Introduction Research universities are defined and characterized as complex academic landscapes. Their mission is threefold: public service, teaching, and most importantly, researching. Why do these research universities consider “researching” as the primary part of their mission? The reason is the government’s expectation for them to create knowledge. With this primary mission-researching in head, most undergraduates can survive at the research universities. However, for those who want to thrive on campus, they also need to have the power in partnerships. One way to gain this power is by building rapport with campus advisers and campus staff. Life at CAL The academic landscape in UC Berkeley is complex. How could us undergraduates thrive at CAL? The answer will be: ASK FOR HELP. We can communicate with people within the campus both horizontally and vertically. I will address the importance of vertical communication in the rest part of this paper. One thing we might recognize is that there are so many people on different levels of the hierarchy at CAL. Whom should we undergraduates ask help for? Based on my experience thus far at CAL, I would like to recommend undergraduates to ask help from campus advisers and campus staff. With the power in professional rapport with these campus advisers and staff, undergraduates could not only survive but also thrive at CAL. Learning at CAL has been really challenging for me thus far, because this is the first time I have ever been in the U.S. At the first two weeks, I had a really bad language problem. It bothered me a lot during that time as I could not share my thoughts with my classmates; I did not know how to enroll in classes; I even did not know how to do my laundries, etc. However, I live a much more comfortable life right now. How did I address all the problems I have met with? The answer is simple and complex: ASK FOR HELP. This means that I learned many practical and critical tips from people who have much more experience and knowledge than I do. Where did I found these people? The Student Learning Center at CAL. When I first came to SLC, I saw that here are so many people who are always ready to help and give me