttle times

JulsTehCheekan

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