During one of my first weeks at Berkeley, as I walked through Sproul Plaza, I was stopped by someone holding up a poster board with bolded letters “BTS” written on it. I knew BTS is a popular k-pop band, but I was not interested in joining some sort of fan club. The girl, however, stopped me to explain that she is a facilitator for a BTS decal course at Berkeley. She introduced me to democratic education at Cal, known as decals, which are student-run classes that can grant students with university approved academic credits. For the BTS specifically, the course would explore factors in the media that contributed to the success of the international k-pop group. It turns out, Cal students put together over 100 different courses every semester across diverse topics. Ever since I started my Berkeley journey, I have been taking a decal class every semester.
Author: Jade Pan
Hi! My name is Jade Pan. I am a sophomore at UC Berkeley double majoring in psychology and economics, and working on a minor in data science. Aside from my classes, I am a part of the Cal women's ultimate frisbee club team. I got to explore many parts of California with my team during tournaments. I was involved in psychology research in my freshman year through ULAB where we conducted a study on the effect of gender on stress level differences. Cal has been a great place for academic and personal growth to me, and I am excited to share a part of my journey with you!