Back to School First Year Blues

So Winter Break is done and you’re right back in the swing of things. It’s third week and midterms are rapidly approaching. You may be starting to feel overwhelmed. You may be thinking that break wasn’t long enough or you didn’t do as much as you wanted while you were home. If you’re feeling like you’re in a bit of a slump this quarter, you are definitely not alone. Winter Quarter can, indeed, be a bit of a slump quarter. It’s not as exciting as the newness of Fall Quarter and you’re not almost done like Spring Quarter. Winter quarter just….exists. Nothing special.

Here is a list of things you may be thinking as this new quarter starts and progresses:

Top 5 Questions to Ask Your Departmental Counselors

Hi Bruins!

At UCLA, you are very lucky to have both College Academic Counselors as well as departmental counselors if you are within the College of Letters and Science. Other schools at UCLA have similar models. For purposes of this blog post, we will focus on the departmental counseling within the College of Letters and Science. In order to take full advantage of all the resources available to you during your first year, we highly encourage you to make a plan every quarter to visit both your departmental counselors and general College Academic Counselors in Murphy Hall A316. If you are part of the Academic Advancement Program, the Honors Program, or Athletics, you should visit your respective counseling unit.

What is the difference between both counselors? Your departmental counselor are experts in your major and minor requirements; your general counselors can help with any college or university requirements.

What kind of questions should you be asking your departmental counselors if you are undeclared or a pre-major? UCLA’s First Year Experience office has just compiled the top 5 questions that should guide your counseling sessions to help maximize the time spent with your counselor.

Surviving Your Family’s Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to be thankful and we have so much to be thankful for in our lives. For example, let’s start with one of the most beautiful lessons that we learned from Disney’s Lilo and Stitch.

“And family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” Yes, we are ohana. And I truly believe that the most important thing in the world is ohan-ohhhhmmgawwwdd my relatives have arrived!

Choose the Right Campus Organization for You

So you are well into your first quarter during your onederful first year, but it still feels like a huge campus, too difficult to navigate. Now, whether that feeling ever goes away is up to you (but not entirely up to you)! The best way to get familiar with your campus, tap into all the great opportunities, and get started on all the exciting experiences you will get while at college is to join a campus organization. The challenge now is to figure out which you should join. “But there are so many of them! Jeez,” you may say. “But have no fear a guide is here!, Jeez” I may say back.

Step 1: Research 
Given that you have attended the Enormous Activities Fair, step number one is pretty much covered. (If not, attend the many other resource fairs happening throughout the year.) Now, where did you end up putting all those flyers? Find them, sort them by interest level, and check them out! If you misplaced them, that is totally okay! Just walk down Bruinwalk and you’ll get tons of flyers again! Also, you can check out UCLA’s organizations by visiting the Student Organizations, Leadership and Engagement (SOLE) website.

In a Nutshell: Sort your flyers and contact the ones you are interested in

Step 2: Attend a meeting

Now this may be the hardest step, but you will never know if that organization is right for you unless you attend that first meeting. Find out the time and date of their meetings. Are they weekly? Bi-weekly? Add them to your calendar. You may even want to bring a friend or two with you. Do not be discouraged because “it is too late in the quarter to join.” Most organizations are very welcoming of new members and will do their best to get you up to speed on what they are doing. Orgs centered around social identities can be some of the most challenging ones to attend, but if you are willing to take that first step, you will find out they are some of the most emotionally rewarding.

In a Nutshell: Find out where and when the meetings take place and attend 🙂 

Step 3: Bond with members

Once you start to get familiar with the people in the organization, you can start expanding your social circles. You will find people who have different interests than you (here is your chance to try something new!), such as rock climbing, scuba diving, ice skating, sculpture building, and the list goes on. On the flip-side, find people who have similar interests as you do and will be more than happy to join you on your karaoke outings, movie marathons, or even jogging marathons.

The great thing about getting to know more people is that now you have new study buddies! You may find out that you are taking the same classes or share the same major. You now have academic partner(s)!

In a Nutshell: Joining campus orgs will allow you to meet new people, try new experiences, and even find the people who academically motivate you the most.

Step 4: Share your story

Sharing your story can be a powerful thing; you may realize new things about yourself and find the courage to try new activities. Letting new friends know things about you can also open the door to new opportunities. For example, you casually mention to your friend that you are currently watching The Walking Dead. You go on about how the science behind an outbreak fascinates you and you wish you could learn more. Your friend connects you with another friend that’s very much into zombie science and they then connect you to a faculty member from the Public Health department. You find your new passion in life and just like that you save humanity from an outbreak! All because you attended a meeting, made a friend, and shared your story.

In a Nutshell: Your experiences are unique. Your story is unique. If you are willing to put it out there, you may find people that can connect you to resources or things that guide you in the direction that is right for you.

Step 5: Get involved

Now that you are frequently attending the meetings, bonded with your fellow peers, and have a passion to get more involved, consider joining next year’s board. Use your first year as the time to learn all about what the organization does, so that the following year you can take the next step and join the student board. Being part of student leadership allows you to taste what it is like to be in a position with many responsibilities, have time-crunched tasks, and, most importantly, express your voice in a public setting. You will gain skills around networking, office politics, marketing, and so many more. All good stuff that can help you later down the road. You will also get to see the behind-the-curtains details of programming, requests for resources, and management of large groups.

In a Nutshell: After getting familiar with the organization and feel connected to its goal, become part of the leadership and develop those skills that will beef up your resume!

Step 6: Grow as an individual

By joining a community on campus, you will learn new things about yourself. How do you interact with new people? How do your identities contribute to your experience? How are you in a group setting? One-on-one setting? All these questions will help you re-evaluate the way you communicate and can contribute to your growth during one of the most important parts of your life.

In a Nutshell: If you become part of an organization, you just may learn a few things about yourself that you wouldn’t have known otherwise. Use this time during college to step out of your comfort zone and expand your mind.

Step 7: Repeat with a different organization

The great thing about UCLA is that there are MANY organizations on campus. Feel free to try them and repeat this process with as many as you’d like! (While prioritizing your academics of course!). Check out SOLE’s website to find the organizations by category, what their mission statement is, and their contact information.

In a Nutshell: Explore the den and met new Bruins! 

If you are already attending campus organizations, what encouraged you to go? What made you want to go again?

Written by FYE Intern Cristian De Nova Ledesma

Transfer Transitions

Transferring into a four year college can be pretty mind-boggling.

“Only two years left…gotta get everything done in TWO years” is what I found myself saying as I entered into UCLA.

While two years seems like such a short period of time compared to the four years incoming freshman receive, in two years you can actually achieve A LOT.

“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time,’ is like saying ‘I don’t want to.’” –Lao-Tzu

Here are two significant things to consider during your college transfer experience:

Allow yourself to ADJUST to UCLA.
If you didn’t receive the grades you were expecting after your first quarter or even your second quarter, don’t fret!! Know that it’s normal for some first year students to take longer to adjust to the university. I thought that since I had been in college for two years prior to transferring to UCLA things wouldn’t be so difficult—WRONG! As with most changes you make in life, a period of transitioning exists where your body and/or mindset has to adjust to the new environment and circumstances.

The most pivotal change during my transition phase was adjusting to the quarter system. I thrive in fast-paced environments, but in terms of academia I was not familiar with entering a course and receiving a study guide for an exam scheduled the next class meeting. After completing my first quarter at UCLA I realized: “I have to ease into the flow of things here.” Once I learned this, I began to take advantage of the resources and opportunities available to me at UCLA, which in turn, made my transition much smoother.

Allow yourself to ENJOY UCLA.

There’s so much pressure on UCLA students to excel and be better than everyone else. This competitive environment is effective in pushing students to reveal their full potential but it can also generate ample amounts of stress on students. Understand that you have already excelled by being admitted into UCLA.
Now, give yourself time to enjoy the campus and the resources the university has to offer.

As a transfer student, I sometimes feel like I don’t have time to socialize and enjoy the campus because I have less time here. However, I learned that GPA is not all that matters. Networking, being involved with campus organizations, joining clubs, and giving back to the community are just as significant as earning a high GPA. These organizations exist because the university wants students to get involved and have a chance to experience different facets of the community. These experiences will certainly contribute to your long term goals rather than “waste your time.”
Just think about it:

What have you done during your time at UCLA thus far? What footprint will you leave at the university? Will you be able to come back to UCLA five years from now and say you were a part of the community, or helped implement something at UCLA?

If you find yourself unable to answer these questions, this may be a sign that you are not indulging in all that UCLA has to offer.

Here are a few campus resources and organizations I found useful in helping me get involved:

Academic Advancement Program

Associated Students UCLA

Bruin Resource Center

Campus Events Commission

Center for Community Learning

Community Programs Office

Daily Bruin

First Year Experience

Transfer Student Program

Transfer Student Organizations

Clubs that pertain to your major(s) or personal interests are also a great way to make new friends and network while simultaneously giving back to the community. Check out the list of UCLA clubs and organizations here:

http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/home/

Written by student editor Anjanae Blackburn

Onederful First Year

Congrats first year Bruins!

You’ve made it this far and that deserves major props. Now the real fun stuff begins. We here at the First Year Experience office exist to make this first year the best ever for you. We can’t promise it will be easy; in fact we guarantee you it won’t be. However, we can say with much certainty that it will be a memorable, onederful year if you keep a few things in mind.

Your First Year Will…

Be New

We know this may sound obvious, but it merits attention. Your first year as a Bruin will be like no other and, therefore, should not be compared to your years as a high school student or transfer student. UCLA is a completely different ball game and you will have to immerse yourself in this “newness” and embrace the lack of familiarity for at least the first few quarters. Sooner than you think, your campus will become your Bruin home. Until that time comes, be patient.

Be Full

If you are thinking you may be bored or wondering what there is to do in LA or Westwood, you can rest assured that your first year will be a blur overloaded with many opportunities at your fingertips and in your backyard (LA is your neighborhood now!). Starting with the intensity of orientation through True Bruin Welcome and beyond, your first year will leave you with a jam packed social calendar, if you decide to go that route. You may also want to lead a quieter life and keep your socializing to a minimum as well, but know that you will have many chances to get involved, meet new people, and explore this amazing LA city.

Be Yours

We know you’ve probably heard your parents or guardians say it is not healthy to compare yourself to others, well we would like to gently remind you that this also pertains to your first year experience. We have over 8,000 incoming first year Bruins and each one of you is unique; each with your own strengths and weaknesses. Be careful in comparing yourself to your peers because you never know what it is like to be in his/her shoes. Your first year may be a breeze and for someone else it may be the hardest year of her life. Just be mindful that your first year as a Bruin is a very personal experience that does not compare to any others’.

Your First Year Will NOT…

Define You

We see so much pressure put on our incoming Bruins to succeed and we support your endeavors, but know that it is okay to stumble and make mistakes in your first year. Honestly, we encourage you to do so. It’s better to have academic difficulty at the beginning of your undergraduate career than during your senior year. By the way, UCLA has amazing academic resources to help you when things get tough, like our College Academic Counselors. You have your entire four years to create your Bruin legacy.

Break You

Unless you let it. Things may get rough from time to time, but there is always light at the top of Janss steps. Do not despair and remember there are tons of resources and individuals on campus to help you when you need it. Keep things in perspective and the great thing about the quarter system is you always have another shot at another class just around the corner.

Be All About Your GPA

Even though we understand that getting a 4.0+ is one, if not your highest priority, there is SO much more to experience in your first year. Don’t let your academics consume you; go out and live. Be bold; Be open to new things; Be adventurous. You never know if that person down the hall will be your bff and become your best man or maid of honor at your wedding. Take a chance and stop by and say ,”Hi.” Explore your passions and hobbies. UCLA will challenge you academically, but it will also give you the opportunity to live outside your borders. Take advantage of that starting during True Bruin Welcome.

Remember, your first year will be onederful no matter what because you’re only a first year Bruin once.