Hey there! I’m Clay (he/him) and I’m a freshman this year in U/U. A little about me is that I’m from Orange County, California, I really love D&D, and I really like visual and performing arts.
Becoming an Anteater has been really exciting for me. I really enjoyed SPOP, it really gave me a chance to get out of my shell. I performed in the SPOP 6 talent show (SPOP 6 gang let’s goooo!) and I got to have a lot of really cool conversations with UCI students both incoming, currently attending, and graduated.
I’m actually writing this segment at the end of Welcome Week. At this point, I’ve moved into my dorm and seen what UCI really has to offer. And let me tell you- It’s a lot. I’ve met so many amazing people and experienced so many new things just in the span of a week. One of my greatest fears is what people think of me, and here I honestly really feel free of the paranoia of what people think of me. I’ve met so many people that have the same interests as me, ranging from my taste in music to my guilty pleasures like watching silly cartoons and cheesy action movies.
That’s not even getting started on the variety of clubs on campus. There’s so many clubs that range from major specific groups focused on student success to general clubs for common interests to identity based clubs that uplift members of the community. At the Anteater Involvement Fair, I walked around for hours in the hot sun just to get a taste of all the organizations created by my fellow Anteaters that existed. I can safely say that the sunburn was annoying but checking everything out was so worth it. Even then, I hardly even scratched the surface of all of the clubs that were not my cup of tea. I was mostly interested in clubs focusing on the arts, humanities, and the creative community at UCI. There were so many other groups that were outside of my interests but would attract many other students, such as pre-law societies, med student clubs, greek life, and more. Even though I don’t have a major, I stopped by some of those booths and was excited to learn about the internships and research that these clubs conducted.
Moving on from clubs, the social aspect of being at college has been overwhelmingly positive for me. Truth be told, I’m a very insecure person and I often overthink interactions with my peers. But with our late night walks in Aldrich Park to just hanging out in our dorm rooms, It’s been such an honor to meet so many funny, intelligent, and genuine people. Even people that don’t share my interests are willing to let me talk about my silly shows and crafting endeavors. In return, I get to hear about what they like, and it makes me so happy to hear about what makes other people happy.
I’ve gone on long enough. Being at UCI has been a great experience so far and I can’t wait to see what else is in store for me. I hope that I can be a resource for anyone who reads the blog, and that I can inspire people to get out of their comfort zone and have the college experience. Inspire may be a strong word to use, but I’m excited to show people what being an Anteater can be!
HELLO READERS!! My name is Lindsay Mikuni, and I am from Sacramento, California. As much as I love Sacramento, it was time to depart from my hometown of 17 years to Irvine for the next four years of my life! I am a Japanese Chinese American, which is, in a way, ironic. I love trying out new things; adventuring off into new places; and really anything spontaneous. A trip to the beach at sunrise or sunset? YES! Mcdonald’s at 2am? YES! My go-to order is the oreo mcflurry or the vanilla soft serve. I’m not sure if this is a popular opinion, but pair that with some fries, and I’m set. Although, with me being lactose intolerant, I’m not sure if my stomach agrees. I love love love the beach so much, and that is a perk of living in Irvine, which I’m grateful for. I may not have a car, but I will gladly spend money on an uber, or even, if I’m desperate, beg people with cars to drive me. 
Hello fellow anteaters and all others who are reading this post! My name is Jack Fedor and I am a freshman at UCI who is living on campus in Mesa Court. I currently am undeclared as for my major, but through the course of this school year and shared through these posts, I hope to share my journey towards declaring a major. Entering the school year I am interested in majors in science such as biology, chemistry, physics and earth system science. However I am going to take classes and participate in other activities which hopefully will allow me to experience other fields before I decide on a major. Some other information about me is that I am from Sacramento and I was able to participate in a lot of activities when I was in high school there. I wrote a bunch of articles for my school and a community newspaper, I competed on my high school’s mock trial team and I was a sound and lighting director for my school’s drama productions. I also volunteered a lot with community organizations and was a part of my high school’s student government. The point of sharing all of this information is that I hope to participate in a lot of activities (both similar and different) during my time at UCI.