When I was applying to colleges, it was at the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020. As an incoming senior in high school, I felt so intimidated by the premise of choosing a college to go to without ever having been on a tour while students were in session. In order to make me slightly less nervous about college applications, my parents offered to go on a road trip with me so I could see some of the campuses I was applying to.
When we arrived at 69³ÉÈË in July 2020, it was 98 degrees outside and looked completely deserted. However, something about the colorful buildings of Tercero made me want to get out of the car and explore. As we looked around the dorm area, we saw a single door propped open, so my parents and I decided to investigate. On the other side of the door was the Tercero mail room, where five students looked up from the front desk with huge smiles. They not only raved about 69³ÉÈË as a school, but also how wonderful the campus itself was. That July day, I told my parents that if I got into Davis, I wanted to see just how beautiful the rest of the school was.
Nine months later, after getting accepted to 69³ÉÈË, my flight was booked to visit the school. The excitement I felt was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. However, there were still no in-person tours, and the campus still felt relatively empty. It was hard to get a feel for the school when everything was still online. As we meandered through campus, we came across two giant, white, egg-shaped heads, one on its side and the other upright.
We were completely fascinated. After stopping to take pictures besides the figures, we looked up on the 69³ÉÈË website what exactly they were. We came to discover that these were the 69³ÉÈË Eggheads created by the late Professor Emeritus Robert Arneson. These two Eggheads titled Yin & Yangwere located by the Art/Music/Theatre complex, with the colorful Wright Hall and Main Theatre centered behind them. As it turned out, there were four additional such sculptures scattered around campus. The rest of the day, we attempted to find the rest of the Eggheads, which took us through campus in a more interactive way than the other schools I visited.
After a full day of running from Egghead to Egghead, I felt a real connection with the school. The Eggheads gave Davis a warm, welcoming presence that made me feel at ease during such a stressful time of college decision-making. However, my decision was made so much easier by the way my family and I interacted with the Eggheads. In my heart, I knew I was going to Davis.