Author: Kylie Hadden

My first year at UCI is coming to an end, how crazy is that? As I have mentioned in many of my blogs, I had no idea what to expect coming to my first year of college. I was away from home for the first time, in a new environment, and ready to start a new chapter in my life. From my first blog to writing my very last one, I have learned so much about myself, experienced so many things, and met so many amazing people. For my last blog post, I just wanted to reflect on each quarter and highlight some of my favorite parts of my first year at UCI.

The fall quarter was probably the most terrifying part of my first year. I was very scared but excited to move away from home for the first time. I spent my fall quarter getting used to academics in college and being independent. I also spent time trying to discover different clubs that I wanted to join. Especially during the first few weeks of school, I attended meetings as much as I could. I mostly focused on going to dance workshops and meetings for Kababayan at UCI. Most of my classes were online, so I spent lots of my time studying in the study rooms in my dorm. I became close with my roommates and made new friends with people in my dorm. During this quarter, I explored different areas around Irvine. One of my favorite places that I went to with my friends was Corona del Mar. It’s a beach that is pretty close to campus. This was one of my favorite memories during the fall quarter because it was one of the first times I got to explore off-campus with my friends.

My winter quarter was probably the quarter I struggled with the most. I began to become more involved with one club, Kababayan at UCI, by participating in their internship program. For 10 weeks, I was able to learn more about the club, create programs, host general meetings, and create memories with my intern class and board. While this was an amazing opportunity, it did come with a lot of time and commitment. I struggled with balancing academics and extracurriculars for the first few weeks of school. I was also taking harder classes than the quarter before, so it was a lot more difficult for me this quarter. I started to learn more about handling stress and ways to become better at balancing my academics and extracurriculars. 

My spring quarter was more relaxed. I mostly spent my time focusing on finishing my first year strong. I took the lessons I learned from the past two quarters and applied them. This quarter was very important to me as it was the last time I could hang out with my friends before leaving for the summer. During the last few weeks of school, I got to celebrate the school year by attending a banquet and going out with my friends for the last time this year. At Kababayan at UCI’s banquet, I got to go to the Venue by Three Petals at Huntington Beach. I ate some delicious Filipino food from Seafood City, watch a talent show, watch some lip dubs, and learn who the new board is for next year. In the end, we were able to dance on the dance floor as the DJ played music. I also took lots of pictures with my intern class, mentor, and many other friends! 

Finals week was probably the most memorable part of my spring quarter. My birthday was during this week, so it was a bit stressful. After I finished all my finals, I went out to dinner at Mad Dumplings with my friends. Afterward, I celebrated my birthday by eating cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes. It was nice getting to celebrate my birthday with my closest friends and eat some good cake. On my last day in Irvine, I went out to dinner at BCD to celebrate my friend’s birthday. It was super fun because after, we went to Laguna Beach. It was super pretty at night looking towards the city.

Well, that’s the end of my first year and my time as a Zot Blogger. Thank you for following me and my fellow Zot Bloggers this school year! I can’t wait to come back and experience the next 3 years here at UCI.

This is Kylie Hadden signing off <3

• 

• 

• 

This week, we zotbloggers were assigned to write about a UCI or faculty staff member about their experiences in their journey. I had the honor of interviewing Rachel Hoffer, my Writing 39C TA from the winter quarter, and the chance to learn more about her college career and path to where she is today.

Rachel was born and raised in Irvine, California. Throughout her lifetime, she was able to see her small hometown grow into a huge tech center. She moved out of Irvine to attend a small, private Liberal Arts college located in Los Angeles, California: Occidental College. Coming into college, Rachel explained how she wanted to do something that was meaningful, that she loved, and was passionate about. Additionally, she wanted to do something that she could, “… transform into making a world a better place.” Rachel thought about becoming a teacher to teach about a topic she really enjoyed. That topic was related to her all-time favorite hobby: reading. In college, she majored in English to pursue her passion for literature with the “grand dream” of becoming a literature professor. 

Choosing her major was not an easy task. Coming out of high school, Rachel didn’t have a clue about what major she wanted to pursue. At first, she thought that she would study either Psychology or Political Science. What she discovered after her first year while taking GE courses was that the “one connecting factor” that she “… enjoyed from each class was getting to practice analysis skills.” When she took her first writing class, she discovered how she loved reading and analyzing literature. This led to her pursuing English as her major with two minors in history and classical studies by her sophomore year.

Rachel studied hard in her major and graduated in 4 years. Following graduating with her undergraduate degree, she decided to take a gap year. During that gap year, she worked 4-5 jobs; she worked for an arts festival, a marketing software engineering company, a publisher, and more. Rachel discloses that these entry-level jobs were “all opportunities of learning.” These jobs gave Rachel an idea of jobs that she didn’t want to pursue, but also gave her an idea of what she wanted to do in the future. A part of these jobs she loved was teaching skills to others. Finding her career path of teaching was similar to her finding her major in English. Rachel began tutoring kids from different levels and learned that she loved working with high school AP Literature students. She decided to get a Ph.D. to become a college professor at Claremont Graduate University. She then came to UCI to focus on researchability after doing her research and learning. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she was able to reassess her career and “expand the toolbox of teaching.” This year was Rachel’s first year teaching Writing 39C at UCI. “After this period in my life, I expect to finish out my Ph.D. for the next 4 years,” Rachel explains. In the future, she hopes to become a professor at a 4-year university and become a tenured professor.

I was intrigued by Rachel’s story of her college career. One of the main points that I took away from her experience was how she discovered what she loved to do through different experiences. It’s a unique way of figuring out what you want to do as a career. I just wanted to thank Rachel for giving me the opportunity in interviewing her! I really enjoyed her Writing 39C class, and was excited that I was able to talk to her outside of class. If you are interested in taking the same career path as Rachel, I highly recommend getting in touch with her!

Here are some cool spots around UCI that I visited this week!

• 

• 

• 

Spring break 2022 was a great way for me to relax, visit family, and take a nice break from school. During my spring break, I flew to the Bay Area for 3 days to visit my family. I arrived Friday night after taking my last final. For the few days I was in the Bay Area, I was able to see family I haven’t seen since Winter break and got to eat at some of my favorite restaurants. I was very excited about this trip as I was also able to watch my cousin perform as the lead of her school’s play. She played Ellie Blake, the daughter, in her school’s production of Freaky Friday (Musical). The musical had a story like all the other Freaky Friday movies but was different in its own ways. I loved seeing my cousin perform since I haven’t seen her perform a lead role since 2018. After the performance, I had a fun family dinner with cousins, aunts, and uncles and caught up with all of them.

The next day, my family and I drove back down to the Southern California area. My sister and I ended up having the same spring break this year, which worked out great for planning a college touring trip. My sister is a junior in high school, so it’s about that time to tour campuses and decide where she wants to apply to. We visited Loyola Marymount, UCLA, CSU Long Beach, Chapman, and UCI. It was fun to go on tours and walk around different campuses. 

When we finished college tours, we took a few trips to the beach! We stayed in Huntington Beach, and the beach was right across the street from our hotel. I really liked staying at the beach, going swimming, and relaxing. I also took my family to a public market that I discovered with my friends here at UCI. Rodeo 39 consists of many small eateries that we could choose from. My spring break overall was a relaxing experience!