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Interview with Don Hill

Hi everyone!

I’m back again, and this time I have some real content—an interview! The person I chose to interview was Don Hill, who is the chair of the drama department here at UCI. More importantly, however, he teaches my University Studies 3: How to be a Star class that I’ve loved this entire quarter. In this class, I learned how to value myself, how to prepare for the future, and most importantly, how to enjoy my time at UCI. When tasked with choosing an interview candidate, I thought, who better than Professor Hill? 

Considering my audience of undeclared freshmen and incoming freshmen, I asked Professor Hill a few questions regarding his time in college and the idea of being “undeclared.” One of the questions asked was, “What are some things that you wish you had known when you were still in college?” His response? “I wished I knew that it was all going to be possible.” He then talked about young students are “scared about not making it” or “feeling that they’re not good enough.” Personally, I agree with his statements. Self-validation is incredibly important, and I have always found things are easier to do when I am confident. In Professor Hill’s insightful words, “There’s enough for everybody, there’s plenty of opportunity, and it’s a matter of creating that opportunity for yourself.”

When I asked about undeclared students finding a career to pursue, Professor Hill’s advice surprised me. His advice was to explore meditation. Although I was confused, at first, his explanations brought me to understand the depth of his advice. In essence, meditation would allow a person to “get clarity.” Rather than think about meeting unwanted expectations, clarity would allow said person to answer the question, “What do I really want to do?” While there is merit to pursuing a set career path with minimal risk, Professor Hill advises students to “give themselves personal permission to make the choices they want to make.” The most important part of a field of work should be enjoyment, not money.

Lastly, since he is the Chair of UCI’s Drama Department, I asked Professor Hill about his program, and what makes it so special. In response, he talked about how the brilliance of their undergraduate musical theater, BA, and BFA program acted as the “calling card” for the UCI drama program. He also talked about the network of graduates from the School of the Arts: “I mean, any given night on Broadway, for 10 years now, except for COVID. We’ve had somebody on a Broadway stage from UCI, whether they’re there as a performer or an understudy or in the booth calling the show.” And aside from the quality education, Professor Hill notes: “We’re in California, and we’re close to the beach. How bad can it be?

If you’ve made it down here, thanks for taking the time to read this! I really enjoyed my interview, and one more shoutout to Professor Don Hill, who took the time out of his day to be my interviewee. If you ever get the chance, I recommend taking his class, Uni Studies 3: How to be a Star. Anyways, that’s it from me, and I hope everyone has a great rest of the quarter! I’ll see y’all one last time, so bye for now!

Zot Zot Zot,

Ian

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Selfie Intermission

Hey y’all, glad to be back! Nothing special planned this week, but the next post will be good (I promise). In the meantime, here are some selfies I took around campus, just to give y’all a peek into life at UCI.

Here is my first selfie: right outside my dorm, Middle Earth Towers. If there was anything standout about UCI’s freshman experience, I’d say the dorms are much nicer to live in compared to dorms at other colleges and universities.

Here is my second selfie, taken inside Brandywine, the dining hall for the Middle Earth community. The guy with the red hair is Julian, one of many friends I made this year. We both live in Middle Earth Towers and love how convenient Brandywine is—all we have to do is walk downstairs.

This selfie was taken at the ARC (Anteater Recreation Center) just after my team and I won a close IM game. This team was for co-rec soccer, but I also am in a men’s soccer and open volleyball team. I started getting into IM sports this quarter, and I’ve come to love the community of people who play and run IM sports.

That’s all for this time! As always, thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next post—it’s gonna be big… 

Zot Zot Zot,

Ian

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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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Looking to the Future

I can’t believe that my first year in college is almost over! If I had to sum it all up in a phrase, I think “so far so good” would be a good description. This last finals week hit me pretty hard, but I think (and hope) that I pulled through. I would like to say that it has been a great first year, but there is still the entirety of last quarter waiting, and I don’t want to falter now. 

This next quarter, I will be 18 units, the most I’ve taken since arriving in Irvine. Additionally, I have 8ams on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, which I still haven’t figured out how I’m going to manage. During Winter quarter, my earliest class started at 1pm, so the switch will be a little bit of a lifestyle shock. I shouldn’t be complaining too much, though, since the class responsible for my 8ams is my ICS31 class, which was really hard to get as an undeclared major.

Some more news: I’ve decided on the major I’m going to pursue! I think I want to try for the Business Administration route, and next quarter I’m taking my first management class. One thing about the Business Administration major though—people who switch in need a very high gpa. Some of my friends have told me switching into BA is much harder than other majors, but I still want to do it. If anything, it just gives me more motivation to succeed in my classes, since there’ll be more of an incentive to maintain a high GPA. 

Because of my major choice, my number one goal for the immediate future is to keep my GPA as high as possible. That means every homework assignment, every lecture, and yes, every 8am ICS lab. As long as my GPA stays high, I have a shot at going down the business route that I want to pursue. So as of now, I’m going into next quarter with academics being my first priority—I am a student, after all.

That’s all for me this time! As always, thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a great spring break!

Zot Zot Zot,

Ian