The black leather chairs facing the Learning Assistance Center and the Academic Advising Center at the Horn Center are filled with panicky students trying to cram last minute projects and constantly checking their Facebook pages.
In my three years at this institution, I’ve seen how technology has revolutionized the way we live our daily lives. Just five years ago, nobody would have guessed that little snippets of your friends’ lives would become so public in a little box that only fits 140 characters.
I ask my friends what drives them to put themselves out there, but then again, I’ve written columns about spilling yogurt on my shirt and openly talked about being gay. The Twitter account I opened a few months ago is probably the only one with just two entries. I’m still not sure of how their creation makes us a better society, but it’s a technological revolution nonetheless.
As I typed this, there were four girls working on a group project right next to me. They will be using their iPhone as an aid in their presentation. I still freak out at the thought that I can check my e-mail from my phone.
During my time at Cal State Long Beach, I saw a historical change in the country when an African-American man was chosen as the president of these United States.
I remember being in the newsroom with my ex-boyfriend and the rest of the Daily 49er staff that day, silently crying at the fact that Californians decided gays and lesbians did not have the right to marry. It was such a bittersweet celebration.
There’s a social justice lover in me that wonders if I did enough to mark my place at this institution. Though I attended the various rallies, plays and other cultural events that student groups put together, there were times when I felt idle just watching the other students trying to make a positive change.
From an HIV-positive freshmen looking for ways to inform his peers about STD preventions to a vegan student trying to give the facts on animal cruelty, these students inspired me to write the stories that filled these columns.
I will always be thankful to the Daily 49er for allowing me to use this space as my own little Twitter space and vent out about the issues that I felt were of interest — I hope — to the CSULB student community.
I hope that every single department in this university has something like the Daily 49er; a place where we can literally have hands-on-training in our desired careers.
This is not an official senior goodbye, but a look back at my history at this university. It is my last semester here, but I just hate goodbyes. In Spanish, we say “Hasta luego,” which literally means I’ll see you later. I know I will.
Or whatever.
-Julio Salgado