“Asking Stanford” is a series of small stories from Stanford students, each of which comes together to highlight the diversity of experiences and perspectives on campus. This week, we’re practicing sportsmanship ahead of our biggest rivalry game of the year.

I still believe that Berkeley is the “best public university,” despite a recent upset by UCLA in the rankings. — Sharis Hsu

Berkeley students seem to actually believe in something. I love that so many of them get involved to practice their values. They take it beyond the classroom and social media. With how they get engaged, I feel they are the best of what our generation can do for this world. — Sebastian Strawser

Berkeley has made many important contributions to medical science, including the discovery of CRISPR-Cas9, a revolutionary gene-editing technology. — Helen Katz

Oski is, hands-down, the most terrifying school mascot I have ever seen. His sunken eyes, impossibly upturned smile and disturbingly un-bear-like oval head is the stuff of nightmares. I almost have to applaud his designer for being able to concoct such a monstrosity. If mascots are meant to be intimidating, Oski definitely takes the cake. — Kaylee Chan

Berkeley’s history is really cool. It’s where the Free Speech Movement started. It was a hub for the anti-Vietnam war movement, and they got UC to divest $3 billion from apartheid South Africa. Berkeley students are clearly super engaged and better yet, their engagement is effective. Maybe in a past life, I was a Berkeley student in the 1960s. — Sanaya Robinson-Shah

Totally biased here, but Berkeley’s taiko ensemble, Cal Raijin Taiko, is super awesome and cool! Every time I’ve had the chance to meet members, I’ve been blown away by their technical abilities (slay solos and eye-catching movements) and their lovely personalities. Also, seeing them perform feels full circle; my cousin played with them during her time at Cal and watching their performance as a high school junior and being blown away by their performativity and passion for the art form was what planted the seed for me to eventually get involved with Stanford Taiko! — Dan Kubota