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Christmas Time is (almost) Here

First, it was the Christmas decorations showing up in stores. Then, I saw Christmas decorations in my friends’ dorms. And yesterday, I decided to join in on the fun and help decorate my dorm’s floor lounge. Christmas season is officially here. 

I would highly recommend going to your dorm events, especially so if your RA’s are as good as mine (shout of Santi and Sofia). At the event, there was everything needed to fulfill my festive desires. There was a TV playing Christmas tunes, free hot chocolate, an inflatable snowman, and of course, decorations to be put up. It was a lot of work but incredibly fulfilling. We put the lights up, inflated the snowman, and rounded the lobby out with little decorations. To make things even better, though, Clinton Kane, one of my favorite artists, released a cover of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” just after the event. The event activities were fun, but hot chocolate with Clinton Kane in the background was definitely a highlight of the night.

Our new and improved floor lounge ft. Caelan
Clinton Kane 😊

This winter break, I plan to go back home to finally see my family again. UCI is fun, but I have felt a little homesick at times, and I especially miss having a big bed to sleep in. But as of now, all I can do is focus on these last few weeks of the first quarter. Next week, my Chinese Association (CA) family is going to have a dumpling wrapping event, and I’m really excited about that. Past CA events, such as going to the arcade and painting tote bags, have been really fun, and going to events like these have helped me connect with other people and forget about the impending doom of finals for a while.

Hope everyone has a happy holidays!

Ian

Posted on 1 Comment on ACADEMIC WEAPON

ACADEMIC WEAPON

Academic weapon (noun)—An individual (typically a student) that acquires traits that are seen by many as scholarly. Example: Ian is an academic weapon who doesn’t miss class and studies hard for his midterms. 

The term “academic weapon” blew up as a meme on TikTok, where people doing academically positive things such as not skipping class, studying, and asking questions were referred to as “academic weapons.” And who doesn’t want to be called a weapon? Of course, I had to comply.

Throughout this quarter, I have tried my best to maintain a healthy work-life balance with the help of my friends—and this silly little meme. Midterms the week after Halloween? No problem. My friends and I would go out for Halloween but come home earlier, all in the name of academic weaponry. 

So far, I have taken a midterm for math and econ, and both have gone well! To study for math, I was able to get help from our class’s online discussion board, which allowed me to ask questions to the other 600+ students, as well as the professor. It also helped that I go to class with my roommate Brandon, where we sit in the first row of our 400 person lecture (as academic weapons should). Brandon has been a huge help in this class, teaching me things I didn’t understand and letting me study with him for the midterm. My midterm could have gone better, but I still have finals, so I still have a chance of getting that coveted A.

Even though I expected better in math, at least I have econ to cheer me up. Somehow I aced the midterm, leaving me physical proof of my hard work. And because of this, I now find myself in a predicament I would never have imagined myself in. 

So my econ class has two midterms: one in week 3 and one in week seven. However, in this class, the lowest-scoring midterm gets dropped. See where I’m going with this? I could technically get any grade at all on the next midterm, and it wouldn’t matter one bit. The thought is tempting, and I’ve imagined myself reenacting a scene from my favorite movie Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, where the main character, Miles, knows all of the answers on his test but gets a zero on purpose. However, one thing is holding me back—I need to be an academic weapon.

All that effort to ace an exam just to throw away my title like that? Not a chance. I’ve already started studying for my midterm next week, and I plan on doing just as well. Maybe then, just then, I can hold the title of academic weapon with pride, knowing that I took the right steps and got the results I wanted.

See y’all next time!

-Ian

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Settling into Irvine

Getting used to my life in Irvine.

We’re only in our fourth week of school, but it feels like I’ve been here forever. I’ve finally learned my way around campus, although walking through Aldrich Park at night is still as refreshing as ever. My daily schedule has finally been solidified, and I have finally settled on a proper rating for the food at Brandywine—6.5 out of ten. 

During week two of school, I was introduced to “petr drops,” where hundreds of students run to chase fanmade art. Dubbed “petr culture,” artists create parodies of a derpy-looking version of our school mascot, Peter.

Petr the Anteatr!

The way these “petr drops” work is simple. An instagram account posts a picture of a petr sticker with a date and time attached. Then, they will post another picture at that specific date and time, but this time of a random location on campus. From then, every student who wants their hands on a limited-time sticker has to go run to that location, where a masked person will hand out a limited amount of stickers. I have gotten quite a few of these stickers, and I have the Zotfinder app to thank. Everytime the Instagram accounts post their location, I plug in the place into Zotfinder, showing me the shortest route to getting there.


These petr drops have not only made me feel closer to the community, but also have helped show me around campus. I only take three classes, so there are many parts of campus that I haven’t yet seen. But through the random drop locations from petr drops, I have been to so many places I would imagine going, such as UCI’s nature reserve, the Crawford Athletic Complex (where the soccer team trains), and the Biological Sciences Quad (I hate science).

Some of the stickers I got on my Brita!

I never thought the highlight of my college life would be chasing after stickers, but lately, I’ve been obsessed. I’m following almost every petr Instagram account (there are too many), and I’ve been to almost every sticker drop, bar the ones I had to miss for class. So, if you ever see me in line for a sticker, say hi! I’ll always be willing to meet someone new.

Later!

Ian

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2022-2023 Zot Blog: Meet Ian

Hi everyone! My name is Ian Su, and I’m so excited to be part of such an incredible group of students this year! I just recently arrived in Irvine from my hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. Coming from a small private school (with a graduating class of 100) and being surrounded by so many fresh faces this past week has certainly kept me busy. While many people going in the U/U route already have a desired major they want to switch into, I truly am “undeclared.” I haven’t found anything that I’m genuinely passionate about yet, but that’s what college is for, isn’t it?

Being ethnically Taiwanese, I spent most of my summer in the mountains of Taiwan, participating in a summer program run by the Taiwanese government. Here, I taught English to Taiwanese kids alongside other teenagers who shared my Taiwanese heritage. Connecting with my roots in such a manner has made me want to keep exploring this part of me, leading to the next section of this blog: clubs.

Post Anteater Involvement Fair, I still haven’t decided what clubs I want to join. However, I plan to check out some clubs, such as the Blockchain Club, the Taiwanese American Organization, and the INSA dance group (even though I can’t dance). They all gave me free stuff (yay!), and they all have events soon that seem fun to attend. As I write this, I’ll be getting dinner and boba with the Taiwanese American Organization—who can say no to boba?

As a first-year student, I’m not sure what to expect. If every day is going to be as fun as the last few days have been, life at UCI will be as good as it gets. From meeting new people, the concert (my first one), the world record, and meeting even more new people, this has been one of the best weeks of my life. However, classes are about to start, and I’m a little bit apprehensive. I have always been the type to procrastinate, and my friends who went to college have all told me that I need to stop before college. I’ve always told them I would, but here I am writing this blog on the day it’s due (oops).

My biggest priorities this year are maintaining a high GPA, making friends, and having fun. I really am working on my procrastination problem (I swear), and I hope my last two goals can go hand in hand. If you ever see me on campus, come say hi! I’m always open to meeting new people, so don’t be shy!

Thanks for reading!

Ian