Isla Vista is known for many things. Notorious, really.

It is known mainly for sex, drugs and alcohol. Even so, there is much more to IV than meets the crime log.

When I moved into a house on Sabado Tarde Road with eight friends, I had no idea what I was in for.

All of my roommates had been part of a mass eviction from their dorm hall during their freshman year at UCSB. Perhaps this fact should have made me think twice. It didn’t.

While most of our social engagements involved drinking, there was an overwhelming sense of community and acceptance that extended beyond sharing 30-packs and plastic handles of vodka.

I faced a steep learning curve, after being instantly accepted as part of the community. As a result, I dropped all of my classes six weeks into my first semester at City College.

However, there was no distinction between UC and City College students. Race, religion, age and background were always an afterthought.

I recently asked some City College friends about their favorite part of living in IV.

“All the stupid people doing stupid shit,” one explained matter-of-factly.

Another said she likes being able to go over to a friend’s house just to kick back on any given night.

A third mentioned being able to hear the waves breaking, but prefers to observe what he called “a microcosm of social interaction.”

IV represents the ultimate college experience. It is a place where responsibility meets bad decisions; where intellect meets belligerence.

Where else can you drink at the beach, walk up the cliff to your house and launch water balloons at unsuspecting beachgoers any day of the week?

IV will never leave you without a beer-pong partner, nor someone to lift your legs for a keg stand.

My job was once saved when I stumbled into work at 1 p.m.?already drunk, with a breakfast burrito in hand. My supervisors also lived in IV, and a few smoke-filled breaks later they were close friends, and two of my favorite people.

IV is at once a mysterious, delinquent and alluring place?one that I was proud to call home for three years.

Community and acceptance are what people are really looking for in college, and I can’t think of a better place to find either.

While many of my friends and I have since moved on, I still feel at home every time I turn onto Camino Pescadero and head toward the ocean.