Meet Kylie: Your 2021-2022 ZotBlogger

Hi! My name is Kylie Hadden. I was born and raised in the Bay Area; however, I moved to Portland, Oregon 6 years ago. As of right now, I am interested in becoming a data scientist! My favorite hobbies are dancing, playing softball, and traveling.

You might be wondering, how was my move-in day? As you can imagine, I was extremely nervous. Not only am I jumping into college life after being behind a computer screen for 2 years, but I also have to learn how to be independent. I was worried about making new friends, handling my schedule, and living on my own.

I realized that I wasn’t alone. Every first year is in the same boat. I was able to meet so many new friends just from living in the Middle Earth towers. We all spend time together in the common room and help each other out when needed. Our RAs were very welcoming and let us know that they are here if we need any support.

Now, let’s move on to Week 0 events! First off, I attended the Student Involvement Fair. Aldrich Park was packed with multiple clubs, sororities and fraternities, and club sports. UCI has an organization for almost everything. I was able to talk to multiple booths and learn more about their upcoming events.

That night, I attended Late Night at the ARC! There were so many activities: demos, rock climbing, belly dancing, and more. I decided to go on the zipline. Although the line was over 2 hours, I was able to meet students just by playing a game of charades.

The rest of week 0 I attended events that were with the organizations I was interested in. I attended a workshop hosted by the Chinese Association Dance Crew (CADC). Afterward, we all went to UTC to get boba and meet the team members! I also attended the All IDC event to watch multiple hip-hop crews perform at the Bren Event Center. Later in the week, I attended the first general meeting for the Filipino club, Kababayan. They also had a meet-up at UTC where I was able to meet some board members and learn about their programs.

Overall, my first week at UCI was very memorable. I’m looking forward to getting more involved with these clubs and experiencing life on campus. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store.

Check out this link to see a video recap of my week 0: