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Insights from a Non-Dancer in Dance 3

When my Peer Academic Advisor (PAA) first recommended taking Dance 3, my severe lack of coordination, grace, and flexibility rejected the thought of enrolling in a dance class. It seems that my facial expression distorted slightly to suit my initial reluctance, or perhaps my PAA read my mind, quickly assuring me that the class does not involve dancing. This was a relief to hear for someone who struggled in a high school jazz dance class due to subpar technique. 

Despite what its name suggests, this GE course is otherwise known as “Scientific Concepts of Health,” taught by the UCI Dance department. My reluctance persisted. I had taken Health in high school; would it be beneficial to take it in college as well? My PAA’s colorful praises about the class, however, compelled me to enroll in it. After taking approximately four weeks of the class, I have not regretted my decision.

What distinguishes Dance 3 from my other classes is the direct translation of the concepts taught to our daily routines. This is especially relevant due to the highly stressful atmosphere surrounding the current midterm season. I was unsure of what to expect from college exams as a first-year student, exacerbating the anxiety of taking my midterms. This stress oftentimes leads to the neglect of basic necessities like a full night’s sleep and a consistent, balanced diet. Dance 3 equips us with the ability to combat the unhealthy habits that we may adopt as we navigate the pressures of academia. More specifically, a certain piece of advice stood out to me during this week’s guest speaker presentation from Jody Margolis, a nutritionist at the UCI Student Health Center: “Honor your hunger and your emotions, but don’t eat your feelings.”

Echoing my PAA’s recommendation of taking Dance 3, I would encourage anyone grappling with their wellness to enroll in this class if given the opportunity. Don’t be intimidated by its categorization under the Dance department; even non-dancers like me can greatly benefit from the class.

Here are some on-campus mental health resources if you feel the need to reach out:

UCI Student Health Center (https://shc.uci.edu/)

UCI Counseling Center (https://counseling.uci.edu/)

UCI Center for Student Wellness and Health Promotion (http://studentwellness.uci.edu)

Your friendly neighborhood Undeclared major,

Sabrina

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Life in Different Universities (1)

Hello everyone, I am Lucy. Apart from the introduction, this is my first blog in the true sense. I am very honored to be one of UCI’s ZOT bloggers and share my life here as an international student.

What I want to share with you this week is a comparison between my study abroad life and that of one of my best friends in England. In the following introduction, I will call my friend Yvonne and will not mention her school. All the introductions are our personal feelings.

Because of the epidemic, students who want to study abroad often choose to apply to many universities in many countries, and we are also in the same situation. For universities in different countries, people are concerned about both study and life living. The study part includes the semester course system, as well as the study pressure, and I will only focus on studying in this blog.

The first is learning. The semester system of UC is different from that of other Universities in the United States. We have a quarter system, and the pace is relatively fast. People often undergo midterms mysteriously in the second or third week of the quarter. As for myself, I have four courses this quarter, and I have had at least one exam every week since the second week. In addition, I will have at least three days when work is due every week and at least ten assignments due every week. It is the first time for me to contact this fast pace, so I feel a lot of study pressure. On the other hand, my friend Yvonne’s study at a British university is a little different from mine. There are also three semesters in Yvonne’s college year, which are term1, 2, and 3, but the tasks for these three terms are different. The first and second terms are mainly for classes and daily assignments (accounting for 0-30% of the total academic year grade), while the third term is mainly for exams (accounting for 0-30% of the total academic year grade). Therefore, the study pressure in the first two terms will be slightly lower. Due to the epidemic, most courses in British universities are online, which are divided into online pre-recorded lectures and live lectures, where UCI has many in-person courses, especially for the freshman.

I will introduce the differences in life between UCI and University in England in my next blog post. Meanwhile, if you want to know more about college life in different places during the pandemic, you are more than welcome to contact me～

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Disney land trip

In the third week after I came to Irvine, I did my first midterm work in a short time. My friends and I went to Disney Town to relax. We are very looking forward to, along the way, we are happy to discuss the project to play for a while. Near the park, we felt the strong atmosphere, everyone dressed up very cute. In the midst of this joyous atmosphere, we found ourselves at the ticket barrier. Ticket aunt wish we have a good time, a door, found inside a strong Halloween atmosphere. All the dolls and street scenes were dressed up as Halloween. We first took a lot of photos and then queued up. The roller coaster we really wanted to play needed to queue up for an hour, but we still chose to queue up. An hour passed quickly, and finally it was our turn to ride the exciting roller coaster. At first, we were very nervous. Soon, the roller coaster flew off like a rocket. I saw a rise, a fall, a turn in a circle, very exciting. After getting off the roller coaster, MY head felt so heavy that I could hardly walk steadily, but I still wanted to play again. Next, we went to the next restaurant for lunch, we ate pasta, I think this restaurant is one of the best in Disney. We wanted to go to another restaurant because there was a show, but we forgot to make a reservation. After lunch, we went to more projects, but none of them were as fun as the first roller coaster. At this time, and it was 5 o ‘clock in the afternoon, my friends and I took a lot of photos, especially with the Halloween pumpkin photo. It’s very Halloween. After a while, the weather was not so warm as in the daytime, we felt very cold, so we went to the indoor shop and bought some souvenirs. Next, we went to see Disney’s very distinctive fireworks, it was very beautiful.
The day was soon over, and it was time to re-engage in intense study. I think college life is still very colorful.

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Meet Kylie: Your 2021-2022 ZotBlogger

Hi! My name is Kylie Hadden. I was born and raised in the Bay Area; however, I moved to Portland, Oregon 6 years ago. As of right now, I am interested in becoming a data scientist! My favorite hobbies are dancing, playing softball, and traveling.

You might be wondering, how was my move-in day? As you can imagine, I was extremely nervous. Not only am I jumping into college life after being behind a computer screen for 2 years, but I also have to learn how to be independent. I was worried about making new friends, handling my schedule, and living on my own.

I realized that I wasn’t alone. Every first year is in the same boat. I was able to meet so many new friends just from living in the Middle Earth towers. We all spend time together in the common room and help each other out when needed. Our RAs were very welcoming and let us know that they are here if we need any support.

Now, let’s move on to Week 0 events! First off, I attended the Student Involvement Fair. Aldrich Park was packed with multiple clubs, sororities and fraternities, and club sports. UCI has an organization for almost everything. I was able to talk to multiple booths and learn more about their upcoming events.

That night, I attended Late Night at the ARC! There were so many activities: demos, rock climbing, belly dancing, and more. I decided to go on the zipline. Although the line was over 2 hours, I was able to meet students just by playing a game of charades.

The rest of week 0 I attended events that were with the organizations I was interested in. I attended a workshop hosted by the Chinese Association Dance Crew (CADC). Afterward, we all went to UTC to get boba and meet the team members! I also attended the All IDC event to watch multiple hip-hop crews perform at the Bren Event Center. Later in the week, I attended the first general meeting for the Filipino club, Kababayan. They also had a meet-up at UTC where I was able to meet some board members and learn about their programs.

Overall, my first week at UCI was very memorable. I’m looking forward to getting more involved with these clubs and experiencing life on campus. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store.

Check out this link to see a video recap of my week 0:

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Meet Evelyn: Your 2021-2022 ZotBlogger

Hi, my name is Jialin He. I come from China and moved to Seattle 4 years ago, so my family is currently living in Seattle. I love our school and it’s been my dream school when I was a freshman in high school, so I am very exciting about this new life; but I am also nervous about it, I heard studying in college is way more harder than high school.

I haven’t decided what major I want study, but I am very interested in Business Information Management and media major. I met a lot of new friends during Orientation; my new peers are all so nice, and our advisor helped me a lot. My roommate whos also from China is very cute, and we love the same kpop boy group which is awsome. We have been sending texts to each other through all summer, so I believe we could be the best roommate.

In this quarter, I hope I could enrolled in Ics 31 class. My GPA goal in this quarter is get above than 3.8; and my the other goal is made a lot of friends, not only Chinese friend, but also other countries’ friends.