I Walked from Warren to Muir and Ended up in Tijuana

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Written by: Naomika Nadkarni

by Danny Laust-Buoy
New in Town

This campus is huge and incredibly confusing to navigate. I’m a first-year student, and nobody told me just how bad it would be when I was applying. I had to find out the hard way. At the beginning of the quarter, I was trying to walk from Warren’s Franklin Antonio Hall to the Applied Physics & Mathe­matics building in Muir, and somehow, I ended up in Tijuana. I was literally just trying to get to my MATH 20C professor’s office hours from my dorm, but found myself in flipping Mexico!

Every time I tell this story, I’m always asked whether I began to suspect something when the walk was taking over 12 hours instead of 15 minutes, and I always say the same thing: everyone told me this campus is big, so I figured, this is just college life. Plus, I had heard UCSD has world-class facilities, so I thought the freeways and bridges and whatnot were just part of the campus. I particularly enjoyed Balboa Park (such gorgeous nature) but I figured that was the work of the UCSD gardening club. How on earth was I to know it wasn’t the campus? I really don’t think I’m in the wrong here.

I finally began to suspect I had left the United States after noticing all the signs had switched to Spanish. But frankly, what really got me was when I stepped into a café for a bite to eat (the trek was taking longer than I thought and I needed some energy for calculus) and the food had a tremendous amount of actual flavor! Seasoning! Spices! But when I realized I had reached Mexico, I figured, hey, let’s look around! I met a lot of new people down there, and honestly I think I might consider them to be my closest friends. I feel like they really get me, you know. This one guy even set me up on a date, and, not to be overdramatic, but I think I’ve finally met the one!

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Once ICE got wind of some American college student who’d snuck past the border unnoticed, they were on my tail, trying to track me down and question me about my methods. Luckily, I managed to evade them (thus far), but I was not quite sure how long I could have stayed hidden in Tijuana. One of my new pals had been helping me hide, but I decided it was for the best to return back to La Jolla.

Readjusting to life at UCSD has been difficult. When one has experienced the pin­nacle of happiness, it is tough to return to a life of lectures, homework, and unceasing sobbing because you miss your buddies in TJ. But, I have been slowly getting used to the American way of life (three days in Mexico can really change a guy). I never did end up getting to ask my math professor my calculus question, so I’m gonna head to his office hours now. I still don’t know where AP&M is… Wish me luck!

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