Author: Rohan Roy

Hey everyone! I hope you are doing well. The last couple of weeks have been quite hectic wrapping up midterms, and just like that, getting ready for finals. The beauty of the quarter system. 

School has been moving so fast that I haven’t had much time to think about my upcoming plans. Like classes I am going to take in upcoming quarters or what I want to do over summer break and all. One thing that I am thinking about for next summer is studying abroad. 

And it looks like I wasn’t the only one thinking about it considering it was a 15-minute wait just to get into the ballroom. 

I used to travel a lot when I was younger, but by the time my brother and I were both in high school and juggling many different activities, it became harder for our family to go on vacations. Throughout high school, I got very comfortable with being at home and began to fall in love with my hometown. I don’t think this is a bad thing, but it did make me worried about leaving home for college. Now that I have stepped out of my comfort zone a bit, I feel like spending an extended period in another country would be good for me, and something I can handle. 

At the fair, I was looking into a few different places, but hope to find a program I like in Europe. I would say Europe because it has been recommended to me by older people, and I feel there won’t be as much of a language barrier. 

Aside from looking into summer programs, this past week has been a bit relaxing for me without any big exams. Mostly I have been trying to stay on top of work so it does pile up after the break, but also trying to figure out what classes to take next quarter. This is a much-needed break, and it’s crazy to think how little time there is between the next break, the holidays are coming, and my roommates and I are getting ready.

Just a picture of our little tree in the dorm. Anyways, hopefully, everyone is managing school well and finding ways to have fun on campus, we’re almost there. Have a nice break, everyone! 

After the quarter system gave me an extended summer, the past few weeks hit me with a reality check. I felt quite lucky that most of my midterms were spaced out, however, it did not give me much time to reset fully. But that’s college I guess, everything moves so fast. Speaking of, we are just over a month away from being a twelfth of the way through our undergraduate career. 

Midterms 🙁

For the last few weeks, I have consistently found myself in the mesa study room at unreasonable hours with one of these cracked open:

I should probably stop drinking these.

I had my first midterm during the second week of October for my Biology class, I ended up doing alright on it, but I will have to make up for it in upcoming assignments and exams to get my grade as high as possible. The week after was a bit more difficult because I had a math midterm on Friday morning, and an essay for my writing class due that night as well. That was one of the most stressful weeks I had in a while because that test and that essay made up such a huge part of my grade in each class. Without a doubt the most stressful week I have had since probably my junior year of high school. I feel pretty good about both, but still not sure. 

Close Call

Since there is a chance attendance will be counted towards my grade, especially for discussions and seminars, I make sure not to miss those easy points. I did get close though. After daylight savings, I woke up a bit too early for my nine AM class around seven, and had some trouble going back to sleep because it was so bright that morning. I felt very low energy throughout the day because I was up early technically but did not start moving until quite a bit later. I figured to make sure I got a proper night’s rest I should close my blinds so I am not blinded by the bright sun so early in the morning. Big mistake. I slept through my first five alarms (yes, I have 6) and was scrambling in the morning to get to my first class. Lesson learned: only close the blinds on weekends. 

My “trustworthy” alarm lineup.

Relaxation

I know this quarter so far may have been stressful, it certainly has been for me. The most important thing when feeling stressed is having an outlet. For me, it’s been calling home often, exercising, going off campus with friends, and Christmas music. Yes, Christmas music, just reminds me of a relaxing time that will come around eventually. This is something I have always listened to no matter the time of year, and I highly recommend 🙂

Some of the songs I like to listen to.

A view from the trail I go for a run on every Saturday morning.

Got to watch the soccer team beat CSU Fullerton for the Big West Playoffs.

Keep pushing!

-Rohan

Hey everyone! Hope you are doing well. This quarter has been moving so fast. I wanted to share a little bit about my first few weeks on campus. Since we got to move in a little bit before class started, I was able to focus on meeting new people and looking into extracurricular activities. Currently, I am a part of IM soccer, a few business clubs, and the Spike Ball Club. These have helped keep me busy and meet new people.

The first few days of being away from home and my family was hard. To counteract this I would call my parents multiple times a day just to hear their voice, and call my friends at other schools to see how they were doing. One thing that I was hearing about from friends and family a lot, was their weather complaints. I had none, even during the heat wave. The weather is nice down here. Another aspect of college I was worried about was falling asleep at night, but there is so much to do during the day by the evening all I want to do is crash. 

A picture of my roommate and me at CDM during Week 1.

The first couple weeks my roommates and I were going Newport or Corona Del Mar a fair amount, but lately, as classes have started to pick up we haven’t been able to. Speaking of classes, MIDTERMS! I hope everyone did well on the ones they have had, and wish them the best of luck for the upcoming ones. Personally, my first mid-term for one of my biology classes was quite difficult, but my econ test was not too bad. 

In high school, I could never focus in my room, I would just walk around juggling a soccer ball, playing music wasting a ton of time. In the dorm, I find it a lot easier to focus because there is less space, and when my roommates are there we are often both more productive. However, when I can’t focus in the room or want a new space to study, I prefer the Mesa study room. The libraries are super nice, but I live in Isla, which is at the bottom of the Mesa Classics next to parking lot 5, so they are a far walk.

My desk setup (pretty boring).

Every night I make sure to talk to my parents on the phone, as well one at least one of my friends from back home, get a workout in, and read for a half hour. These are a few of the things that have helped me build a new routine and unwind each day. Overall, I will say I have adjusted to this college life, but know it will still take a bit more time. I hope everyone is also getting comfortable in this new environment, it is a big change, but the best is yet to come.

-Rohan

Hi, my name is Rohan Roy and I am from the San Francisco Bay Area. Like many of you, I am also undeclared but hope to pursue a degree in Accounting and potentially Economics. A bit about me is that I enjoy playing soccer, watching college football, playing ping-pong/pickleball, and playing poker with friends. I just started learning to golf. This past summer and senior year of high school has been better than I could imagine, getting to celebrate the closing of a chapter with so many close friends and family has been a time that I will never forget. My favorite memory of this past year was over spring break, I was in Hawaii with a few friends, taking some time to decompose and take in all the fun we had been having the past year, as well as relieving the stresses that came along with it. On our final morning in Waikiki, I woke up to check my phone to see if our flight was still on time and saw an email saying there was an update in my UCI portal. Once logged in, I squinted my eyes, crossed my fingers, and saw the first word in the letter: “Congratulations.” After that, the little Anteater confetti started to fall from the top of the screen and it felt like the biggest weight lifted off my shoulders. I finally felt like I had gotten into a school that I was proud to say I was going to; a great school academically, and in a great area. I hope that is how you all felt reading your acceptance letter, and I also wanted to say congratulations to you all.

In the last few years, I went to Southern California multiple times yearly for soccer tournaments, mostly in San Diego and Orange County. At the time, I never would have thought I would get to go to school in such a nice area.

The most recent time I went down was in late July this year for orientation. I remember in the seven-hour car ride down, it hit me all at once; that I was finally going to college. I was having a lot of mixed emotions. Although I was excited to be a college student, I was going to miss my friends from high school, seeing my parents every day, the familiarity, and the overall feeling of being a kid. Naturally, the nerves took over, and leading into SPOP I was very scared about moving on to the next phase of my life.

It was clear to me after being around and getting to know students from all over during orientation, that going to college can be an uncomfortable transition. Which can be even more challenging as an undeclared student trying to figure out what path to take academically. Moving forward, through this blog I hope to share stories about how I am dealing with this change, stepping out of my comfort zone, updates on methods that are keeping me grounded as well as things that I have found interesting in the classroom that may spark a new major interest.

Lastly, I want to congratulate everyone once for making it to this point in their journey, because we all know it wasn’t easy, and wanted to wish you all the best of luck for what the next four years will bring. It’s going to be a great year.