On Friday, May 3rd students from HYLC and Key Club took a ride to Santa Cruz where they toured UC Santa Cruz and cleaned up the beach off the boardwalk. This trip allowed students to get a better feel for UCSC’s campus as well as benefiting the community, ocean and ocean species by helping pick up trash on the beach.
When on the college campus, students found themselves walking around many dorms, classrooms, coffee shops and other locations on school grounds. This trip was opened to students who were thinking about attending UC Santa Cruz and those who were deciding between schools, hoping that stepping on campus will help make their decision a little easier. The University of Santa Cruz is set in a very green location upon a hill. It definitely is not a traditional campus, some may say it feels more like living on a hiking trail. Santa Cruz is an amazing option for students wanting to study biology or marine sciences since the ocean is so close and there are a plethora of resources to help have a better understanding of these studies. UCSC is mildly competitive, at about 45% acceptance rate for first year students. Overall, UC Santa Cruz is an impressive school with an extraordinary atmosphere and is located in one of the most beautiful cities in America.
After taking the college tour, the students were taken to the beach off the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Then, they were able to spend some time picking up trash from the beach. I have presented Aled Chavez Perez to talk a little bit about how the cleanup has positively affected the community, her response was, “I feel like the cleanup shows people this prime example of the importance to tidy up our messes here on Earth. Cleaning up at the beach helps everyone, the visitors enjoy a clean beach and the sea animals have less of a chance of getting sick or dying due to pollution.” Taking time to eradicate trash from areas that are considered home to many different species is very important, it not only helps decrease pollution in the ocean but also saves the lives of a multitude of animals in the environment.
After cleaning up the beach, students were allowed some time to enjoy the boardwalk on the sunny day. The trip to Santa Cruz was fun and informative for the HYLC and Key Club students who attended and is a great outing to provide for students who are considering a move to the area for their college education.