San Francisco’s Been Pretty Cool So Far! PART 1
Being that there are no San Francisco natives in the cohort (Gauthier excluded), there was a Golden Gate sized learning curve to living in this strange city. The three-hour orientation on what goes into compost, recycling, and trash was a whole new world to us east-coasters.
But in all honesty, this city is a place unlike any other. The history of the city (which, coincidentally we are studying) has rendered this city an ever-changing representation of those who inhabit it.
Who inhabits it now?
This is a question that just so happens to be on the forefront of nearly every San Franciscan’s mind. The Silicon Valley boom has completely changed the city, from street to skyline. The new Salesforce tower has replaced the Transamerica pyramid as the biggest eyesore in the city. In the Mission District, a historically Latino and immigrant community, you can either pay $7.50 for a super burrito on Mission, or $15 for a Ginger shot on Valencia.
In case that metaphor was lost in translation: the gentrification of the wealthy tech community has impacted a neighborhood that is not traditionally affluent. This gentrification can also be observed clearly by strolling down two adjacent roads. Salesforce is also a tech company that built a big tower downtown.
This strange dichotomy serves to represent the city as a whole and is an interesting one to observe daily.
But enough of that. What has the cohort been up to?
A lot.
We take four classes (and complain about how much work it is, despite only having class three days a week). The classes are as follows: Theater written in or influenced by SF, the history of the West as the new frontier, Silicon Tech Ventures (FME in SF), and Consulting in Tech Entrepreneurship (MCFE but in SF and way cooler). Plenty of cool companies coming out of MCFE, I mean Silicon Tech Ventures, keep your eyes out for some of them. Also, if you happen to be in the area please forgive us if you see us on a tour with professor Schmitz, we generally take up an entire sidewalk and look like “those tourists”.
Other cool stuff.
We’ve gone to a lot of cool company headquarters. Insert list here: Data bricks, Airbnb, Google, YouTube, Facebook. I’m sure I’m missing one, but the point is we’ve seen a lot of them. I think the cohort’s consensus is that Facebook has the coolest campus (sorry YouTube, you came in second), and the free food didn’t hurt.
Babson entrepreneurship is slowly leaving its mark on the city, while Babson marketing has quickly made their mark with those banners hanging from every light post within a 15-block radius of the financial district.
Thanks,
Kenan Glasgold ’19
Student Leader
Semester in San Francisco Spring 2018
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Interested in studying in San Francisco? Apply for Spring 2019!
Learn more about Babson’s campus in the West Coast here.