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Settling into Irvine

Getting used to my life in Irvine.

We’re only in our fourth week of school, but it feels like I’ve been here forever. I’ve finally learned my way around campus, although walking through Aldrich Park at night is still as refreshing as ever. My daily schedule has finally been solidified, and I have finally settled on a proper rating for the food at Brandywine—6.5 out of ten. 

During week two of school, I was introduced to “petr drops,” where hundreds of students run to chase fanmade art. Dubbed “petr culture,” artists create parodies of a derpy-looking version of our school mascot, Peter.

Petr the Anteatr!

The way these “petr drops” work is simple. An instagram account posts a picture of a petr sticker with a date and time attached. Then, they will post another picture at that specific date and time, but this time of a random location on campus. From then, every student who wants their hands on a limited-time sticker has to go run to that location, where a masked person will hand out a limited amount of stickers. I have gotten quite a few of these stickers, and I have the Zotfinder app to thank. Everytime the Instagram accounts post their location, I plug in the place into Zotfinder, showing me the shortest route to getting there.


These petr drops have not only made me feel closer to the community, but also have helped show me around campus. I only take three classes, so there are many parts of campus that I haven’t yet seen. But through the random drop locations from petr drops, I have been to so many places I would imagine going, such as UCI’s nature reserve, the Crawford Athletic Complex (where the soccer team trains), and the Biological Sciences Quad (I hate science).

Some of the stickers I got on my Brita!

I never thought the highlight of my college life would be chasing after stickers, but lately, I’ve been obsessed. I’m following almost every petr Instagram account (there are too many), and I’ve been to almost every sticker drop, bar the ones I had to miss for class. So, if you ever see me in line for a sticker, say hi! I’ll always be willing to meet someone new.

Later!

Ian

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How to Experience College

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift…
that’s why they call it present” – Master Oogway (Kung Fu Panda)

When my mother left on her very first business trip when I was a toddler, I remember crying my eyes out. Tears streaming down my face as she grabbed her suitcases, started her car, and backed out of the driveway. Now, I’m very used to it, my mom’s business trip being just a normal procedure in our family. A hug goodbye and remembering to text and call whenever I can is all I need until she comes back home. Ironically, now I’m the one leaving home. We had a goodbye sendoff and there were many tears as I headed off to Irvine for the first time. And just like before, it’s now just a common occurrence leaving and coming back home. Of course I feel homesick every so often, not as frequently as before, but nothing a text or a call back home wouldn’t fix.

Getting used to the new school system was hard at first, but now I’ve got it down in stride. Along with the much shorter quarter system, I now had classes that didn’t take up my entire day but was each densely packed with so much to learn. With so much more free time and the millions of clubs and programs offered here, I chose to join 3 things, the UC Irvine Dragon Boat Club, the Anteater Band, and the Undeclared/Undecided Mentorship Program. I made it in for the Anteater Band and UUMP; playing saxophone, the same instrument I played in junior and high school, and meeting my wonderful mentor, a person I can share my insight with and follow down a path they’ve walked through. Although I didn’t make it into the Dragon Boat team, I go to the gym and play basketball. With so much free time and so many different programs to try out. I found out time management is super important. I use google calendar, keeping the important things and events to do per day ie. class times, school events, meeting up with friends or professors during their office hours. You can definitely have fun, just as long as you can organize the time to relax with the time to get to work.

Speaking of having fun, there’s so many things to do in your free time! I’ve said in an earlier post that I’ve picked up longboarding and I now use it to get across the campus. Over a month using it, but I’ve gotten good enough I think I could even teach people how to longboard myself. Speaking of around school, be sure to hit the fairs when you get the chance. Every so often, UCI will have fairs and events as a way to get all the more involved in school as well as getting the chance to meet new people. Don’t be shy, everyone is always super friendly and on the same boat as you, so don’t be afraid to always meeting new people.

That’s all I have to catch you up with for today’s blog, but I have much more to share with you in the future!

Till next time,

Nick

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Learning and Loving

Good evening friends,

To be absolutely frank, I just woke up from a 2-hour nap and that is why this post is going up late. I am literally writing it 55 minutes late when I meant to do it after my 9 a.m. class or after lunch or after my “quick nap”. But that takes me to my point.

Rather than actually focusing on what I needed to do today, I went to class, listened to the Taylor Swift album (which is very good and I am still listening as I am typing right now), and just hung out. Yes, I am 4 hours behind on my reading and yes I do have a research paper due on Tuesday but I didn’t get to any of that. Instead, I layed down on my dorm’s (very comfy) rug and knocked out. I slept. No alarm. Friday afternoon. I slept. Now, I am awake and I am glad I did it no matter all of the crap that “later” entails.

You see, since the quarter has started, I began my own journey of productivity and positivity–you know the gist.

I told myself, “I am going to put myself out there, I am going to seize the day and reach for my ambitions” And I did. I reached far to push by my fears, my anx. I am continuing to challenge myself, academically and personally. Personally, I would like to say I put the carpe in “carpe diem”.

And as exciting as everything is, it has also been equally exhausting.

Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying myself. I am learning a lot, meeting new people, joining clubs. Loads of fun; but I do miss the quietness of a slower lifestyle.

It seems that the hustle culture I am experiencing is moving so fast. So fast that every new “check-off” of my to-do list is 3 more scheduled events or homework assignments. So fast that I am neglecting a lot of myself in order to accomplish what I am expected to accomplish or, at least what I expect myself to accomplish.

For now, it’s a kind of busy that I am still learning to appreciate. Emphasis on “learning”: slowly, we are getting there.

Just in the few weeks that I have been here, the drastic environmental change has, at least for me, undone a lot of the patience I showed myself during the summer. Obviously, there’s more on my plate now but also because of the urgency that being a college student automatically requires.

So that is why I decided to protest it. I needed that nap after late night dance practices and the busyness of too much homeworks. Needed it. To breathe a little. To sit down and do nothing and to say “to hell with all of it”. No more things I have to do. I layed on that rug because I chose to listen to me, my body, and my needs.

I think that as students now a days, we are taught the importance of productivity; and I think it’s important for us, not just as students but as people to take a step back and put ourselves first.

So that is something I have learned recently. This post was, honestly, rushed so expect greater quality from my posts in the future; sincerely I apologize for the sub-par-ness of this first one–I know it is not a good color but again, to hell with it!

So goodbye, I will see you soon and until then, be kind to yourself.

with love,

jaden

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Climbing Over Obstacles

To be entirely honest, going into this school year, I didn’t fully grasp what it meant to be using the quarter system.  I know many think of it as inferior to the semester system, but I’ve always been a big fan of the fact that we start later and have fewer classes to focus on in a fast-paced learning environment.  But, near the end of Week 2, I started to feel some of the downsides of the quarter system, as I had to undergo an unexpected surgery.  I’ve been recovering well and I definitely feel better because of it, but both the surgery and falling behind on classes were definitely a new experience for me.  Fortunately, since it’s still so early in the quarter, I certainly could have missed more – the worst of it was that I missed one discussion and had to do the CS problem sets I procrastinated on in the waiting room – but I learned that though it’s bad to fall behind in general, it’s really bad to fall behind on the quarter system.

With that aside, I have had more fun experiences since the beginning of the quarter.  To avoid letting this get too long, I’ll focus on one: I went rock climbing at the Anteater Recreation Center with a friend and was forced to confront my very real lack of strength.  I didn’t make it to the top of any of the walls because I discovered that after a certain point, my body decided to give up in the fight against gravity and I could no longer pull myself up any higher.  Despite that, I had a lot of fun trying out the different levels and fulfilling all of the different roles (the climber, the person spotting the climber, the backup for the person spotting the climber, the person who takes pictures once the climber reaches the top).

All in all, it’s been a good start!  I’ve been learning things I’m interested in, and there’s enough difference between my classes where it doesn’t feel like all of the work is the same.  I’ve been having fulfilling experiences outside of class, too.  Here’s to hoping the rest of the quarter doesn’t feel like I’m getting tossed around in a washing machine, but I think after surprise surgery in week 2, the only way to go is up.

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To new beginnings and the Importance of Self-Advocacy :)

Hello Anteaters! Although school has only been in session for about a month, my experience at UCI has consisted of meeting new people, adjusting to the college lifestyle, and balancing school work with outside activities. 

Because my STEM courses are taught in the “flipped classroom” style, I have been adjusting to learning material independently and creating a consistent routine when it comes to watching online lecture videos. I learned early on in my General Chemistry course that missing one lecture video will result in a difficult class session. Thankfully, this occurred during week two, so I had time to change my study habits and no longer had to “play the catch up game” (which was a sigh of relief). Trust me, you do not want to fall behind, especially in STEM courses!

Another new piece of information is that I had the opportunity to declare Math as my major! During week two, I worked alongside the supportive Undecided/Undeclared staff and the Physical Sciences Department to switch from an Undeclared major to a Mathematics major. Although this process included physically knocking on the Math Department’s office doors just to hear the same answer, “no, you have to wait until you meet the requirements,” my last attempt was successful! I was greeted by an academic counselor and given a strict deadline to switch into Math by the end of that week. I am grateful that I can continue to blog, even as a new Math major! 

Furthermore, a significant part of the college lifestyle is the food at UCI and around the city of Irvine. 

My ultimate study snack is from Brandywine, and it is their delicious vegan pumpkin bread. Every time I eat at this dining hall, I take two or three pieces because they are not only tasty, but are already saran wrapped, which makes for a quick snack after a long day of classes. I also have my friends try the bread, and believe me when I tell you that they all would give it a 10/10:)  

Yum!!

TIP!!!

You may be wondering why I included a photo of a doorstop. If you are living in the Mesa court classics I recommend buying or asking for one! By keeping the door open, I have met several students in my dorm building. This was great during week 0 when everyone was moving in and meeting each other.