Cal offers more than 150 undergraduate majors and 100 graduate programs. With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, the Cal Alumni Association asked our alums to share what sparked their passions and love for their majors. Here is what our Golden Bears had to say.
Self-Determined Problem-Solving
“Struggling through Computer Science 161 projects with friends, [I realized that] I just like making stuff and solving fun problems. Also, the kindness and support from Lecturer Peyrin Kao! I will never forget his understanding and passion for teaching.”
—Helen Zhu

The Community
“I met some of my best friends in Professor Fae and Professor Leong’s classes.”
—Julianne Han
The Challenge
“I majored in philosophy. I loved the way my professors challenged me to be the best writer I could be. The classes were a lot of fun. Challenging, but fun in terms of the great discussions and conversations we had. Go Bears!”
—Ben Parker
Life-Changing Opportunities
“I worked very hard to get into the University of California at Berkeley. I came up through the California Community Colleges system, as a returning, disabled student. I entered Cal at the age of around 48 years old, after I was severely injured at a US Navy base, working as an electrician/lineman. I didn’t want to give up on life and my goals. Cal was the best and I wanted to be the best. The campus is absolutely gorgeous and the faculty is top-notch. I entered as a psychology major with aspirations of being an attorney. I ended up switching to the legal studies program. What a marvelous experience. The legal studies program at Cal is first-rate. This program is the only one in the US where professors from [the law school] ‘came down’ and taught the undergraduates. This was very special as most of the professors were the people who wrote the textbooks, literally. Go Bears!”
—Ronald Scott Raider

All the Little Things
“Reading for Political Econ in the hidden pink cloister of Ishi Court!”
—Eder
Incredible Professors
“Professor Elisa Tamarkin! The passion she spoke with about the books we’d read in her classes was infectious and made me fall in love with English. Shoutout to all the English and humanities majors!”
—Suleman Kazmi
New Perspectives
“Political science was the draw for me. It was the draw for the Second World War that was so compelling. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Edward Teller were the physicists that held the secrets of what made the ‘bomb.’ Marrying these events to people had me in the grasp of my major.”
—Brian Smith