Dear Admitted Anteater,
First off, let me just congratulate you on your acceptance into UCI! Your hard work throughout high school has brought you to this moment in your life. UCI is an amazing school that offers you many opportunities for academics, research, extracurricular activities, and self-discovery. The memories, connections, and experiences you will make will be unforgettable.
Starting off your first year of college is undeniably an intimidating experience. I know I was extremely nervous coming to Irvine as an out-of-state student. However, my initial fears disappeared and my first year has become a core memory in my life. During my first week in the fall quarter, I used my time to try and expand my horizons socially and with extracurricular activities. The Anteater Involvement Fair was one of my favorite memories during the fall quarter. My roommate, suitemate, and I bonded while exploring some student organizations, fraternities and sororities, and club sports. For the rest of the fall quarter, I attended clubs I was interested in, met some new people from those clubs, and created so many memories. Also, I became friends with my hallmates through hall events, hanging out in the common room, and eating dinner together either at Brandywine, Anteatery, or UTC. One of my favorite memories with my friends was going to BCD Tofu House, Somi Somi, and Plush Karaoke Lounge as a celebration after finishing our fall quarter-finals.
My winter quarter was a time when I started to become very involved with a student organization on campus through their internship as well as starting practices for their cultural night. I also started to take more difficult courses related to the major I want to declare. This quarter was when I started to become more stressed and experienced receiving a heavier workload. I believe that there is no avoiding this stress, but there are ways to deal with it. I discovered a few ways of destressing and learned how important breaks are. I will admit that my winter quarter was very difficult for me, but it taught me how to deal with stress and different time management skills.
Next year, I am looking forward to continuing on pursuing my academic goals. By the end of this quarter, I am hoping to declare my major. I potentially want to become more involved in more clubs. There are so many opportunities on campus I want to pursue, one of them being research. As an incoming anteater, I hope you’re excited about the next 4 years at UCI. See you around campus next year!
From your 2021-2022 ZotBlogger,
Kylie Hadden