U/U Zot Blog – Page 35 – Read all about the experiences of our Undergraduate/Undeclared Freshmen!

February 11, 2022Kylie Hadden

Immersing Filipino Culture with Kababayan at UCI

Cultural clubs have always been something I have been interested in pursuing. I am Filipino-American but have never felt like I have fully immersed in learning about the Filipino culture. In previous blogs, I have written and given glimpses of becoming involved with Kababyan at UCI. This club is an organization at UCI that emphasizes the academic, cultural, political, social, and community parts of the Pilipinx experience. Kaba has many different programs that I have participated in to explore my interest in Filipino culture.

Kababayan at UCI has a range of programs, workshops, and meetings that focus on the different 5 different pillars (academic, cultural, political, social, and community). Programs that are available to general members include intramurals, academic mentorship programs, alumni panels, social programs (general meetings, k-fams, etc.), and cultural programs. One I have been very involved with is the winter quarter internship program. For 10 weeks, interns get to learn about the behind-the-scenes of Kaba by shadowing 2 board members, learning leadership skills, and building new relationships with the board members. My experience with this internship has been helpful and amazing so far. I have learned so much more about leadership and the tasks of the board members I intern under. Another program that has just begun this quarter is the Philipinx-American Culture Night (PACN). This program runs throughout the winter and spring quarters as it prepares general members to perform cultural dances and other activities towards the middle of the spring quarter. Within PACN, a general member can be in logistical and performance suites. Logistical suites include creating programs, costumes, commercials, and props. Performance suites are the types of cultural dances, skits, and choir.

My mentor from Kababayan’s Academics Mentorship Program and I

Being part of Kababyan at UCI has opened doors to many different opportunities. Not only do I get to immerse myself in Filipino culture, but I’m also able to socialize with other students with the same interests as me. I’ve created so many great memories with board members, fellow interns, and other general members. Even before becoming a wintern, I enjoyed attending general meetings each week as each meeting was a topic that I could learn something new.

If you’re interested in coming out to future meetings, they are every Thursday at 7 pm in the Dr. White room at the Cross Cultural Center. If you’d like to learn more about Kaba, head to their Instagram @kabaatuci. I hope to see you there!

February 11, 2022jiajiec3

Figure Skating, Yuzuru Hanyu

By chance, I saw a piece of Yuzuru Hanyu’s figure skating performance on the Internet, but it shocked me in just a few minutes. I was very impressed with that performance. His emotional performance and heartwarming smile, as well as the scene where he bowed his head and kissed the ice surface during the performance, were deeply engraved in my mind.

So I started learning about figure skating. I learned later that it wasn’t even a game, but an earthquake condolence show. The difference between figure skating and running or speed skating is that it is more about competing with yourself and about individual performance. I seriously studied the grading scale of figure skating and watched many competitions. I even feel like I’m taking a class seriously!

In the process of learning, I learned that athletes themselves, regardless of nationality or origin, should be recognized for their own efforts and perseverance, while Yuzuru Hanyu is a very respectable athlete in figure skating. Rather than retiring honorably after winning two consecutive Olympics and Grand Slams, he chose to continue to fight in the international arena. Regardless of the pain and public opinion, he continued to struggle with his dreams and hard work, surpassing himself, surpassing his dreams, and moving forward on the road of surpassing the record of mankind. It is gratifying that he successfully broke through himself at the Beijing Winter Olympics and completed the 4A in the world’s first international competition, which is a brand new milestone in the history of human figure skating.

Congenital asthma, earthquake destroyed his home, be given the cold shoulder at the beginning of success… Only Yuzuru knows all the hardships he has suffered, which finally created a unique unparalleled world champion in the history of figure skating. When I feel down and want to give up, I will think of Yuzuru Hanyu who was once abandoned by the world. With his own strength, he won the affirmation of everyone at the end. From the few audiences at the beginning, to the pooh rain and deafening cheers that fill the rink at the end of each performance, Yuzuru Hanyu proves that anything is possible. His perseverance has given countless people the motivation to continue to work hard, and it has also made me take my life and study more seriously and make efforts more proactively than before.

I hope one day I can participate in a performance by Yuzuru. Although we do not know if he will choose to retire after the Beijing Olympics, I still want to see him showing on the ice with his best performance.

Training before the Winter Olympics in Beijing

4A successfully dropped the ice for the first time at the All-Japan Championship

Note:

Yuzuru Hanyu is the first man in the history of figure skating to win the Junior Division (JWC, JGPF) and Senior Major Grand Slam (SUPER SLAM). It is also after the ISU Judging System replaced the original 6.0 scoring system in 2004, and before the new scoring rules were adopted on July 1, 2018, during this period, the short program, free skating, and total score of the adult group were All world record holders. Hanyu has broken world records for the short program, free skating, and total score 19 times, and is the first player to be certified by ISU to jump out of the 4Lo (quadruple Loop jump) and 4A (quadruple Axel jump).

February 9, 2022Sabrina

“On Your Marks, Get Set, Bake”

Introduction:

The warmth emanating from the oven as you watch the dessert within rise and become a perfect golden brown. The heavy, nearly palpable smell of sugar lingering in the air. The anticipation of finally taking your first bite of the sweet treat. From cakes to cookies to bread, baking is a hobby that I have been involved in for years. Although I am far from professional, my simple desserts are often found at friends’ birthday parties, family gatherings, and class potlucks.

Overview:

You are likely already familiar with baking from watching your relatives or binging shows like Sugar Rush, Nailed it!, and The Great British Bake Off. Many consider baking an art due to the creative flair involved in assembling and decorating aesthetically pleasing desserts. It can simultaneously be viewed as a science because of the precision needed to calculate the correct amount of each ingredient. Add too much of an ingredient like baking powder, for instance, and the dessert’s taste and texture will be manipulated. Thus, baking requires a great amount of skill, especially on a professional level.

Personal Thoughts:

For my family and many others, baking has served as a means of coming together and creating something delicious that we can all enjoy after a meal. I inherited a love of baking from my mother, who would always make desserts for family gatherings before I adopted the responsibility. Furthermore, baking is an enjoyable and even therapeutic activity that allows me to unwind on the weekends after a stressful week of school.

How to Get Started:

There are countless recipes on websites and social media platforms such as Pinterest, Tiktok, and YouTube. One recipe that my family constantly requests is the Kentucky Butter Cake (recipe linked here), a moist pound cake that is both delicious and extremely easy to make.

Furthermore, I often use recipes from the website, Joy of Baking, which contains countless desserts ranging from cakes to muffins to pies to bread. I recently made a carrot cake from this website for my mother’s birthday, and it was a hit at her party. The sweetness of the carrots, spice of the cinnamon, and crunch of pecans all complemented the tangy cream cheese frosting. I would recommend this recipe and the many others found on the Joy of Baking website.

I understand that it may be difficult to bake when living in the dorms. However, there are alternatives that you may want to consider, such as mug cakes that can be made in the microwave. Although I have never made them myself, I’ve linked some from Tasty, a helpful website that features a variety of recipes and videos. Happy baking!

Your friendly neighborhood Undeclared major,

Sabrina

February 5, 2022jialih16

HAPPY NEW YEAR

In college life, you can’t avoid cooking for yourself. I think it’s very unhealthy to eat fast food every day. So in the New Year, I hope I can learn how to cook. The first dish I tried was fried steak. My mom says that cooking steak seems difficult, but it’s really easy. First, I defrost the steak from the fridge. When the steak is not tough enough, take out the butter, pan and other tools and spices necessary for frying steak. Everything is ready, I will put on the apron, with the help of my mother turned on the fire, put the butter in the pot to melt, let the steak. As soon as the steak goes down, listen to the sound of the steak and the pan tingling. I first cooked the steak on one side, and then carefully turned the steak on the other side, slow fry. This is, many oil points such as bullets to the pot “shooting”. Among them, many hit my hand, I ah, hand almost let go of the spatula. Once the steak is cooked, I add the black pepper juice to allow the beef to absorb. It’s finally done. I fried an egg on the side of the steak, filled it with rice, doused it with black pepper sauce, and finished. Eating my own steak, delicious! And then I invited my best friend to try, and she said it’s smells so good!

January 31, 2022kazu

Happy Mind, Happy Life

Alright ladies and gentlemen we are back. After going through the constant pounding of these dreadful weeks, I’m sure we have some folks out there who temporarily forgotten what a sleep schedule is or the pleasurable feeling of a good skin care routine. Well I’m here to say that you don’t have to, yes I know it’s easier said than done but you know as well as I how therapeutic hot showers can be. So take that day off from that project or midterm and go back to that daily routine, you can say I’m a bad influence but I like to see myself as a good-bad influence.

For those of us who took a little longer to join the gang, welcome. Due to your excessive dedication to stay here at UCI you have gain +1 acheivement for fully immersing yourself in winter quarter and gained a badge for a smooth transition from Fall Quarter. New Objective gained: Take care of your Mental and emotional well being. You’ve seen it here folks, if you don’t take care of yourself no one will do it for you and that is why I’m taking the initiative to follow my own advice and de-stress.

I’ve started taking my daily walks around our lovely campus, UCI makes it very easy to see lovely sunsets and if your feeling a little adventurous like me you can scale up the building for a better view. Of course safely through the stairs. Whether it be talking about how you failed or maybe passed your mid-term or exams *wink* *wink*, socializing is still the easier/efficient way to destress. Just jamming out or watching euphoria has been the go to for the past couple of weeks. If it’s still hard to figure out what to do, go to UTC, Spectrum or Target. Start off simple and take baby steps, remember mindset is everything.

Objective Completed!!

New Objective: Get Some Sleep!!…..(Accept/Decline)

Objective Declined…Alright folks this is your favorite blogger signing out