Discussing College Life and Lessons

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:39

Okay. Hi, my name is Elizabeth. I'm a freshman at UC Berkeley. A little bit about myself. I did a lot in high school. I did, you know, theater. I was in a bunch of clubs. I was working in politics for a while. Yeah, and then what's going on right now just you know mid-term season it's hitting me like a truck, you know All those papers I'm taking almost all the liberal arts classes, so it's just so much reading and writing that is not even funny Losing my voice a little bit I bet you can hear that. It's all right Yeah You know trying to adjust living with two roommates in a room the size of a shoebox basically And dream last night that I lived in a normal sized room by myself and it was great I Wow to the weekends like a sleeping a bed that's not asleep But yeah, that's what I got going on Okay, let's let's talk about the the politics thing because that's interesting.

Oh, yeah, yeah So the year between my junior and senior year, I got involved in this club off-campus called the South Alameda County Young Democrats. Through that club, I worked on campaigns of local city council members, of local people running for school board. And I secured the position of social chair in my club. So I was... I'm tasked with creating like fun social events, recruitment. We would, you know, mingle with local politicians and stuff like that. Amazing. And we would also work on registering young people to vote. I was the youngest in my club at 18 and it was the young Democrats. Oh wow. Yeah.

We just recently, like a week ago, God remember who's younger than I am. Wow. Yeah, it was a it was a crazy experience. I got thrown into it at like an insane I got I got my cabinet position at the first meeting because they like loved me so much Yeah, you made quite the first impression I did yeah, and it all started because I was working on this campaign for local city councilman Sarah Lamman and Hayward And her campaign manager was the president of the club those shoes like yeah you know I like your energy. So you got that networking okay. You know networking was a huge part of it like you have to I still am friends with like all them on Facebook and they're always like I'm always getting stumped invitations to some weird fundraisers but like you know once you know somebody like you're in it you know it's not it's it's really overwhelming I um my the last day of teenager hood.

So the day before my birthday when I was 17, I was going to get myself and one of my friends, Jocelyn. We went to the Senator's house for an after party from his inauguration ceremony or whatever. I used his bathroom. He offered me Gatorade and we talked about, I think it was, it's Senator Bob Wieckowski, we talked about, we talked about safety in schools in his backyard. Like, and I didn't, through my club that's how I got in and you know, it was crazy. And like, you could, you find yourself in positions you never see yourself in. Like, I went to this party for Eric Swalwell.

where I was, I was volunteering, but because I was a volunteer, I got in, I got all the free food, and I got to take a picture with him and actor slash activist Alyssa Milano, like both of them. And other people, like his sponsors had to pay over $1,000 per person in the picture. I got in the picture for free. Being young, optimistic and well connected really helps. Yeah. There was a point where I was seeing Eric Swallow at so many events that he remembered my name. And this man is like a powerful guy in the house of representatives. And we'd be like, I'm so sorry, Elizabeth, right?

And I'd be like, yeah, so it was pretty crazy. Wow. And because politics was such a sensitive issue for a lot of people, I never really talked about it. Because I didn't want to say, oh yeah, South Carolina, the Democratic Party would be like, oh my god, you're a Democrat. Oh my god. If they're more progressive, they'd be like, why are you said? If they were conservative, they'd be like, who? What the heck? It was just something that I like. Yeah, but mostly what my club did was we just learned about the candidates. We like chose which ones to endorse. We hosted fundraisers. We went, we hosted voter registration drives.

And so that was, that was, yeah, it wasn't like, we went like going around saying, democratic party, woo, we were just like, gaining ourselves involved in a comfortable place for like where viewpoints lied in the political spectrum.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos7:59

I had I over home yesterday from a party and my Uber driver was new for Matthew Anastan. And we were talking about, you know, the current political climate and like our biggest thing we were both just like people need to go out and bow and I was like, yes. like yeah just express your opinion like that's what we need like don't bash on others just voice your own.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos8:38

I know like if you want to be like a well-rounded well-educated person the best thing you can do is listen to others. Because learning like other people's viewpoints like you know doesn't have to alter your own but at least you can like you know take into consideration what other people think yeah like You always you know you always have your own opinions you always like have your own morals and beliefs but like learning about others have to become a more well-rounded person absolutely yeah I Have a I have a friend who's like a pretty like strong Republican.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos9:28

I just don't like it. The only reason I align myself with the Democratic Party is because I felt like my personal beliefs even though there are differences. There are differences. Don't give you a day more. aligned with the Democratic Party. And I feel like since it was like a bigger party, it's like more influence than, you know, not necessarily getting a better, like, getting a better say. Otherwise, if I was like, if I identified as independent, but it's more like you have like a better, well connected system of like people and politicians and like organizations and stuff like that.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos10:09

I figured out. That's the reason Bernie Sanders was running as a Democratic candidate.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos10:19

Yeah. Exactly. I know the system is messed up. Don't get me wrong, but you've got to find a way to make it work for you.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos11:32

I learned that political science isn't necessarily what I thought it was. Like I'm just from talking to advisors. They're like, it's very nitty gritty. A lot of people like choose to go into it for like pre-lock, which was what I was thinking, but I'm shifting away from that now. But it's less like, it's not about like the public service aspect or you know, the working with your community aspect that I really liked about politics. It's like the science behind it. I wasn't necessarily something that resonated with me. And there's a lot of very opinionated people within the future. So I'm shifting. There's a lot of uncertainty right now in regards to majors and career paths because of how controversial and how infuriating and how closely intertwined with people's personal beliefs that politics is.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos12:40

It really is. But then there's a few pockets of goodness, you know? Like I chose to work in local politics because you can see the work being done on a smaller scale. Right. Like my city council made what she did, like her big stance when she was working on green initiatives. And from her position as a city councilman, she was able to approve permits for businesses. And so like, you know, if they had like a crappy business plan, they're like, yeah, I'm gonna use all of the, you know, I can't even think of her, but like, basically, I'm not gonna be environmentally friendly. She'd be like, nah.

And so she had like a Say in like what goes on and Hayward and stuff like that and it was able to like people would always come up to be like oh my god I love that thing you did with the thing and she's like oh thank you and so like she turns to you she's like wait what did I do? I was like you have a hundred percent voting record for green initiatives. She's like oh yeah environment Perfect with the big shot politicians. It's like so much about, you know, free election. Yeah, yeah, it's about uncapped promises. And like with the small scale of like local politicians and local government, they are elected to represent such a small group of people that these people know them individually. Like you see around like you see them shopping at your own grocery store.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos14:25

Yes, okay, I'm done. Yeah, exactly. And it's all about proving what you're doing. Because there's no highly funded campaigns, television ads, vocal for this person because they're better than this person.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos14:49

Yeah, or I'm louder than the other person. Yeah. That's so far. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's true.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos15:17

Well, right now. I am taking, I'm only taking liberal arts classes because I'm in the College of Letters and Science, which means that when I graduate, I will have a liberal arts degree. So a lot of my prerequisites fall under the category of liberal arts. So as of right now, I'm in a Shakespeare class. I'm in a class about analyzing performances. I know Shakespeare's killing me, man. Uh-huh.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos16:15

I was a theater kid. I read, you know, off the low and Romeo and Juliet and crap like that. But so far we've read like four plays. It's like a play a week. Oh hell no. Okay. I know.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos16:36

A little note to everybody out there taking a class that says Intro to Shakespeare might seem like a good idea. That do it. That do it. And I found out it sucked after the drop deadline.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos17:03

Yeah, I know. I mean, I'm taking it past no pass because just the sheer amount of reading and work, it's impossible to keep up with my other classes.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos17:19

I'm taking environmental earth sizes. Yes, it sounds interesting, but it's a lot about dirt. It's not yeah. Yeah environmental science, too. It's not. Yeah, it's it's it's dirt. It's a dark class. You know dirt how it's not dirt. It's soil, but it's dirt. You learn like global warming, greenhouse gases, dirt. How dirt does things for life?

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos17:59

It's not even funny. He talks about it as if he's married to it. Yeah. Oh dear. I'm also taking a class called. Hollywood, the industry, the fantasy, the legacy. Interesting. So it's actually a history class, believe it or not. And first we started learning about, you know, how so Calcoc got kind of separated from California. And now we're watching a whole bunch of old movies and we're learning about the history of Hollywood. And it fulfills a history requirement. That's awesome. It's so interesting. It's so interesting. It's the only class that like I was sick the other day, so I missed a couple classes. Like, I dragged my sorry behind out of bed that day for that class.

And so I really liked it. I really liked that class. Unfortunately, there's no degree in old Hollywood. You got to figure out a way to, you know, keep that interest going. There's a lot even about economics and how like the start of the movie industry also started like advertising and. Sponsorships and stuff like the first advertisements were about like products that were in movies by the actors and actresses in the movies. So it was it's it's it's interesting. So maybe advertising or economics or something like that. I'll be able to tie into with my love of Hollywood. That's incredible. That's an awesome class. Really is. And the teacher is so cool. She's actually, you went to Kiyama, right?

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos20:16

Like she falls me all the time, which is a little annoying. But mostly the easier questions like nobody else is saying anything. She's like, Oh, it's a bit. I'm like crap. I've got to pay attention now. No, it's a super interesting class though. And the teachers so high energy like I think that what vibe the teachers put off helps determine the vibe of the class. Oh, for sure. He's so monotonous. He's like, where have you been, Juliet? I was like, okay. Whatever you say, coach. Whatever you say, coach, give me a B. I've also considerably lowered my standards since entering college. Like I got a C plus on my first paper ever, which I used to be pretty good at writing.

I would get, you know, A's and B's and A plus is and B plus is and like a C plus. I was like, I worked so hard on that paper. I wrote it. I wrote it about the usage of the word ass in a mid-summer next dream and how it referred to being stupid and an actual donkey. So my first college paper ever was about ass.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos21:47

Yeah. What's about? What about the word? Ask. That's wonderful. You know, it was a C plus earning paper. And so at that point, like people in my class are getting like. D's and F's on their paper says like, you know what, this is passing on take it, you know? It's passing and it's better than some people, so I'm good. Yeah, I mean, Berkeley is all about just being better than everyone else. Yeah. It's not about your own like personal growth or like personal, you know, feelings or strengths. It's just about beating the other people.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos22:27

I used to like competition, not like that way. Like, you know, if I won a game of Monopoly, I'd hold that close to my chest for about a week. But, you know, just having every single part of your day being consumed by competition. It's like too much. Yeah, I know. It's a lot. It's yeah. you know, everybody's working so hard on trying to do their classes and be the best and get the best grades that everyone's studying all the time. Like, it's so hard to make friends when you're not an organization and get this. You have to apply to every single club. There's no clubs that just take people.

You have to apply and then once you get in, you pay fat dues. Ah shoot. I tried, I auditioned for their mock trial team, which I'll admit was a huge stretch. It was like 140 people, they were taking 12, they were taking 12. I made it to the top 20, but with no mock trial experience, so I was super proud of myself, but like it was so cutthroat that Yeah, I just didn't get it and because I was focusing on those auditions because I went through rounds of auditions Yeah, that was like prepping and you know memorizing and practicing I didn't have time to apply to other clubs and organizations because that happened during like the recruitment week Right now I'm doing nothing I'm applying to jobs.

I want to be working but I take classes all day, Monday, Wednesday. I have no classes Tuesday, Thursday, and then I have a half day on Friday. That's not bad. Yeah. Pretty good. Yeah. Except, you know, 10 to 6 straight classes with one break. It's a little much. Yeah. But then let me tell you.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos24:41

I do really, really enjoy sleeping in every other day. Yeah, my earliest class is a 9 a.m. which is on the map and it's on a Friday, you know, like, come on. No, but it's a discussion. So it's a small class. Okay. I just sit in the corner and try to fall asleep. And then see my strategy so far has been. They want you to participate, but they don't really care how you do it. So I just volunteer to read all the time. Like, I don't have to give any, I can pronounce them stupid Shakespeare words, but I don't want to think about them.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos25:39

Yeah, like, like say, for example, so it says, oh yeah, politics are, you know, divisive and like they make people angry. And then you say, you know what, I agree. I also think that politics are bad.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos26:02

And you're good to go. Yeah, like when I was a kid, Trump punched me in the face. And they're like, oh my God, bravo. So. That really gets them. Yeah, it's just it's over. It's actually it's actually a thing we talked about in my performance study class was the concept of repetition and revision. Like a lot of writers and like books and movies and TV shows and plays and performance art pieces they keep repeating the same phrases and the same ideas. Story of the same goal that they just tell how the way they just tell it differently each time the impact is still there But you don't feel like you're reading the same thing over and over Same thing can be applied in classes I like this like this little brain like Berkeley action I Like this yeah, that's also a saying. Oh my god every time somebody does something either really stupid or really smart. They just go brain like Berkeley and I'm like, great.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos27:09

The in-between is just your normal brain, but if you're being more real stupid, it's brain like Berkeley.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos27:32

I feel it there with you there brother.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos28:33

That's awesome. That's so cool. Yeah, my free time because it's hard to make friends at Berkeley. I end up just spending a lot of free time with my boyfriend and we just do homework together. I find it easier to do homework with another person because they can hold you accountable when you're getting off task. Oh, yeah, sure. Yeah. Sorry if I'm on my way. But... It's a lot. Yeah, you hold yourself accountable and you hold others accountable. Like when I'm studying in my dorm room, I'm just, I get distracted so easily. I'm like, yo, there's a cop there. Maybe I should wash it or stuff like that.

But like in the libraries and things, everybody's working. So like you slack off for a minute and you're like, wait a second. They're doing it. All right, back on.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos29:36

Yeah, it's um, I don't really know. I know only in one class I have friends. All the other classes are like complete strangers. Nobody ever talks to each other. Um, but in that one class with friends, like we, we put aside time to do homework together. We share notes. So like, you know, if someone's having an off day and doesn't get to finish, like. They can do it too. My dorm room is right next to a study lounge. So there's people in there all the time. Just where I just, you know, if like my dorm room's getting a little too small, I just walk next door, I plot myself down at a table of other studying people and I get my crap done.

So that's really nice. It is really all of, because of the housing problems, pretty much every single floor study lounge has been converted to a quad. So we're the only floor with a still working study lounge. Oh, there you go. You got lucky dice. Oh, we did. We did. Except it's also super loud into like, I walk. Makes sense. I have, I like half a sleep stumbled to the bathroom at three o'clock in the morning and there's still people doing homework. I have a sleep stumbled to the bathroom at five o'clock in the morning. Still people in there. Yeah, quiet hours don't start until one.

So if I'm trying to go to sleep at like 11 30 12, there's a lot of noises. You better get that earplugs. Oh yeah, I have earplugs. Yeah. You're not used to living with so many people in such a small space. Yeah, of course. Yeah. And I mean, I don't even talk to my roommates. It's crazy. Like one of them is really weird. Like like well first of all if she sleeps naked Mmm, which is great something I need to see every morning when I wake up of course. Yeah, yeah And she's also obsessed with the gym. So there's just canisters approaching powder everywhere She cooks all her own meals in the dorm and she's a really weird sleep schedule So like it's just it's not great Wow other one she's really nice and really chill.

So she's just never around. Oh yeah. And the other one of course is around all the time. I love it. Yay. But yeah, so there's that. So needless to say I try to get out as much as I can.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos32:51

I was actually talking to my boyfriend about this. I was like, I don't have any friends right now. And he said, well, what about that one person in that world class that you said you talked to? I was like, that's acquaintance. He was like, what about that one person you could breakfast with like every other day? And like, that's a really good experience. I was like, oh, yeah, I correct myself too. I say, oh, my friends. But then I remember like, we probably talked like three times. And we're just holding on to every little human interaction began like my friends with my acquaintances, so That's that's fun.

Yeah, I used to have friends I used to have such like a strong like group of friends Actually, it took me until my senior year to find like my solid group that I really vibed with and that I like Enjoyed spending time with me spent time together all the time. Yeah So it's like, you know, beginning of high school all over again. But makes sense. They are a freshman. So true, true. Yeah, it's just weird waiting to find your people. It takes a while. The first two days were great. Yeah. Nobody, you know, we were doing orientation. Yeah. So we had an orientation plan for us from 9 a.m.

to 12 a.m. every morning. So like. 15 hours of orientation every day. And so like you were with the gang group of people all the time, like when you got back to your dorms, everybody was talking to each other, trying to make friends. And then as soon as school started, the day school started, everybody shut down. Nobody talked to anybody else. The friend groups were established. You know, there's no more like opening your door and saying, hey, who's to go to Target with me? Because I did that the first day and I got 12 people to go to Target with me. That's what it is.

I know, but there's no more of that. Like those little people I took to go to Target with me like now I see him in the bathroom and we're brushing our teeth at like two o'clock in the morning and we're like, hey, hey, like that's it.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos35:10

Well, yeah, or anywhere, it's just like a, hey, a little short.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos35:23

Yeah, just walk. Yeah. It's the target near us is so tiny. Like, it's serious. It's so small. Like, it's a target the size of a 7-Eleven. Yeah. It's minuscule. That is the target where every single like out of state person who couldn't afford to like pack all their things with them. but everything they needed to be people. So like the walls were stacked high with you know microwaves and fans and bed spreads and mattress covers and now it's like more normal target stuff but it was like that was you know dorm room headquarters for like two weeks.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos36:14

Like the Walgreens close to campus and the CVS closer campus, they inflate their prices because students are desperate. But Target, Target's on and play nothing. Target prices are the same there as they are like anywhere else. So you know, you need something. You don't go to the walkers. You walk 20 minutes to Target. Even the Walgreens is a really good three minute walk.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos36:45

So that's why that's why I gotta go to Target I had to quit my job like a third week of school and ever since then I've been broke The other day like no the diary hall food is not great and as a vegetarian like they have options, but it's just the same options all the time What different sauce can we put on tofu today, you know or?

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos38:20

Oh, it's a chrysus of fire hazards. I know it's, it's insane. What the hell?

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos38:33

You know, I was just, I spent like a solid hour Watching those BuzzFeed cooking videos. Yeah, they're like oh that sounds so good. Oh my god That sounds so good when I get apartment I'm gonna buy eggs and I'll be able to make eggs, you know, because you can't make eggs in microwave I mean you can't but they're nasty I don't want to My fridge is so small and filled with my roommates, you know frozen spinach and Greek yogurt weird dietary supplements that I can't I mean, I have my bottle of iced coffee and like some yogurt and that's it. That's all I can get there.

So I'm just like, I'm so waiting to get in a apartment with a full-sized fridge, bro. Oh, that sounds so cool. I had to stove. Oh, I'm so oaster. Oh my God. Toaster. Those aren't allowed. You have a fridge, microwave and a hot water, like a water kettle. And that's it. Get a rice cooker. Yo, that's not loud actually. Of course not. There's so many like for an even allowed. They're doing like room inspections this week and you have to hide all your stuff. Like we got an email from our racing hydro theme. They're not allowed to open drawers but anything on me open is like fair game to write you up for.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos39:59

That's what I did. I took down all my streetlights and I did. Yeah, I think they can't look and when I tried to make my thing so messy because I don't think they're allowed to touch your things either They just look so I mean my stuff so messy that like They can't like find anything the right Yeah, it's a good idea Yeah, no you got it dude you gotta use what you You got to use what you can. You got to outsmart the system here. Absolutely. Things are so cutthroat. You've got to be on it. Yeah. Someone has someone on a floor below me has a George Foreman grill and a rice cooker and she's like, I've already got a drawer space like Alp there's no one to put in.

She ended up taking half her clothes out of her closet, stashed it in the bottom of her closet and then put her clothes on bed. Just so there was room for her thing. I was thinking like you know the thought process of the inspectors they walk in there and then they're like why does bitch have all her clothes on the bed? Like that's a little suspicious. That's a little sus. Yeah, but they can't do anything because they can't go to the drawers so.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos41:58

That's that's exactly and they can't do nothing about it. So yeah, or maybe they were late and they're like, yeah smart.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos42:14

I wish I thought it out when I was a college student. They're a little note for you like, well done. Like, nice. But I'm just. The dorms are so crazy. You don't realize like how many life skills you don't know until you're living on your own with a bunch of other crazy people you read. Like nobody knows how to do anything. It's pretty funny. Like, oh man, I can't even think of an example. People just have like the weirdest stuff going on. Like I've seen people like have like a tub of like Trader Joe's cookies just like snacking on them like their chips while doing homework, you know.

I mean, I didn't have granola, but I had frosted flakes, so I had yogurt and frosted flakes, you know. Like, it's, people get creative, you know?

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos43:12

That's exactly right. Yeah, but one advice I have for every broke college student is Tina's microwave burritos, 50 cents each. Two of them is a full meal. That's a dollar for a full meal. I bought eight and I left them in my boyfriend's fridge and I checked it later. They were all gone through with eight rappers in the trash can. I was like, all right, who took Matino? Who's faster? Like, which one of y'all? Who's asking? I got a whoop. Like that's gonna be my lunch for a week like oh man, come on You know, it's not yours. Don't eat it You know, I'm still trying to make a good impression on the family so I couldn't call them out and then when somebody confessed They're like, oh, yeah, it was me.

I was like, oh, it's no problem I was scared I didn't I was like, oh, it's no big deal. It's whatever accidents happen I'm a $4.00 I need that for. Yeah, you need that $4.00. Come on. Whatever. It's over. But they don't sell them anywhere close to campus. So I get them in the Union City Lokies and I slug them in a bag on park. So you do what you got to do, man.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos44:47

Pretty good. I know. And they're like... I mean, they're not huge. Well, like they're pretty good size. They're like little Taco Bell burritos.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos45:00

You don't want me neither. Actually, no, I'm just kidding. It did. That's like there's one Taco Bell that's huge right by campus. And that's right. Those after parties. People like drunk out of their minds just like slurping on a what's it called a freeze a Baja blast or whatever. You know, eating quesadillas like they've never had any quesadillas in their lives, like, oh my god, this is so good. They're open to like three in the morning.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos45:34

Once again, you do what you gotta do.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos45:39

Yeah, do what you gotta do. I'm teaching you all kinds of life hacks. Another life hack, only go to a college that there's a Dyson nearby. Cause that... will save your behind money. That's actually really good. Yeah. There's one. There's one super close to my dorm. And I've already gone there like six times. Like I'm out of races or you know, I need a storage bin for all of my paper clips or something weird like that.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos46:14

Yo, yeah. And they have more than school supplies too. Like they got everything. Drinks and hell you need slippers you could go to die so exactly well not for my big ass people like Yeah, like little trash cans they have trash cans they have a lot of gardening supplies You have an apartment with the you know window box full of Flowers die so Yeah, I have a plant it dies often, but you know wait what it dies often it came back to life. What do you No, it's like it shrivels because I forget water and you can like physically see it shrivel. Then like the water and it's back for like a day and then it shrivels again.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos47:10

It should be. What's that? I'm just not great with a live thing.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos47:19

I know. I'm just. I'm not that smart man. I'm losing my mind a little bit.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos47:32

Well, like, since I haven't really been drinking water, like everything I drink is either like, not gonna lie, juice or coffee. Like, there's, yeah, it's.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos47:55

That's crazy. Right. I remember when I was in, um, I was in Marching Man during band camp. We would have like a gallon and a half of water a day. Like, you know, you end band camp and your pants don't fit anymore because you just have so much water weight. The next week, you lose like 15 pounds and you're like, what the? Like that's exactly what happened. Like I would, you know, for the end of the band barbecue, you put your pants on, you're like, these are tight. You know, three days later, like finally, you know, you're not drinking as much water anymore and your pants like fall down to your ankles.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos48:43

Yeah, I mean, it's pretty universal like a lot of people My section we used to like say like oh my god my pants are so tight. They hurt me. They're so tight.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos49:06

Yeah, we're broken on the choice exactly Geez and I mean the the amount of like Things and like methods. I've seen people like to sneak food out of the dining hall Has been astounding. I saw a guy that we have the cereal dispensers. He put his cereal box under the cereal dispenser Refilled his box. It was great. I know everybody's like I saw some girl fill up like a Starbucks cup with frozen yogurt That is pretty smart. Like you learn things, you learn things, man. Like, you know, people, you can stuff a muffin in your pocket if you wrap it in an afkin. Like people, everybody has Tupperware in their backpacks.

Like, it's crazy. That's how they get. Yeah. I keep the zip-block bags in my back. So like if they have something good one day, I like, you know, I can use some more of this later. Like he's gonna blow up a bag. Yeah, we get creative. We do. Yeah, yeah, you get desperate and you're like, you're like, I can't say you got to do what you got to do, man.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos50:54

That happens so often it's not even funny. It sucks. My brain is like it's like a full sponge right now. Nothing new can come in. Only stuff can come out. So we're just squeezing it right now. I know we're really squeezing it but I don't think it'll refill afterwards. The sponge will just be done. The sponge is dead. Sponge is dead.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos51:24

You're just done. That's how it works. As the official brain sponge, um, professional, I'm just gonna say once your sponge is done, your sponge is done.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos51:45

So good luck. I better major in something I already know how to do like, you know, addition. I want to do that with a fuck. I could do that. You can use it for so much like first grade. Yeah. Definitely. It's applicable to everything. Yeah. Or, you know, maybe like communications. I can talk. I can do that. I can do that. I can talk. I think I can major in public speaking. right now. Honestly?

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos52:27

Don't let my professor hear this. Honestly, I find public speaking kind of fun.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos52:45

That's the point where like, you know, a crowd of, it's hard for me, it's harder to talk one on one with people. And it is to talk in front of a lot of people. Cause like, you know, if it's a lot of people, you can be like, Oh, everybody's opinions are different. You know, if they hate me, somebody out there liked me. But if it's only one person, they either don't like it or they like it. You know, there's a lot to think about. Like I can't, I go into Starbucks, they get my drink wrong. I'm so nervous. I don't correct them. Like I order an iced tea and they give me like a hot black coffee.

I'm like, bro. I mean it this, you know, like I'm so nervous to talk about that kind of stuff. Wow. But I can speak in front of my classes with ease.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos53:36

So, you know, I know like, and they can like. They can correct their barista when they get the drink wrong and not speak in front of class, but I'm the exact opposite. Yeah, yeah, it's crazy. I wish it was the other way around. That would make my life a lot easier. There's been a lot of unwanted black coffee. Yeah, you should probably tell them. Maybe we'll see. We'll see how that goes.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos54:19

So there's been a couple of times where like, you know, I asked for a slice of cheese and I gave a slice of pepperoni. I'm like, you know, if it's something I absolutely cannot eat, I'm really like, I'm so sorry to bother you. I'm sure you're grateful you've done nothing wrong in your life, but I can't eat this. I'm so sorry. Please, please, please, please. But, you know, if like, I order cheese pizza and they give me broccoli, I'm like, okay, I won't die. So I'm just. So, yeah, it's, it's, you know, it's bad. I don't know why. I don't know why it makes me so nervous.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos55:04

I know, like, they get my or like, I think in my order wrong, I just. take it like when I'm looking for something in a store I just go look for it. I can't ask for help. Yeah, it's okay.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos55:32

But the part of me is like, just tell them. See a lot of girls like they. One of one of the big things is like when you get a boyfriend you can steal his jackets, but know what I do is like I Just have him ask them for me He's like he's like yes, you're an ice tea and I'm just like they're like All right Because he doesn't have a problem with me. He can't speak in front of a crowd, but he can like correct his order But I'm the exact opposite

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos56:24

You'll be fine. Yeah, yeah, or but it's also to the point where like when I do manage to do it and he's there he's like oh my god like You're so like you're you're growing up Like I got the right flavor of my you know talk about freeze for a I Know like hey I did it Get those fireworks. Yeah, you know like where's the parade I just talked to a person. Yeah Yes, it's pretty fast. That's pretty bad.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos58:11

It doesn't matter where it's from. I chose Berkeley for the prestige because I was stupid. I was about to go to San Diego State. It would have been cheaper. I would be farther from home, which would suck. But I chose Berkeley because of its reputation and because of the opportunities I thought it would give me. And so far... Because it's so cut through everybody else is getting those opportunities, but I haven't been able to get my feet in the water yet. And so really just go to the place that makes you happy. And if it's by a beach, that's bonus points.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos58:52

For real. Like imagine studying on the beach. Like there's no better place to do it. Sorry, I wouldn't be studying. Oh, I mean, yeah, you go there with the intent to study, but then you wouldn't.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos59:11

Yeah, but just even with your degree, like when you're choosing something, so many people choose computer science because they think it would help a job opportunities. But then so many people are choosing computer science. that is like so competitive. So just do what you want to do and what makes you happy. Like, I mean, I'm at Berkeley now, like there's really not much I can do about that. So I'm gonna try to make the best out of my experience. It's gonna be tough, but I'm gonna try. But like, if you're like, say, if you're a gym, if you're a senior right now. And you're thinking of like, oh, where should I go to college?

And like your heart is telling you like, oh yeah, maybe I want to go to community. Or maybe I want to go like somewhere close instead of like to the faraway school I've thought about my entire life. Just listen to your freaking heart. Don't do it because your parents want you to or because like society is like, oh yeah, you have to go straight into like a four year or something like that. Just do what you want to do, man. You'll be so much happier and it'll be so much better for like your mental health and if you're not struggling it'll be easier to find enjoyment Yeah, and then you'll meet like-minded people who also like love doing what they want to do and It's then you'll have a community and friends and people you can talk to in a support system that you just wouldn't have if you're like sad and you hate your degree and you hate your classes and you're at a school that's out of your comfort zone. Yeah, that's my biggest advice.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:02:00

We want more. But at the same time, we're not happy this. Like, you know, also I got voted most likely to be a billionaire for senior class favorites. So I know it's going to happen. I don't think that's how it works. That's what I've been telling myself. I'm like, I'll take it out. I'll like broke now, but like in however many years, I'm gonna be a billionaire.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:02:30

One million? I did. One million. Just one.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:02:35

Yeah. And then, you know, just you though, I'm not offering millions to everybody. Just our channel. I'm special, guys. Yeah. I'm a biggest fan. Remember? You should always say that. I do remember this.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:03:00

I went to Kitty. I didn't go to Kittyama until second grade. Second grade. I was there second grade. Yeah. So... What did you have? I had Ms.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:03:30

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I feel like I feel like I meant third grade, right? I was gonna guess it was like an elective. Maybe. Like maybe. be like science class we had together something like that but I yeah I think it was their great team. I think they're not first team. Like you're in game. Right? It's so long ago. It's so crazy. And now we're old. That makes this a decade. That makes this a decade.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:04:05

That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. That's I know. Like back then, you know, like, we're so tiny. So tiny. And now we're, you know, I have green hair for crying out loud. We're changing. We're tall down. Yeah. Crazy. Couldn't have imagined this one. I was eight. That's for sure. Oh my god, no when I was eight I was convinced that I was gonna be a ballerina so I've never saw this coming I've been dashed like four years I think I was going on firefighter or something so Oh yeah yeah the good old one.

Oh was I the astronaut kid? I don't know I wanted to be a cowgirl and a ballerina And so to combine them, I was like, I'm gonna be a Calcra ballerina. I'm gonna wear two, two and run out of horse. So that was my goals. And then when I got a little bit older, you know, like fifth grade, I was like, I'm gonna be president. And then, yeah, now I'm like mad. I'm like a club hopefully if I get there eventually someday in my life hopefully. But yeah, like things are so different.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:05:45

One of the reasons I'm going to count too is because when I was applying to colleges, my dad said, if you get into Cal, you should go to Cal. Okay, if I get in, I'll go because at that point it was just like, yeah, that was my reach school. That was like the one crazy school that I applied to. I was like, yeah, there's no, I'm not getting in. And he was like, yeah, you'd be close to be so awesome. You could come home all the time. We could like, guess we can bring stuff to you if you need it. Like you could live at home if you wanted to.

And then like at the time, I was like, yeah, like that sounds good. But then once I got it in, my parents were like, so you're committing. Like I committed the same day I got in. And then think about it because I was like, oh my God, I got into like when I was younger, I wanted to go to Berkeley. Like actually like. That's like every day area. Yeah. Exactly. And so I was like, yeah, I went to my nine year old self to go to Berkeley. But yeah, I picked I picked it because other people told me to pick it. But I mean, I'm.

I'm okay with where I'm at. Like if I was in San Diego, for example, I wouldn't be able to like, you touch with all my friends now. There'd be a lot less like, you know, my best friend since sixth grade, Arshia, she also goes to Cal. And so if I do need someone there, like although our dorms are very far apart, I could make the 20 minute walk and see her if I wanted to. my boyfriend nearby and so that's like an also also support system. My parents are close like that's all like positives and all stuff I wouldn't have if I'd gone to San Diego. But it's just like the school itself is a little different than what I what I want to have wanted.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:08:49

I like it. It is. Also, I recommend joining their meme page before you. accept or decline their offer of admission because you can learn a lot about the culture there.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:09:02

Yeah, because like you hear about like, you know, classes you should absolutely not take or like majors that are made fun of and stuff like that.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:09:45

I like that. I mean, throughout high school, I had a lot of like problems with mental health. And so like being positive has always been like not something I was great at. I was a very social person. I talked to everybody. I tried to be outwardly like encouraging and happy like the the self like positive and like being positive about my situation has never really been anything that I was good at until probably recently. Trying to look on the brighter side of the things.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:10:28

So there you go We got senior favorites together. I'm pretty happy about that Yeah, I mean I think the reason I didn't oh so I didn't run for billionaire I didn't I didn't run either. Okay. Yeah, but everybody knows you're most encouraging an optimistic air job like come on Like, but I didn't, I didn't remember millionaire. I, at one point, I posted on my Snapchat story, but for me, for most likely to have snacks. And that was it. That's all like the promotion I did. And it was for a different one that I lost. And I got a million here. And I was thinking like, so what, why do people think I'm a billionaire?

And I realized billionaires have to work their butts off their entire life in order to get that money or I was just handed to them. But. Right. Likely they really have to like work hard for it. And like, it's you have to be crazy. And you have to be willing to do some pretty shady things in order to get that much money. So it's like, okay, people think I'm crazy and shady. And I was like, eh, there's worse.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:11:39

I, yeah, my work is, I mean, it could be better, but I mean, I get all of my stuff down all the time. Just the method. to doing so might be a little cramming the next floor or you know sitting outside of my class frantically typing to meet the you know nine-two-time career and competitive class yeah but I guess that I mean might not be great but it's done it's done you'll get it yeah so I like I like the shift in attitude though I really do that's awesome I do too. I mean, like, it gets really easy to just like shut down at school.

Because like, you know, you're on your own, your parents like aren't in to like check on you. Your roommates have their own lives going on. Right. It'd be so easy to just like, confine yourself to your dorm room. Never leave. Don't go to class. Like, completely stop. You really have to be your own motivator. You have to be your own biggest fan. You do. You do. Or you have to at least give yourself incentive to get out of bed. I mean, for me, I really like the dorm breakfast. Like, it's always hot eggs and like some sort of potato and like a muffin and I can get like juice or stuff like that.

So like, one of the things that like encourages me, I'm like, okay, I gotta get up. And then, you know, I can have breakfast.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:13:11

Or if it's a day like... Say on my Tuesdays and Thursdays when I don't have class. I'm like, all right. I'll go visit Ryan or you know, I will get this done today and I should get this done today or what I've been doing is I've been going to Starbucks and getting work done. So my encouragement is, hey, you'll go get one of those Vomass pumpkins goans and some coffee and then you can sit there and do your homework. And so I like, I wake up for the Starbucks and then I go there and then I stay for the homework. So you've got to have those little like daily personal motivators.

Love it. Yeah, it's I mean it took a while to figure that out. But you got it now. Yeah, yeah, I mean even like say your motivator is like you want to go exercise you're like all right but if I want to go exercise I have to get out of bed first or your motivator is like I want to have time to you know play the new Mario Kart that's on your phone like to work first or Stuff like that.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:15:10

I just want the breakfast. I'm not eating you catch up cover day and just for like, you know, my professors they for me.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:15:27

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. It doesn't come quickly though.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:15:35

Yeah, I mean, I could definitely still work on that. Like, I think, I mean, you know, I can get out of bed to go to class in like, Tuesday, Thursday, that I'm like, I could just sleep all day. Like, that would be so great. Like, oh, I imagine like 20 hours of sleep, man. You'd be sick, you know? But it sounds like a bit much. I know. We still have other responsibilities. Life goes on even if you don't. So got to, yeah, learning process for sure.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:16:47

Yeah, so it's been almost one and hour half, yeah. It's okay. It's good, whatever. Yeah, I don't know. Oh, if, okay, my advice, this is very personal, but if a Weird startup app approaches you on Instagram and asks you to be an ambassador. Don't do it Too much. I don't like it I only get paid ten dollars a week and then I have to post twice a week about it and then get really particular and Like it's not fun anymore. It's fun the first two times. It's not fun. Don't do it I said yes because I was too willing to say yes to everything Mm-hmm.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:17:39

Yeah, there you go. Oh, it's well, I yeah, no, just don't don't I don't even want to explain myself. Just don't. Yeah, don't. Nope. Don't take my word for it.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:17:56

I mean, the last like three posts I made have been like a sponsor or whatever and they're just it's not fun you know like it's like an obligation like I have to do something and take pictures of it now.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:18:14

Well it's not for me that's for sure. Alright everything I hated.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:18:30

I was thinking of like, you know, asking other people to do it for me and ask like, well, they asked me to do it and I'm like outsourcing the work.

Elizabeth Barton-Mattos1:18:55

Thank you for coming on though, Elizabeth. Oh, no problem. I had blast.