Posted on No Comments on Ten Weeks Later: What I Wish I Knew

Ten Weeks Later: What I Wish I Knew

Dear 10 weeks ago Dionne, 

When you first unpacked everything into my dorm on Move-in day, I know you only had one preserving thought in my mind: “Will I be able to survive in college?” Now, “survive” is a rather cutthroat choice of language, however, I know, sitting in your dark room, you were feeling extremely overwhelmed, looking at the place we would call home for the next year. 

Now, I would like to comfort you by saying that you have managed quite well so far! Somehow we’ve tackled everything from analyzing current globalization issues, to making friends, to even remembering to do our laundry once a week (which is quite a feat).

However, I would like to supply you with some advice that might have made our experience a bit more enjoyable, especially in the beginning: 

1. Go to bed before One a.m.

While the constant influx of homework makes this challenge nearly impossible, going to bed early will benefit you greatly the next day. Every time I’ve gone to bed past one a.m., I have felt unmotivated to get out of bed, and that entire day, I’m desperate to crawl back into my warm, fuzzy covers. 

2. Planning the week in advance.

College, especially with a fast paced quarter system like UCI, makes it difficult to fall behind — because once you’re behind, it’s extremely hard to catch up. Creating a weekly to-do list of everything that must be done by the end of the week, as well as daily to-do lists will help you stay organized. Personally, I enjoy using Notion, where I can create a page to log all my assignments, the date their due, as well as the class it’s for. 

3. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.

Especially during that first week of college as a freshman, everyone is desperate to make new friends, so don’t be shy! Personally, I was extremely lucky as I had a friend during SPOP who helped me make friends, but just don’t be afraid to strike up a friendly conversation 🙂 

4. Find out the shortest way to get to class.

The biggest mistake I made during my first couple weeks is not figuring out the fastest way to get to class. While I like to get my steps in, commute time will really wear you down, especially doing it every day. I think during my first couple weeks I walked, in total, everyday, close to 15 thousand steps. 

5. Prioritize having a work-life balance!

This quarter, I feel like I refused multiple opportunities to hang out with friends because I used the excuse of “homework.” While homework is important, it’s also important to make sure your life is balanced. Friends are just as important as a homework assignment, too. On top of this, make sure to not forget to include physical activity into the week! While walking around campus is usually plenty of exercise for me, on days where studying can last up to six-seven hours, it’s crucial to go on a short walk, get some fresh air, or at least take a stretching break!

10-Weeks-Ago Dionne, I think you’d be proud of the progress we’ve made—how much we’ve learned, how much we’ve grown, and how much we’ve adapted to college life. Going into next quarter, I hope you continue building these good habits: planning ahead, staying active, and putting yourself out there.

I’m proud of us, and I can’t wait to see what the next quarter has in store.

Sincerely,

Present Dionne

Posted on No Comments on DORM LIFE, REAL TALK

DORM LIFE, REAL TALK

When I first arrived at Middle Earth, I thought “UCI activities” referred to concerts, club fairs or large lectures. It was only last week that I unexpectedly discovered that one of the most important events might be happening right in my own backyard: roommate mediation hosted by the RA (something I originally thought was far from me).

Halfway through the quarter, my relationship with my roommates hasn’t always been smooth. I think this is quite normal, especially when multiple people live together, there are bound to be differences in small habits – for instance, disagreements over quiet hours, cleaning, and the volume of noise when playing games with the microphone on. I’m sure many people can relate to this situation. After all, we still have to live together for at least two more quarters. There’s no need to make things too awkward; we’ll be seeing each other all the time. The problem is, I don’t know how to start a conversation to avoid making things worse, which is really stressful.

My solution can serve as a reference for friends who encounter similar problems. I summarized the issues I encountered and wrote an email to the RA. The RA suggested holding a mediation. The RA met with me on Thursday first. I provided many details about the problems I mentioned in the email. At first, I was very nervous, fearing that this would turn into a situation of “reporting and tattling”. Now I understand that the dormitory management department provides such conversations to reset expectations through standardized procedures rather than to assign blame.

We met in the lounge on Friday afternoon. The RA didn’t criticize us in a scolding tone but went over the roommate agreement with us again, from Hygiene & Cleanliness to Review & Amendments. During this period, the RA asked us if we had implemented the agreement well and also talked about which aspects were working well and which ones we felt were unfair. The RA also assumed that the other party was not intentionally making things difficult. What impressed me the most was that the RA calmly restated both sides’ viewpoints and confirmed that we understood each other.

We jointly adjusted the specific matters – clarifying quiet hours, formulating a simple cleaning plan, and agreeing on a reminder mechanism before game calls. These solutions are not a panacea, but when I walked back to the dormitory, I felt a great sense of relief. No longer shouldering all the pressure alone, and as soon as I got to the dormitory, I helped my roommate take out the trash together, which is great progress.

I strongly recommend that all freshmen who are in roommate problems try to involve your RA for mediation, especially international students who have not yet adapted to such support systems. After all, problems won’t disappear by avoiding them; it can transform “dormitory survival” into a genuine growth experience of learning to get along with others.

Posted on

Ascend’s “CareerFlix: Stream Your Network Mixer” 

Imagine burgundy table runners, gold balloons, the delicious smell of pesto pasta, and warm chicken wafting through the air as you listen to airy jazz music and warm chatter.  That’s what I was greeted with when I arrived at Ascend’s “CareerFlix” Mixer. 

As part of the Intern Board, I was charged with helping set up the event. While we were worried the rain might discourage people from coming, surely enough, people started streaming in, holding a wet umbrella in one hand and another to take a picture of our QR code to sign in for the event. 

Around seven p.m., the event began. The president of Ascend @ UCI gave a short welcome before splitting up into four “breakout” groups, held simultaneously in four different rooms: a tech room, a consulting room, a finance/accounting room, and lastly, a general panel. The students and around fifteen professionals, ranging from consultants to managers and even an engineer from Microsoft, were split into these four groups. 

The panel was the most formal discussion out of the four — an interviewer asked questions to two professionals, each of who have been working in their careers for quite some time. For me personally, it was interesting hearing their perspectives on their respective industry, especially given their plethora of experience and knowledge. 

In the three other rooms, the discussion was more casual; professionals chatted with a rotating, small group of students who were curious about their industry and wanted to know more about their jobs. I learn that some worked in larger companies in their industry, such as Deloitte and BakerTilly, while others worked at more local firms, such as Provencio Capital. Again, while taking short breaks during my internship to listen to these conversations, I was able to grasp just how passionate these professionals are about their work and how committed they are to inspiring the next generation, like myself, to their industries. 

After about an hour and a half of these groups, everyone joined back together to enjoy dinner from Chicken Maison with some refreshments and dessert. During dinner, this was an opportunity for students to open a network with perhaps professionals they had an interest in or professionals they didn’t have the chance to talk to before.  

Overall, it was a memorable night that brought people together and, in my opinion, will open many doors for future opportunities. Leaving the event, I felt both motivated and grateful to be part of such a supportive and inspiring community.

If interested, here is the link to Ascend’s Instagram page, where you can check out what the event looked like! https://www.instagram.com/ascenduci/

Posted on

Yes, I am a marketing professional

Week 7 has me feeling network-y. As undeclared, I want to fully explore different avenues I naturally gravitate towards to see what the best fit for a major might be. I’ve been interested in marketing since birth so I decided to check out a business marketing event.

On Monday, November 10, I attended a fireside chat hosted by the UCI Marketing Association and Ascend UCI, a pan-Asian networking and leadership organization. The event featured UCI business administration alumni & Ascend former president Penelope Wong. Originally an operations coordinator, she now works as a project manager at donut studios, a digital marketing firm based in southern California. 

How Wong landed the job was an interview highlight. She advised in recent uber-competitive job markets to shoot your shot regardless of required qualifications listed on the application. Wong stumbled across the studio’s TikTok page; personally aligning with the company’s mission and goals, she ignored the 2+ years required experience and instead cold emailed the studio requesting open positions with a silly subject line to get their attention: “pick me, choose me, here’s my resume”, referencing the infamous-cringe Grey’s Anatomy dialogue. Then, to us, Wong argued that soft skills and a unique personality are more important than hard skills since hard skills are teachable to anyone while soft skills show how the candidate fits into company culture. I interpreted this as hard skills get you the interview while soft skills get you the job and that it’s crucial to have a good balance between the two. Too much technical knowledge could deem you overqualified and it’s important to have an open-mind to learn on the job, especially as a new graduate.

I became one with the corporate world dressing up all business casual. I haven’t yet brought a full suit & blazer to school deeming no immediate need for it, only a few button-up and collared shirts and some trousers. After countless changes and guidance from two of three roommates, I ultimately donned a white button-up tucked into black trousers, complete with a belt. I snarfed Brandywine’s margherita pizza (dining hall superior classic – fact, never opinion!) on the way to SB1-1200. I was still paranoid if I was under- or over-dressed since men’s business casual is a whole spectrum with no pinpointed definition! It ranges from polo shirts with sweaters and dark wash jeans to a complete suit-set minus tie and vest. As I checked in at the front, I saw the other attendees dressed similarly, to my relief, and one of Ascend’s board members even complimented my outfit. Although his extroverted personality shone while tabling the booth, I took his non-performative kindness to heart! Thank you, kind sir.

You could say I am now ready for the workforce and that well-repped fulfilling corporate life. Watch out, [insert top marketing firm]!

ALBUM ON LOOP: Raveena – Shanti

Posted on

Midterms: The Series

The past two weeks have been nothing but a “mid-term exam battle”. 
When I first opened the blog writing prompt for Week 5-6, to be honest, I really had no idea what to write about. I didn’t participate in many campus activities. Instead, I escaped with my friends to Laguna Beach for a weekend – classic coastline, picturesque (well, although it was foggy that day and only by the seaside, it still had a certain atmosphere), with the sea breeze blowing. But when sitting in a restaurant by the beach, the menu items seemed somewhat depressingly familiar, in other words, rather boring: hamburgers, fries, lobsters, hamburgers, fries. Before the summer vacation, when I was still in China, I always thought I would never get tired of American fast food. At that time, I often told my mom that I was quite used to eating hot dogs. Now I’m strongly reconsidering that belief. 

Meanwhile, exams are coming one after another: math on Monday, Econ on Tuesday, and music on Friday. And this Monday, there was a physics exam. Physics and Music are already on Midterm #2. Some people joke that before coming to UCI, they thought “midterm” meant “an exam in the middle of the semester”, but they didn’t expect it to mean “constant exams throughout the semester”. My physics class has three midterms, in ten weeks.

When I started drafting this, I told myself I didn’t want it to sound overly dramatic. In other words, the tone should be positive. And to be fair, the results so far haven’t been bad: a 96 in Econ, and I’m pretty confident about Math and Physics. Ironically, the “fun” GE course on the Beatles is the one that makes me most anxious – with extremely detailed multiple-choice questions and weekly quizzes that leave no room for error. I even changed it to P/NP to prevent John and Paul from dragging down my GPA.

Then I opened Trello and saw this week’s topic: “Tell us about your personal midterm experiences, and anything related.” I just stared at it and laughed. It felt a bit like the quarter has a script: Week 1 excitement, Week 3 confusion, Week 5 midterms, Week 6 reflection.

The truth is, I don’t have a cinematic 3 a.m. library story. I mostly huddle in my room, buried under problem sets, Canvas tabs, and half-eaten snacks. This is actually exhausting. I’m usually fine when I review at night, but by the afternoon the next day, every third sentence I say is about how tired I am. 

Perhaps the only “story” occurred after the midterm exam in physics – when everyone rushed into Discord to complain about the difficulty of the questions, the lack of curve grading, and even insinuated that some students had “raised” the average score. Sitting there, I couldn’t help but think: those questions were all from the PPT and practice midterm. No one is born knowing this stuff. People who put in the work shouldn’t be treated like the enemy.

These two weeks have taught me a lesson: always act earlier than you think you should. Sleep when you can, don’t count on a miraculous grade curve (I didn’t this time for the music exam), respect your own efforts and those of others. Oh, and it’s important to switch up your diet once in a while too (wink).