My ode to Cañada College

This year I took classes at Cañada College in Redwood City. It was my second time at a semester system institution but it was loads better than the first time around. Their cap is 20 units which I think is really smart because unless you rock at school and understand completely how to manage your time (which most 18 year olds or younger don't) that is more than enough. I basically maxed out and took chemistry, microbiology, nutrition, and physiology. I was a biological sciences major at Davis so I figured this should be super easy. Honestly? It wasn't the easiest but it was pretty much a cake walk. HOWEVER I am terrible at chemistry and the last time I took it was about 10 years ago so yeah. 

So my ode starts with the fact that when I was trying to enroll they asked me about 3 questions about my residency status in the US. I was no stranger to this because stupid De Anza and Foothill gave me hellish grief about not be a resident of the United States. Every time I went to each campus (about 3 times and stupid De Anza at least 2 more times than Foothill.) they had a different hoop for me to jump through. And of course each time it got more ridiculous or the person from before forgot to tell me one very important detail about what they needed from me. At Cañada, they basically asked me why I was away, how long I had been back, and my CA state driver's license. BAM. DONE. IN ONE TRIP.

AND THEN. In that same trip, they said, "Oh you're a new student, would you like to talk to a guidance counselor?" And I said, "Sure" thinking why the heck not? I have no idea how this campus works and how the courses correspond to nursing/med school. The guy was super nice and even tried to get me to take the "easier" chem class because (and he said this) "I'm sure you're capable of the other, but if you can get an A in the class it will look better for school and you'll be learning basically the same thing!" So freaking nice. Then of course all the teachers/professors there were super nice and helpful. They truly wanted to be there. I honestly think that if all my professors at Davis had been like that, I would've walked out of there with at least a 3.0. 

My most recent encounter which prompted me to write this ode involved me getting my transcripts in for AMCAS. They don't take part of the "Credential Solutions" site but you can still order them online. I don't mind driving so I just went to campus. I expected to pay at least $10 for a rush transcript. I talked to the administrative lady and she was A) super sweet B) super helpful. We talked about medical school, my appendix bursting, and culture. Then as I got my wallet out she said, "Okay well, I'll get this done right now and it will be in the outgoing mail today. Good luck!" I stood there for a couple seconds and it finally registered that I didn't have to pay a CENT. Even for a rush! I looked it up online and apparently, you don't have to pay for your first official transcript and subsequent ones are only $5. What?! 

I seriously love that school. The school colors are the A's colors which makes it even more fun. (Even though they lost :(:(:( I'm so sad). I love you Cañada.