CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE

Women Gender Study Program: Why I selected this program because my intention was to end my academic career as a social worker, but after the experiences I've had in the last ten years I know more than the gross incompetent morons do about social work without the degree. Northridge is not the best school but all institutions have the same built-in racist thinking structure. White people who run the school are in administration and working as department managers leaving teachers of diversity to teach courses that need fluidity, but in reality, there is favoritism, blackballing grades, employees who can't teach a subject, and a lack of structure in the class. In addition, the program and campus lack activism. Women Studies is a small department on this campus with over a dozen teachers most of which are part-time and will teach other subjects. Very few instructors are tenor to protect their career but that doesn't make them qualified teachers. Many of these instructors were women of color and they too were IGNORANT of understanding how deep racism and religion can be, and how both of these critical areas infect the human race. Now this program is broad it covers areas of men's and women's problems with gender and sexuality, politics, social problems, religion, and other countries' differences, with that being said a decent-paying job won't cut it with this degree, you have to back it up with a strong masters and there are no guarantees.

Lesbian teachers make up one-third of the teachers in the department who favor other teachers as their friends so if you had a complaint against one of them as I did, it was like stabbing both of them with a knife. Your complaint goes unheard and decline is the answer you get. This is why a higher rank exists, so I took the complaint to student services, and the highest person who overturned the decision ruled in my favor.  I quickly realized many of the young teachers allowed their personal lives to be a part of class lectures. I found this to be inappropriate. I had numerous struggles with understanding how to study these courses, it's different from community college, and teachers are not supportive. Of course, tutors are available but they too are lazy and will advise you to "google it". Teachers are obligated to provide one day of office time to see students but will neglect to respond to emails or messages and demand you be considerate of their time. Nepotism was also a problem in the department and in the women's house which was not a house of activism but a hang-out for the young lesbians.  These girls didn't care about creating change, they were absorbed with personal problems, sex partners, what party to attend, and social media crap.

Let me finish with this because it's important you understand how to manage time and your classes if you choose to select this program as a major (which I don't advise) some tips are important to know. Read the program carefully and all class descriptions. Meet with teachers to get a sneak peek of who they are and feel for them. This will help in deciding if this choice is good for you. People ignorantly assume this program is easy. It is NOT!!! You will be expected to read an enormous amount of material. Frankly, this is not beneficial in teaching students. the readings should have been selective with course material that is discussed in class and tested on. Not a collection series of the last hundred years of feminism.

• Read the program thoroughly and understand each class description.
• A few courses are given once a year so take those first and get them out of the way, if you don't complete them you will not graduate.
• Sit down and carefully arrange your classes each semester but mix up the semester with other courses such as art, swimming, psych, literature, math whatever you enjoy online, or not just mix it up so you get a good variety. Do not take all GWS every semester it doesn't work out that way. Some girl did this and she was stuck.
• Be a full-time student don't spend your life at this school as some people have so their boss would pay the bill because this person was too cheap to pay it herself or get financial aid. (I'll speak more on this later)
• Be on time to classes as teachers will notice and blackball you if you make excuses why you were late or didn't drop the class in the required time. I observed this and noticed the teachers will ignore you like you're not there. Remember they carry your grade in their back pocket.
• Speak up in class when needed as I said these women don't structure their class and no one is a mind reader. They won't explain anything on your first day or ever. Marth Lopez Garza is the worst bitch here.
• Find out ahead of time the books you need. Please be frugal there are ways to buy books cheaply or find them online (free PDF) or try using the reference area in the library as they carry a variety, save money.
• Ask teachers if they teach from the textbook many will not and expect you to spend 100 dollars and read it (this pissed me off) try to avoid these teachers. They won't open the book in class. Be mindful that you don't want to waste time and money.
• Advisors are lazy-ass wads and will not tell you what you need to know about this program. It is NOT SPECIFIC, meaning there are no specific areas to study it's a wide range of areas. This is why you need a strong master's to back up your career. It doesn't hold much value alone.
• You will be expected to attend lectures and certain activities on campus which I found "Love Your Body Day" to be racist. It's based on bigger gals feeling good about their bodies, frankly, it was pathetic with the hypocrisy of it being okay to be FAT just be white. Women of color were never selected.
• This GWS program is best for electives or a minor degree. I don't see it worth a Bachelor unless you plan to travel, write research, and maybe study groups of people around the world.
• Breny Mendoza is the worst next to Garza try to avoid this bitch, unfortunately, she is now the chair of the department which really is bad. I told Sheena Malhotra that her buddy copied the syllabus of another teacher and gave it to the students. She was NEVER punished and Sheena later took over the class. Sheena used to be the chair. I  should have reported her as the president, Breny is a lazy ass bitch who has no business teaching.
• If you have self-discipline take online courses with different subjects I found it to be rewarding and better teachers from other departments. As I mentioned mix up your schedule every semester you don't want to drown in GWS.

Introduction to Attending Cal State Northridge: CSUs are the easiest schools to apply to, there are 27 campuses throughout California. There are no personal references or personal statements all you need is an application, but have your shit together and check out everything at least one year ahead before attending. I would not advise you to go straight into a university. Attend community college first get the generals out of the way and your golden fours, so you can work hard and get out before three years of time pass. Not everyone learns at the same pace in the same way and students are NOT taught how to study. You must learn to structure your own study habits. This is your career take it seriously, be in charge because the school will not call you or instruct you on what you need to do. They have thousands of applications from all over the world so you need to communicate with these people at all times and be on top of your game. Have your transcript ready to submit with your application and use a federal grant for the fee waiver if needed. Yes the GOV will pay for a bachelor's degree and associate degree, but not a master's. Once you have everything together such as taxes or income, if you have none then be an independent student and apply for financial aid. I would not use your parents, you can also lie about this unless Daddy is paying the bill, and then you don't need Financial Aid. It's an easy process but takes weeks for them to respond with a letter. If you are applying for Aid then have all the paperwork ready to submit at the same time as the application. The quicker you get this done you are more likely to have priority registration. And that is a gift because you have the first pick of the classes. Take a look at other campuses and my advice apply to better schools have your favorites on top, but pick a nice campus. CSU LA sucks the campus is in a weird area and it's not very accessible from the streets.  If you choose GWS I would advise Santa Barbra schools but read your options because you have many.

Programs and Classes: Here is the academic course description, it appears a few things have changed but keep in mind what I said and meet the department faculty, so you can get a feel for them. You might end up having to take some of these teachers more than once depending on how Breny arranges the classes as being chair is her responsibility. If she has a late class use your activism and fight to change the time, I did it and it worked. No one wants to leave at 11 pm at night walking on campus. Nayereh Tohidi is an easy A teacher, she is getting old and too lazy to read anything, but never ask her to write you a reference for another school. I did and she expected me to write it for her which is illegal and she knew it. One girl I knew used this program as a double major which I thought was crazy, don't make life hard on yourself there are only so many hours in a day. Another important tip NEVER allow Diana Bartlow to write up your semester courses, she assumes too much and I don't know what possessed her to do that to me it was awful but I changed everything. It's my time and schedule she doesn't know the needs of your life.  When you have to write papers which will be most of the time, pick easy subjects with good research because these bitches use PLAGIARISM SOFTWARE to scan those papers. Be an early bird and have classes arranged in the day so you can spend the rest of your time studying and getting rest. There are 2 and 4-year plans, keep a tight schedule and get in and out in 2 years so you can move on to a master's, it's not worth dragging on. I did so much community work and it made no difference for me and yet other people have a light shining over them for it.

I found Islamic classes were good with Tohidi and community service, which is out in the field at some local organizations. Feminist Methods with Garza was awful (hopefully the teacher changed, this class had no structure) Feminist Theories is another one these are only given once a year. Wow, now you have to take a writing proficiency that sucks that didn't exist before. Ricki Manoff was good she teaches the 100 courses I really liked her. Schumacher was good and not too hard, she tried to make it fun but I didn't like her asking people to mention something personal about themself. Marie Cartier, I didn't like her classes she was the one I made a complaint against and Melanie Klein she was not bad I had online with her but a white bitch thought she was funny talking shit if that happens report both of them because Melanie is too lazy to discipline anyone.  She has two full-time jobs as a real estate agent and a teacher this explains why she doesn't answer emails 50% of her effort is going towards each job.

Living On or Off Campus: Finding a place to live was easier than going through the program, however, people will take advantage of you. So you have two choices apply for the dorm and it must be done a year or two in advance because it fills up fast and some kids already have dips on it when you get there. Or rent from the vultures list, it's somewhere on the campus website just inquire where to find it. People in the communities will have rooms to rent for students, but the rent has to be expensive now. Then it was overpriced to rent a room for 1000 dollars which is ridiculous. Some of these people like Koreans will have tons of kids renting because they want everyone to pay their bills and make a profit. I was lucky for a short time and had a room for 500 a month,  but this old bitch was a pain in the ass to live with and I was hardly there, eventually, she gave me bed bugs and I left. Watch out for the Koreans and Chinese they will rip you off with the utilities but demand to see an actual bill, not a small receipt with a 100-dollar price.  Oh, this bitch told me I could pay her 300 a month for a room but I had to watch her kids after school and help them with their homework. She was cheap and trying to get a free babysitter. No Thanks, your kids are your responsibility.  Be selective and careful of who you rent from.

As for the dorm, the meal plan is the biggest scam, if you get in and your dorm has a kitchen you don't have to buy a meal plan unless you choose to, but if the dorm doesn't have a kitchen then you're forced to buy a meal plan. Most dorms don't have kitchens. I believe the food should be free of all of it or at least included in the tuition. Those plans are over 3500 hundred a year. Nothing like ripping people off. Watch out for perverts and scumbags men who want to rent to hot little gals so they can go after you with sexual perversions. My advice kids should get together and just rent an apartment, if say 6 or 7 people pitch in you can afford a two-bedroom at 1800 a month you actually might save money at least on food. Otherwise don't get sucked into the bullshit with parties, drugs, and booze, be careful who you hang out with. People lead to problems more than help most of the time. Develop good study habits, most kids you can't depend on to study with, I found them to be unreliable.

Amenities of Campus Life: There are nice amenities on this campus, you can swim, you can rock climb, when I was there a new gym was built state-the-art, top-of-the-line. At first, the school was ripping the students off by charging for the gym but people complained it's supposed to be free, so now it is. Don't waste your money on outside gyms, everything you need is on campus. You really don't need to go anywhere, lots of restaurants and fast food, a huge library and places to study like cubes, is what I call it. There are small enclosed cubicles where you can spend time studying with no noise. Tennis a garden you can work in, and trails to run on, but the parking is a financial scam. I would take the bus and train and walk everywhere, it's good exercise and helps with stress. The women's house was in the middle of campus but it burned down years ago, so now it's a 20-minute walk from the front entrance to the back of the school, way back. There is an eye doctor and health clinic for which you pay health service fees. If you have a problem with a doctor being rude or abusive report him or her immediately. This can happen as I dealt with a 500-pound piece of shit who was abusive to women. Hopefully, he is dead at this point. Otherwise, the amenities are nice, and the dorms are too inside, but they have strict rules.

Financial Aid: As I mentioned before dates are IMPORTANT, you must submit your packet for financial aid at the time of your application. You might need to show taxes. I would file as an Independent student with no family contributions so you can get the full amount of aid. TIP: I ran out of money and was able to squeeze another $1500 from the department explaining I needed a computer, but I went to the woman who oversees the FA Dept first, she has the authority to tell the FA Department to give me the money. Also, if you have a passion for something specific go to that department speak to the key person, and ask about extra grant money or apply for scholarships. You would be surprised if these people have cash to give students for specific needs. Universities are wealthy for a reason when education should be free. manipulate any way you can to money. Okay check the dates and apply for all the grants FEDERAL, EOPS you must do this ahead of time, not at the last minute. Work Study I was always being discriminated against. There are tons of crap jobs available on campus that a child could perform and the applications would pile up or be given to the white kids. The women in Financial Aid were racist bitches, you will see how white women work here sitting on their asses doing nothing.

I'll share this, you will be broke while going to school but having your education paid for from grants will cover all the costs so you might want to get a part-time job. I never worked because I wanted the experience of this and to enjoy it, frankly that didn't happen either. However, I took out many loans (which I don't advise but I kept them on deferral forever) since I had a decent-paying job when I cared for Todd and then I didn't care about the loans anymore. I'm already past 50 and collecting some of my social security. After Todd, I claimed disability so the Gov wiped out all 70,000 in loans, which I'm glad, but I can't go back to school for three years because they monitor me. If I win the lottery or go back to work I have to repay the money. So I'm holding out another year until I go back to work. Social Security doesn't pay and it never will. Another American scam!

Campus Police: I find these people to be annoying, they are lazy and distracted easily. Once a cop nearly killed me with his car as I was walking on the pedestrian walk, he slammed his brakes. I yelled at him and his response was I didn't see you. Really? What the fuck are doing that you don't see me? If you are driving a car your eyes should be on the road and what is in front of you. I regret not reporting this because the following month, the CSUN newspaper bragged that the department had excellent services and no accidents. One time there was an incident where a guy who had a gun was having a meltdown, it was drama but the campus was so big no one was injured, and most people didn't know it happened until the gossip became the talk of the town. Otherwise, I don't see they have a purpose because like any cop with all the badgering of white people against people of color cops will only favor the administrators never the students. Not much different from everyday society.

Disability Center: The only reason I used this shit department was to have the extra money which I never got. I get anxious when testing but as I said the classes and testing are different compared to community college, so I wasted my time and the people who work in this department are fucken racist ass wads. The only decent human at the time was Christy the secretary. I dealt with this cripped-bitch named Brenda and she would talk shit to me putting me down and stabbing me in the back with that bitch Anne Smith who is supposed to help people with employment but she never does a fucken thing to help with employment people are lazy. It was ridiculous what I put myself through I never needed center other than wanting the extra time for exams. Don't waste your time here regardless of anxiety, everyone is grossly incompetent and Brenda would lie all the time about the extra money I never got it and this department never paid shit. All my classes were paid with grants.