One of my bucket list items for college was to see the top of Sather Tower, commonly referred to as the Campanile. I'd entertained the thought multiple times this school year, but never got around to it. This weekend I finally had the time and incentive to trek up. It was my friend Emma's birthday, and the plan was for my friend Anna and I to surprise her with a pizza party after making her expect all she was getting for her birthday was a donut. Unfortunately, when we told her our excuse to leave, that we were going to Safeway and would see her for dinner later at the dining hall, she insisted on coming with us. Luckily for us, she hates walking, so we planned to tire her out as much as possible so she wouldn't come with us. We walked all around campus taking derp selfies and made it to the Campanile, where we were greeted by a stunning view. It was the perfect day – light clouds in a blue sky, visibility for miles and miles all around. I highly recommend that if you're ever in Berkeley and the weather is good, to go up and see the view from the tower.
Anyhow, the plan worked; she was exhausted and didn't come with us to "Safeway." Anna and I ran down to Pieology, her favorite pizza place, where I bumped into a friend from high school. We chatted for a bit and then ordered the pizzas. It took forever, and the pizza makers wrote "18" in pesto sauce, not barbeque sauce like we asked for. We had to call her to make sure she didn't leave with her roommate to go see a movie. During the call, I had told her that we were waiting in line at checkout, and Emma was going on about how great it was to have friends in college, which was very sentimental. All of a sudden, the pizzas were done, and Anna was telling me to go, so I quickly cut her off and shouted into the phone, "The bus is here bye gotta go!" and hung up. We bolted up to the dorm and prepared our gifts. I quickly sketched a cartoon on the card envelope, stuffed her gift into a paper grocery bag to make it look more believable, and went in. She had no idea, and when we pulled out the pizza and gifts, she cried and had to sit down.
The pizza was delicious, the surprise was carried out perfectly, and the trip to the Campanile was amazing – all in a day's work. Even though it wasn't a huge Facebook-worthy event, it was still a lot of fun. The campus is so peaceful and beautiful on the weekends when it isn't teeming with students, and again and again, I'm reminded of how lucky I feel to be here. ◊