Ricardo Pulido

My path to CSULB was an unexpected and interesting one. In the fall 2010 I dropped out of college at CSU Dominguez Hills and had decided that I was done with school and was never going back. After half a year of doing nothing I decided to give school another chance and enrolled at Los Angeles Harbor College where I obtained my A.A. in arts and humanities. I applied to Cal State Long Beach because I did some research and found out they had an amazing French program with lots of courses offered. That year 88,000 students applied for the fall of 2013 and only 8,000 students got excepted- I was one of them. The allure of the campus caught my eye, its beauty was something charming and to this day I still completely love it every time I walk through CSULB. When I was in my senior year in high school I took a college counseling class and for one of the assignments we all went to CSULB for a scavenger hunt. I remember doing the hunt on campus but it never crossed my mind that I would end up there 6 years later. Life is mysterious like that some times. There is so much to do at CSULB that it never gets boring. When I applied I just looked into the French program but I didn’t know that the campus life was going to be over-the-top amazing! It was so easy to make friends and even though I was a transfer student and it took me three and a half years later to get my degree I wouldn’t regret going on this magical mystery ride at all. I’m very proud to be a graduate from CSULB and even now, every time I walk through the campus I smile because I’m here and I made it. 

When I got accepted into CSULB I came in with the intentions to make the most of my time. I wanted to take advantage of all the services offered here and use them to my advantage. My first year I was only awarded loans and was on a real tight budget. I thought to my self, “I’m here on loans, better take advantage of all that I can here and make the most of it.” I wanted to make friends and just enjoy my ride here at CSULB. I started joining clubs during Week of Welcome every semester. I started off joining the French club and then joining all other clubs of my interests such as German Club, ESports, Anime Club, Russian Club, The Long Beach Runners, Zoology Club and the LGBTQ Club. I would read the Union Weekly every week and pick up the Daily 49r every day to see the scoop with what’s going on with campus. I attended every Smorgasport too and would always have such a great time. In my third year I started writing for the Union Weekly as a contributor and would get my French stories and poems that I wrote published. It was such a feeling of accomplishment because I was a fan for such a long time of the Union Weekly and seeing myself come out in the articles during the week made me feel so happy. I also joined KBeach radio and got really involved with them. I came up with the idea to have a radio show called “François Sur La Radio” where I would play French music and share the culture with the campus and all of southern California. It was a little dream of mine and it became a reality. One of the most prized opportunities I ever took was during this past fall semester of 2016 becoming CSULB’s French Club president. I had watched the club for the past three years as a member grow at times and decline at times as well. I ran for president with the intentions that if I obtained the position, I would fulfill it to the best of my ability to give every member the opportunity to experience the culture, have a lot of fun and ultimately make friends. This past semester for the club was one of the most successful ones I have ever seen at CSULB in the past three and a half years I have been here. CSULB gave me so many opportunities that any dream I had I was able to make it happen.

I obtained my B.A. degree in French and Francophone Studies at CSULB this fall of 2016. I thought a lot about what I wanted to do after obtaining my B.A. and decided that continuing to study the French language was the next path I wanted to take. I am currently working on a novel in French about vampires that I am putting a lot of time and effort in. I want to continue my education with the French language so that I can advance my writing skills for my novel. I applied and got accepted into the M.A. French and Francophone Studies program at CSULB for this spring of 2017. I’m really excited to start the program because it’s going to push me very hard and improve my reading, writing and speaking skills with the French language immensely. Joining the French M.A. program will also give me the opportunity to become a teaching associate and allow me to become a professor and teach French at the college level. There are also teaching abroad positions in France with a program called TAPIF that I am interested in applying for. I’m also looking into flight attendant positions with airlines that travel to and from France so I can have the opportunity to be in France more often. I hope one day I will be able to live there long term. That is one of my main goals in my life. Regardless of what I end up doing I know my education that I obtained from CSULB was priceless and will give me many job opportunities in my field of study.

Professors

I have had the opportunity to be taught by so many great professors at CSULB that have inspired me in so many different ways. Dr. Richard Flamein is by far my favorite professor at CSULB. He inspires me to just try my best and always shows me the value of having an education- that it is one of the most important things that no one can ever take away from you. Dr. Laura Ceia has sparked a love of Cinema inside me that I forgot I had. She is so stylish and every day she comes to class I always complement her on her “chic” outfits. She survived a revolution and has taught me to always be strong and to never care what anyone thinks of you- to be yourself and if people don’t like you then that’s their problem. Dr. Najib Redouane has taught me so many skills on how to be a writer. He inspires me so much and I hope that when I start teaching one day I can be like him- how he truly cares and loves his students with a passion and a drive to inspire them, believe in them and give up everything for them to help them succeed. Nicolas Bordage is hands down the coolest professor I have ever met. He sets the bar high on the level of cool a professor can be. He always comes to the French Club’s events and his smile and charm and love for his students inspires me to always see the cup half full and look on the brighter side of things. Each of my favorite professors have molded me in so many ways and I admire them and thank them endlessly so much for that.

My Favorite Class

I have had so many favorite classes at CSULB it’s hard to pick just one. Each class I took at CSULB had different aspects that made them special to me. My first French class I took at CSULB- French 101A Beginning French was a lot of fun. I won an outstanding student award for that. French Cinema with one of my favorite professors, Laura Ceia was so much fun that it inspired me to love Cinema even more and I even made a film that was shown at the end of the semester in the class that everyone loved. French 201B Intermediate French was a lot of fun as well with my professor Nicolas Bordage. My classmates and I made a film at the end of the semester that till this day I laugh at how funny it was. We also talked about French perfumes for two weeks and when I went to Paris this past summer I ended up in Guerlain, a famous French perfumery that we studied about one day during class. It was awesome to actually be there and know all about it after spending so much time learning about it in class! I didn’t even know I was going to be at Guerlain smelling the most beautiful perfumes a year later after learning about it. This past summer I put my education that I got at CSULB to the test and went to Paris. I wanted to test my French and I ended up having the trip of my life. All of the education I learned from my classes at CSULB was so valuable to me and that’s another reason why each class was so special to me. I learned a lot of different skills in each class that I took with me to Paris and that helped me to succeed in the goals I had while I was there.

My Favorite Spot on Campus

I have so many favorite spots on campus. I live near by campus so I always bike all the way through campus because my classes are in the AS building. CSULB is so beautiful to bike through! I like the cushioned seats outside of Sbarro because they are very comfy and I whenever I’m tired I can take a nap on them or just hang out with friends and talk. I also love having a beer at the Nugget and watching live bands play. I like hanging out with friends at the Beach Hut or lying in the grass on the Commencement Lawn reading an interesting French book. I love going to the four galleries in the Art Buildings every week because they have new exhibits and the artists are usually outside their gallery and you can talk with them about their work. I love the outside chair area in front of the Coffee Bean at the USU because French Club has their conversation hour there. The fourth floor of the library is a quiet area I love to go to for studying and taking a nap. Every place on campus is pretty neat for hanging out or just walking through.

My Favorite Activities/Orgs

I love when CSULB has Smorgasport every beginning of every fall semester. I love Week of Welcome as well because you can go join any club you want and meet a lot of interesting people and make friends. I really like how political CSULB can be at times, walking though campus and seeing students on the Freedom of Speech area on campus express and fight for their beliefs. I love the movie nights ASI puts on in the Beach Auditorium. Most of the movies shown you get to watch before they come out on DVD. I love participating as a contributor for the Union Weekly as well as picking up a copy to read during the day. KBeach Radio Station is a lot of fun to hang out at. I can go and sit in DJs’ shows and just hang out there. I have my radio show François Sur La Radio and I have met a lot of cool, talented and fun DJs. I’m currently president of the French Club and I have been a member since I started in the fall of 2013. It’s my favorite club to be apart of; I love it very much and it will always have a place in my heart. Playing Super Smash Bro’s on Nintendo 64 has always been my favorite past time and when I found out that CSULB’s ESports Club plays it all day when they have their meeting times and events I would get my nostalgia going and join in and play with their members who get crazy competitive. I would also go to the Spoken Word/Poetry Night’s ASI puts on in the USU and would read my favorite poem by Charles Baudelaire: Enivrez-Vous. I even took a bowling class that was at the Bowling Alley in the USU for a semester that was pretty awesome. There are so many activities and Orgs to join that I never got bored once in the 3-½ years I have been here at CSULB.

Favorite Quotes:

“From something bad, something good is born”

-Ricardo Alejandro Pulido

“When something is good it’s never gone”

-New Order

“Je suis fou de toi” (“I’m crazy for you”)

-Manu Chao