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Congratulations Class of 2027!

Dear future Anteaters, 

First of all, a huge congratulations for committing to this special university! You should give yourself a pat on the back for all of your hard work! (Also, enjoy your last couple of months of your high school senior year as well:)) 

Although I was an Undeclared major for about two weeks, I want to still reflect and share my tips and advice from this year. This first year in college will always be a core memory in my life life as it was not only a new chapter, but I feel like it was the year that I learned the most about myself and started taking steps toward my journey to my future career. It has been an exciting year and experience in college. I am grateful for my friend group, the UCI CalTeach program, and club organizations on campus. I want to emphasize the importance of getting involved on campus, as it will help bring a healthy balance of school and the social aspect of college. 

While I know it is quite early on to decide what major you are interested in, I want you to know that you have the support of your Undeclared Advisors, and that they are there for YOU. Please, take advantage of them, especially because their offices are on campus in Aldrich Hall. As an Undeclared major, you have the opportunity to explore different majors and take a variety of classes. The advisors are there for schedule planning and will answer any questions that you may have. In college, one of the best pieces of advice I would give to you is to not be afraid to ask for help. It is important to advocate for yourself and ask for help because it can relieve stress and give you insight and clarity in different situations. 

Another piece of advice would be to attend office hours that are led by your professors, TAs, and Learning Assistants. If you are interested in Biology or Chemistry, there are General Chemistry Peer Tutors and they are wonderful tutors because they have most likely taken the same professor and understand the same material that you are learning in class. They also lead helpful midterm and final review sessions. In my experience, attending these office hours have helped me understand class material in a smaller setting and there are usually no more than fifteen students in these office hours (which is way smaller than the 100-300 student lecture halls! ) 

I cannot believe that this quarter is coming to a close, but I just wanted to again say a big congratulations for committing to this university! 

#ZOTZOTZOT

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Welcome to U/U!

Hello, new Undeclared student and welcome to UCI! I hope this letter finds you well and not too burnt out in your final year of high school. My name is Teresa and I’m a first-year U/U student as well as a commuter.

My first real taste of UCI was during the summer when I had to attend freshman orientation or SPOP (Student Parent Orientation Program– no one calls it that, though).  I actually didn’t realize that the program was overnight until the week that it happened, so I had to quickly rearrange my packing list (notably adding shower shoes) a few nights before.  I’m someone who is quite shy and would rather not stand out and SPOP gave me my first chance to practice adapting that to the independence of college: one of the first things I learned is that at UCI, your time is pretty much completely your own (with the exception of mandatory things, in which case you probably owe it to others to be somewhere). With that being said, my introverted self has found this meme to unironically be a pretty good piece of advice.

There’s a lot going on at UCI all the time: you’ll get upwards of ten emails a week inviting you to various campus events and I’d highly recommend going to any ones that seem even a little interesting to you, especially if a) they’re free, and/or b) you have friends who are willing to go with you (my friend and I went to a tote bag decorating event the other day and let’s just say I am now richer by one more cute tote bag and two more free notebooks).  As a commuter, events like these have gave me a chance to be part of the greater UCI community, outside of my own little bubble of activities and classes.  However, since coming to college, I’ve spent a lot more time thinking about what I want to do every day, rather than just following the daily bell schedule and being where I need to be like I did during high school.  So, try new things, but still make the most of your time: succinctly, if it sucks, hit da bricks!

Moving along, I hope you enjoy your time as Undeclared; whether you’re coming in with a major in mind or eager to find a direction to take your life in, this is a chance to explore new interests!  Sometimes, you won’t be able to register for the exact classes you want due to them filling up before restrictions drop, but this just provides you with the opportunity to try something new; UCI has a lot of different classes and gives you many chances to learn that thing that you kinda maybe sorta found interesting when you were younger but never got to fully dive into.  I’ve been taking a lot of Linguistics courses – something I definitely didn’t learn about high school – and I’ve found it so interesting that I now intend to double-major in it.

I guess what this post boils down to is that the best part of my first year in college has been being able to get to know myself; UCI is like the world’s biggest sandbox, letting you play around and experiment, building tiny castles and destroying them or reforming them once they no longer serve purpose to you.  Being aware of that fact has helped me enjoy college even more, and that’s why I want to impart that knowledge on you.

With that being said, I remember being in your place, just a year ago: I hope you’re all excited to get here in the fall, but I also hope you all make the most of all of your final days in high school (without failing your exams, notably).  Enjoy your super long summer! UCI will be waiting for you on the other side.

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To the 2027 Anteaters:

Hey y’all!

It’s me, Ian, and this time, I would like to talk about my (almost) year here from the point of view of an upcoming freshman. That means if you are a high school senior, this one is for you. I’m going to go over a few questions that I think will be helpful, as well as share some of my defining experiences over the past few quarters. 

So let’s get started, shall we?

Q: What should I expect from my first year at UCI?

A: Overall, I think going to UCI will give you the stereotypical “college experience” people talk about. As long as you make sure to balance work and fun, your first year will go smoothly. One thing to note, though—you will get sick. Living with four roommates and interacting with so many people daily, it is almost guaranteed that you will get sick. When you do, it is important to take that time off—buy some cold medicine, and take care of yourself. Even though you might miss events, remember that you are the number one priority. On a side note, try your best to stay healthy. The dining halls offer a plethora of desserts, and while they’re great, it is important also to eat fruits and vegetables to maintain your health.

Q: How hard is UCI academically?

A: This question varies, depending on what major you are taking (or trying to get into). As for me, I feel like my classes have been just hard enough—hard enough to challenge me but not too hard as to be impossible to do well in. However, certain classes are generally known to be hard classes, and others are known to be what I call “free classes.” If you are taking a hard class, such as Writing 60 or most chem classes, I would recommend taking a “free class” as well, such as Anthro2A (the online version). The easier class can help relieve stress from the harder class, as you don’t have to spend as much time learning the material for that class. 

Q: How is UCI socially?

A: This also varies, depending on how much effort you put into socializing. UCI is often stereotyped as a less social school, but I would say that is only partially true. In my opinion, UCI is only socially dead if you put no effort into socializing back. My biggest recommendation for upcoming freshmen is to prioritize being social, especially in the first few weeks. During this time, everyone is more willing to meet new people, and as long as you actively socialize, people will be receptive. After the first quarter, people tend to fall into their own groups, but that doesn’t mean meeting new people is impossible. In fact, I’ve gotten to know so many new people this quarter, so if the first quarter doesn’t go well for you, not all hope is lost. As a whole, I wouldn’t put very social as one of UCI’s best traits, but there most definitely is a community for everyone here—you just have to look for them.

Now as an upcoming freshman, one of your first UCI experiences will be SPOP (The new student orientation in the summer). If you can go to SPOP, I would 100% recommend going, as not only do you meet your advisor and choose classes there, but you will also meet your fellow freshmen for the first time. As this is your first time, make the most of it! Talk to as many people as you can, and start practicing the introductory phrases that you will be saying countless times in the future:

What’s your name?

What’s your major?

Where are you from?

What dorm do you live in?

It may feel awkward to ask at first, but trust me, you’ll get used to it after the 100th time or so. But TLDR: have fun! The vibes at UCI are great, so make the most of it.

Anyways, thanks for reading, I hope this helped, at least a little bit. That’s all for this week, so see y’all next week!

Zot Zot Zot,

Ian

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Brand New Quarter

Hey y’all!

It’s a new quarter, which means just ten more weeks till the end of my first year in college! I honestly cannot believe it, and I’m buzzing for this new quarter, fresh out of spring break. Before I get into this upcoming quarter, let me tell you a bit about my spring break. I went to the Taylor Swift concert! She happened to be performing in Dallas during my spring break, and I was able to get a hold of tickets back during the pre-sale. I may have lost half a day fighting for tickets, but post-concert? It was worth it. Other than the concert, I was able to enjoy the rest of my spring break in the best way—spending time with friends, family, and my dog.

As this is my third quarter, I am nearing the end of my time as a U/U student. However, I still need to finish strong. I’ve decided to try to get into the Business Administration major, something I figured out through the flexibility of the U/U major. And as I have my mind set on this goal, this last quarter is all about applying myself in the UCI business community (aside from maintaining my grades). One of my friends, who is a Business Administration major, has introduced me to this club called MAISS (Management and Information Student Society), and I want to get myself more involved in this club. They meet every Wednesday and have various events that pertain to the tech side of the business world. Last quarter, I was able to attend a couple of MAISS events, such as a UI/UX speaker panel featuring the head of UX design and research at a company called SAP. I got busy and didn’t attend as many events as I wanted to, so this quarter it’s my goal to attend as much as I can.

Other than that, my last goal is to have fun. This will be my last quarter in the dorms (shout out Middle Earth Towers), so I want to make the most of my time here. I will be living in an apartment next year, and I have a lot of commuter friends, so this may be the last time I see them every day. Because of this, I’ll be in the common room even more than I usually am, just to have that extra bit of interaction with all the amazing people on my floor.

This quarter is going to be amazing—I can just feel it.

Zot Zot Zot,

Ian

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Spring Quarter Update

howdy friends,

so it’s been awhile. i have um missed the last post(s?) but i am here and were gonna make it a better habit to complete these deadlines.

anyways so i guess this post will be a bit of an update since i haven’t written since winter quarter.

so winter quarter is over and idk everything feels um weird. now that i am reflecting over winter quarter, i am realizing how much i didn’t like it. i was taking a lot of my ge’s since i couldnt get a lot of the classes i wanted and i hadn’t declared yet. but now were in spring quarter and a lot has happened.

firstly, i declared! i am officially an english major! that said, i still didn’t get any of the classes i wanted el oh el but its fine. this quarter’s classes are WAY better. school work doesnt feel like work if you enjoy what youre learning so the classes i have now are a bit more fun.

last quarter i had to do TWO ge ii (science and tech) classes and as a humanities major, it was absolutely horrible. i took ess21? the one with the glaciers. the professor was cool but the class was suepr annoying even though i didnt go to lectures. i mean i got a B, (it wouldve been an A if i joined the discord apparently but yk me, didnt make friends or go to lecture). and i took bme3 which was fine and pretty easy. but yk what, now that i am taking classes that i actually like, i think i prefer to do work and enjoy it vs not enjoy work and not do it.

this quarter i am taking fun humanities courses. one of the classes i am taking fms101b, a film class based on the studio era (1990s) so a lot of black and white film. but what is really interesting is the courses’ alignment with actual socio-political problems of the time. a lot of what were talking about in class right now is how the studio era is relevant to black civil rights issues. so in all, its not exactly what i signed up for but regardless, i still think its interesting.

ill be quick with the others because they all lie in the same areas. other than film, i am taking society and law (english 11) which is basically ap gov but its cool because i liked ap gov but idk it wasnt what i was looking for. i thought i would be like analyzing like actual literature. eng 11 is literally just a government class and no literature at all ;(.

my third class is asianamerican studies 53. the class is alright. the professor is very smart but shes also very scary. i think her name is claire wong or something? the topic is really interesting though. we are going through asian american presence in us history and how it aligns with black civil rights; because, as i have learned, they are very interconnected. the class is also super socio political so its cool. who knew that by taking all of these humanities courses, i was actually going to learn be taking a social science classes?

and then lastly philo 4 which is chill. everything is basically online except for discussion but i mean i find the topic of ethics really interesting so i am applying to my life. so all in all, classes are really fun.

other than classes, i got a job! i am actually “working” right now but we did everything were supposed to do so i am just kind of sitting here. but for legal purposes i am working right now but uh yeah i am just hanging out until 12:30 so i can go back to the dorm. i will actually probably go grab some food. tonight is the first night that i dont have dance practice since winter quarter.

ever since i have gone back to school from winter break, i haven’t had a single night to myself. which i know by how i am describing it, sounds pretty bad but…yk what no yeah it has been horrible (maybe thats an exaggeration) but it hasnt been fun.

my dance team has had “hell week” ever since we have gotten back to school. i literally flew back from sacramento and ubered straight to practice so i could get placed in a piece i wanted to be in. oh hell week btw is just when you have practice everyday. our hell week was for eleven days so practice everynight for eleven days.

and okay maybe you’ll say that thats not horrible but let me tell you, our practices dont go from like eight to ten. im talking eight to like three if we’re lucky. in the last few days of hell week, we had a: 3 pm to 3 am (saturday) and the worst? 8 pm to 6 am. its less than saturdays but the thing is, it was a monday night to a tuesday morning.

AND i had work at 6:30. so i literally ended practice at 6 am, hustled my ass back to my dorm, took a shower, got dressed for work and ran to student center. WITH NO SLEEP. and the night before we had practice late as well so i was on like seven hours for two days. AND THEN i had class. okay i am complaining forgive but i am enjoying dancing a lot. i am learning a lot and improving a lot so thats whats great.

i am having a good time usually so it isnt that bad. most of the time im not actually dancing, i just have to be there in case they need me or something. usually i just do homework or listen to music or practice. its just hard because i wanted to be more consistent with my sleep schedule this quarter sooooo, so far not so great.

also i miss my family. to be frank with you guys, i am so thinking about transferring back to a school at home just because i think socal isnt really for me. maybe ill explain more indepth later. but i mean im keeping my hopes up for uci. so hopefully this quarter and next year will change my mind. i really miss my family. and my house. and my dog. and my mom. and my dad. and my car. ;(. but i mean this quarter has been more fun than fall and winter so yeah im keeping my hopes up.

anwyays thats some of my update. i think that was really long but whatevs.

also ima take this chance to promote some albums i have been listening to. eveyrthing is so random el oh el but here we goooo:

portals by melanie martinez (i think its a phase but idc i like it the album is creepy and weird and pretty good). some songs:

  • tunnel vision
  • void
  • death
  • light shower
  • the contortionist

never enough by daniel caesar (okay i have barely listened to it but i like some songs so yeah i am listening to it now just so i dont feel like a fraud or a fake). here are some songs i like:

  • always
  • toronto 2014
  • dissillusionment
  • ocho rios
  • homiesexual

okay that is it. good byeeeeeeeeeeeee

– jaden