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Zot Snaps

Not quite selfies, but I’ve been really busy with midterms so here are some pictures from earlier in the year. UCI is such a unique school with its own campus culture, showcased in our love for Harold and Maude, the cutest duck couple ever, or our campus wide good luck charm, Swagman. Finishing up my first year, here are some of my zot snaps, showing off special parts of our UCI culture.

Infinity Fountain

The infinity fountain, located near Rowland Hall, is really pretty and used for graduation photos a lot! Fun fact: when I was on campus during Summer Bridge, my friend Carmen and I could not find this fountain. If you’re looking for it, walk along the edge of Aldrich Park and you’ll see it.

These pictures are from Summer Bridge when my friends and I stepped into the fountain before our freshman year, fulfilling a tradition for good luck. The people you go into the fountain with are believed to be your best friends throughout college. Then, before you graduate, you’re supposed to go in again, like a symbolic way of ending your time at UCI.

I would totally recommend going in, but be careful because I’m not sure if we’re allowed to? Also the water actually goes pretty high so wear shorts and I’m warning you in advance that your feet may turn blue from the paint at the bottom of the fountain. That’s not quite something anyone told me but now you guys will know!

Aldrich Park

This picture is during one of the Vietnamese Student Association meetings, led by yours truly and all the other interns. It was Way Back Wednesday, so we used Aldrich Park’s spacious fields and inviting atmosphere to play childhood games like Duck Duck Goose and Red Light, Green Light. Aldrich Park is definitely an iconic part of UCI. It’s right in the middle of the school which makes it nice to cut across to get to classes. Many people also nap in the park by laying down blankets or hanging up hammocks between the trees. It’s also a really nice place to have a picnic! That’s still on my UCI checklist because I wanted to have one Friday but it was rainy?

Seaside Donuts

Not on campus, but definitely part of UCI’s foodie culture. This donut shop is in Newport Beach, about 10 minutes from campus. It’s a really common after event for club meetings and just all around great spot to hang out. The donut shop is open 24/7 and for some reason, it’s so much better at night. I’ve never really seen people go in the morning, but at night, it’s crawling with hungry college students, looking for a bite to eat. I would recommend the ham and cheese croissant warmed up with a green thai iced tea on the side. It’s two of their most popular items and you’ll see why once you have them! This picture is blurry because it’s actually a polaroid from one of my roomie dates at Seaside. You definitely have to go to Seaside as a UCI student, it’s part of the culture.

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“Zot Snaps”

As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, UCI is a school with a wide variety of interesting and useful resources. My fellow bloggers and I took some time to take some stylish selfies by particularly cool places, and here they are.

Antrepreneur Center

Do you have a particularly cool or interesting business idea? If so, this is the place for you! Located by the Paul Merage School of Business, the cleverly named Antrepreneur center is a place where you can propose your business ideas and potentially have them backed by experienced people who know how to help your idea succeed. Even if you don’t have a specific idea, the Antrepreneur center may still be useful to you. Every so often they’ll hold an information session where interested students can learn more about entrepreneurship in general. Be sure to stop by!

Gateway Study Center

The Gateway Study Center is located across from Langson Library, and is in my opinion one of the best places to study. If you find that the dorm study rooms are too noisy to concentrate, and the Library is too cramped, the Gateway Study Center might be just the place you’re looking for.  It’s full of computer labs, study rooms, and collaboration rooms for you and your friends to utilize. You can even reserve rooms if you need a private space for a certain amount of time. Be sure to check this place out next time exam season comes around.

Chick Fil A

 

And last but certainly not least, we have Chick Fil A. Although technically not on campus, I think it’s close enough. Just across the street from the flagpoles, Chick Fil A and other restaurants at the UTC are perfect for when you get tired of Pippins or the Anteatery. Sometimes it’s a little too tempting to head over and buy and unhealthy amount of chicken nuggets, but it’s definitely worth splurging on every once in awhile.

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A Few Interesting Places on Campus

As the title suggests, this is going to be a short post about some places of interest that you can visit while attending UCI.

Engineering Pavilion
First up we got the Engineering Pavilion which is where I spend time working on anything as the place just has a nice atmosphere to do work or nap. This is located between the Engineering Tower and Computer Science building. If you ever take a tour of the campus at UCI this will definitely be somewhere that the tour guide will take you. On any regular day, it is usually pretty lively with people heading in and out of class, people taking a quick nap, or just working on assignments.

 

Center of Aldrich Park
So this spot is at the center of Aldrich Park, big surprise I know, but hear me out, this spot is just a nice spot to be because its under a huge tree and when it’s hot outside, you can just kinda chill there with a couple friends. Beyond that there are shrubs nearby where someone took the liberty of moving a table into so you could chill there if you choose. Unfortunately I didn’t take a photo of that table in the shrubs but I feel that you guys can find it without much trouble. It is also in the middle of Aldrich Park so if you are just chilling in between classes, this is the spot to be.

 

San Diego Creek
Now this spot is more out of the way in comparison to the other ones but gives you a good opportunity to break from the constant hustle and bustle of school for a short time. To get to this spot involves following a trail that is behind Mesa Court. This trail is officially called the Mountains to the Sea Trail & Bikeway and it does in fact go all the way to Newport Beach so for those of you that are planning to bring a bike with you to UCI, this could be something that you could follow to get to the beach. I, unfortunately didn’t bring my bike with me so I just walked to the Creek.

There was actually a fisherman that I ran into while coming back and after a brief conversation I learned that there is quite a diverse array of fish that are in the water. The fisherman was telling me that since the San Diego Creek connects to the ocean it is usually saltwater fish where I took the picture but if you keep going in the other direction, you will find more freshwater fish. Funny enough, according to that fisherman, there are stingrays and spotted sea bass downriver from the dorm and regular bass, carp and catfish upriver. He also told me that the fish are not really the right size to eat so fishing in that area was mainly just for sport.

 

 

Zot On!
Josh

 

Bonus Panorama:

*right-click the photo and select open image in new tab for the full experience*

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Taking Advantage of FYEP

As many of you readers begin to SIR to UCI, you’ll begin the process of applying for housing. With so many different choices, I understand how difficult it can be to choose. I personally didn’t even know that there were differences between dorms aside from the obvious differences between Mesa Court and Middle Earth. When the application website told me to decide a housing option, I was taken aback. There were dorms that were researched based, outdoor/exercise based, and one that was even centered around video game players. In the end however, I decided to choose the First Year Excellence Dorm. I found the idea of extra assistance and counseling for undeclared students like myself very attractive, and I’m really glad that I made the choice that I did.

The FYEP dorm for Middle Earth this year was Grey Havens, and it has offered a ton of opportunities and resources to help me succeed as an undeclared student trying to transfer into business administration. I know it probably sounds like I’m trying to sell FYEP to you, but I’ve honestly found it incredibly helpful. One of my favorite parts about living in the first year hall is that every Thursday, undeclared/undergraduate academic adviser Andrea Licata comes to the dorm and provides counseling to whoever wants it. Normally, you have to go to the undeclared office and schedule and appointment to meet with a counselor, but FYEP makes it super convenient to meet up and discuss next quarter’s schedule or any other issues. Knowing what classes to take can be pretty confusing, so having Andrea there to help us whenever has taken a big burden off of our scheduling confusions.

One of  the other cool things that we had was the philanthropy project. It’s basically a voluntary project where you and your dorm mates help to organize and execute a philanthropy/community service oriented event. I know you’re probably thinking, “Dude I already have so many other obligations and responsibilities. I thought community service ended in high school.” To be honest, that’s what I thought when I first heard about the project too. I was reluctant,  but after going to the first meeting I kind of liked the sound of it. It not only serves to better the community, but it also helps to get something on your resume, which is likely relatively barren at this point in your college career. For us, we organized a roaring 20’s themed dance party at Brookdale Senior Living, and it went awesome. I was initially worried that we wouldn’t have enough participants, but the event ended up going really well. If you choose to go for FYEP, I urge you to at least check out the first meeting for your philanthropy project. You may find it to be a lot more interesting than it seems.

I’m sure that all the other dorms offer a lot of great things for you incoming freshman, but for undeclared students specifically, I would absolutely recommend choosing FYEP. It’s helped me to become way more acquainted with my counselors and undeclared peers than I would have otherwise.

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For Those Moments Where You Feel Like Your Essay is Trash

The Writing Center is a resource that I try to take advantage of as much as possible. The reason being is that instead of awkwardly asking your roommate or friends to read your flaming trash can of an essay, you can ask someone who is contractually obligated to tell you what’s wrong with it so you have a chance to turn it into something that will get you that A. Because we all know the first draft is the worst draft. That being said, there obviously those of you that can write an A grade paper on the first try so kudos to you, I unfortunately am not one of those people.

In in the Fall Quarter, I was taking Writing 39C which is the last lower-division writing class that everyone has to take. While in Writing 39C there are two projects that involve a lot of writing and will pretty much be your ticket out of that class with an A or with a just passing grade. My writing professor actually recommended everyone in the class to go to the Writing Center at least once so I took him up on that offer. After setting up an appointment with an experienced professional, full time writing specialist, my essay got ripped apart but I ended up getting a better grade in the end for it. For those of you who are planning on going this route, a word of caution: definitely set up the appointment way before the deadlines of your essays because they will go in depth about your writing so there may not be enough time for you to implement all the recommendations if you set the appointment too late. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, the Writing Center and all its services are FREE for UCI students. Yes that’s right ladies and gentlemen the price of getting professional help is zero dollars.

Now you are probably wondering, where can I find such a GREAT and FREE resource? Well dear reader, I’ll tell you. There’s a place on campus called the Ayala Science Library which is across Aldrich Park from Middle Earth Housing. As for future Mesa Court residents you are going to have to walk a bit further. After a quick Google Search I found a nice map that highlights where Ayala Science Library is.

The Writing Center should definitely be something everyone tries at least once since they offer more than just writing help. Some other services they offer are drop-in peer tutors, help with scholarships, and even email consultations. All of which are FREE by the way since the good folks at UCI understand that we as students, are BROKE 100% of the time.

Zot On Anteaters!
Josh