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Exploring Clubs at UCI!

Hey Anteaters!

Hope you all had a good week 4 so far despite midterms. Hang in there, you got this! Honestly though, week 4 has been pretty hectic as I’m sure you guys are all experiencing as well, and I wanted to share some activities that I’ve been doing to try and take my mind off of school when I can find the time, as well as share these activities in case any of you are looking for new things to do on and off campus!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently  joined the badminton club. I’ve been playing badminton since freshman year of high school, so I was super excited about being a part of UCI’s badminton team. They’ve got both an A and B Team; one for beginners/rec, and one more advance and competitive. Luckily I was already familiar with the slightly more intensive style of training in A team, so adjusting to playing again after a long period of hiatus wasn’t too bad. On Tuesdays we focus on attack drills and thursday defense drills, and every other week we’ll have a fun hiking social or meet up at UTC where you can get to Know the members which is nice. I’ve only been to one however, so I’ve been struggling to make any connections with members. Not to mention that everyone there is an upperclassman (scary) and that there are practically no girls on the team…so if any girls are interested in joining a sport club…please sign up for badminton club once sign ups open again for winter quarter! But honestly badminton in general has always been such a great way for me to destress and take my mind off of things, really any exercising or outdoor activity is, so if you’ve been feeling overwhelmed these past few days from midterms, try getting some fresh air or exercising your body for even just a bit. It seriously helps clear your mind and keep you from burning out before your next exam. Just make sure to get back to your studies after lol!

Another club I want to quickly recommend even if you have no experience in dancing is UCI’s k-pop dance club Kkap!

They have free workshops every friday where they teach two k-pop dances. (You can check their insta for what dances they’ll be teaching, what time, and location) Everyone is so enthusiastic and welcoming there, it’s a great environment to connect with people, and just to get out and experience something new. I recently went to Kkap’s workshop this previous Friday where we learned Devil by the Window (TXT)! We also all dressed up in our halloween costumes; it was a lot of fun! You can check out the video performances from Kkap workshops on their Kkap TV Youtube channel! If you see a girl with long, blond hair dancing horribly it’s probably me lol!

Next blog I hope to share with you guys the places I’ve been exploring outside of the UCI campus, including the best restaurants, boba shops, and cafes I want to try out! Hopefully, after midterms I’ll actually have time to do all that lol! Until next time! Byeeee 🙂

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Enter Bella: U/U Zot Blog 2024-2025

What’s up, Anteaters! I’m Bella, and I’ve traveled here all the way from the San Francisco Bay Area and now reside in Middle Earth. Though I came into UCI as undecided, I’m interested in switching to either film or game design. Really anything that lets me be hands on and creative! I’ve had a few experiences in high school working on film productions as part of an internship, so I’m hoping to use what I’ve learned and apply it here at UCI in some way whether that be for the vlog, film club, or for a potential film major. 

While moving into my dorm at UCI, I was extremely nervous about having to live on my own without my family and in an unfamiliar environment. However, the orientation and welcome week hosted by the university completely exceeded my expectations and my view on university life took a huge 180. All the events hosted during welcome week showed me how inclusive, engaging, and social UCI is, and it made me eager to branch out and learn more. One of my favorite events was the club fair. There were an absurd amount of clubs scattered across Aldrich park, and I won’t lie it was kind of overwhelming. I didn’t know where to start! Unfortunately, because of my busy course schedule, I couldn’t join too many clubs this quarter. I ended up choosing two clubs which I’m super excited about starting! Since freshman year of high school, I played on my school’s varsity badminton team, and in my sophomore year I was the team captain in our team of about fifty players. I absolutely wanted to continue playing competitively during college and also improve by playing against higher-level athletes, so I joined UCI’s badminton club. Badminton is an extremely fun sport whether you want to play competitively or intramurally, so if any of you are looking for a new way to exercise and make new friends I totally recommend joining UCI’s badminton club! Badminton had taken up a largely significant part of my life in high school, so I didn’t have much time for anything else like joining the school dance team, which I had really wanted to do. So while at UCI I hope to take advantage of the opportunities with their several dance teams. I ended up joining Kkap, one of the dance teams recommended to me by a fellow anteater who I knew in high school. Every Friday they have a free workshop where they focus on learning dances by k-pop bands. I’m super excited to join their first workshop where they’ll be practicing Chk Chk Boom by Stray Kids, and Touch by Katseye. I’ve already started practicing lol! If any of you are in Kkap I’d love to get to meet you!


Here’s a pic of the free albums we got at the Kkap booth during the club fair!

Getting the chance to check out these club booths and also interacting with the club members was such a welcoming experience. And knowing now that there are places and people at UCI who can share my experiences and interests makes me feel more at home, and more eager to be a part of the community. If you haven’t joined any clubs yet, I totally recommend that you do! It may seem daunting at first trying to fit in into your schedule, or even trying to talk to new people, but I assure you it will be rewarding. It’ll help you form a community where you can take a break from the stress of college work, enjoy your interests outside of class work with people who share your passion, and maybe even offer you an opportunity to discover something new you never knew you’d like. Go put yourself out there and give it a shot!

Besides the events during orientation week, I’ve tried to explore around the campus and see what the town of Irvine has to offer. I checked out the University Center (aka UTC) where I found tons of amazing restaurants that offered healthy and delicious food choices such as Tender Greens, or Iro Sushi. If you’re looking for a quick bite to eat, there’s also In-N-Out and Chick Fil A. And of course, since I’m a boba fanatic, I had to check out the several boba shops at the utc! I tried out the fruit tea at Pink Pig (super cute atmosphere with places to sit and study; they also have plushies), Share Tea (it was ok; nowhere to sit, and the kiwi tea I got was…interesting lol), and finally Cha For Tea which I hear is everyone’s favorite (delicious, nice atmosphere with places to sit and study, always crowded lol). I’d say my overall favorite would also be Cha For Tea, but Pink Pig was super cute too! Go check those out! 

The owner at Pink Pig gave me a free panda plushie purse! >w<

Anyways! There’s so much more I want to share with you guys about move in week and traveling around the rest of UCI, but I think I’ve written a bit too much already haha. I’m so excited and looking forward to meeting everyone I can at UCI through clubs and classes, as well as exploring more around the city of Irvine! I hope you guys take the chance to explore as well as you will never find so many opportunities sitting in one place waiting for you. Wishing you all a fantastic first week at UCI! Zot Zot Zot!!