Undecided/Undeclared Anteaters Blog

Week 10
December 6, 2009

My first quarter of college is coming to an end! It’s December already and all the dorms in Middle Earth have put up Christmas lights and have Christmas trees in the common rooms. It’s feels homey, in a really nice way. Oakenshield, my hall, has been celebrating the season with Secret Santas and a Christmas party. My Santa has been leaving me cute notes, chips and salsa, cookies, a really cute necklace, and finally a SNUGGIE! I’m wearing it right now as I type this! Here are some pictures from last week!

^cranes in the Christmas tree, a special fireplace, holiday ice cream float, and my Snuggie is in that box!

My first quarter at UCI is almost over! I didn’t believe it when people told me it would go by fast, but I can’t help but agree now. It seems almost impossible to look back and remember exactly how it was because so much has happened in the past ten weeks.

I’ve been exposed to more than I ever thought I would my first quarter as a freshman in college. College is completely different from high school, but I love it immensely. I think living at school has had the biggest impact on me. Leaving my family and friends in my hometown to living on campus used to be a far-fetched idea, but now I can’t imagine it any other way. It’s definitely been an experience that has taught me a lot about myself. I make my own schedule and curfew here at school, but with freedom comes responsibility, and this quarter has forced me to learn to handle academics, social life, and responsibility all on my own. I am a lot more capable than I thought I was, and I think I can confidently say I know how to keep my priorities straight.

Living on my own, making friends, handling schoolwork, and trying to get involved in campus life was not at all as complicated as I had imagined it to be. It took some adjusting, but I now feel comfortable with where I am. It’s hard to believe that just a year ago, I was worried about how I’d manage at a university, but I really feel at home and happy at UCI.

Feel free to leave comments or questions below!
-Cecilia

Week 9
November 29, 2009

Going to school only an hour away from home definitely has its advantages. I go home every week to spend time with my family and friends back home. but I had a five day break this weekend and it was really nice to get back to living in the house I grew up in and have time to feel like I was a really part of home, even if I’m away for school during the week.

I went home Wednesday afternoon after my Anthro lecture. That night, I had a Thanksgiving dinner with some friends from my youth group. The dinner was really special; the thirty-something of us all dressed up and it was great to get together and enjoy each other’s company in a more meaningful kind of setting. I also spent Friday through Sunday with them. I’ve maintained close relationships with this group. I’ve grown up with them and it doesn’t feel at all like anything’s changed. I hate to admit it, but some of my friendships from high school have not been what they used to be. It’s sad to come to realize that sometimes it can’t be helped that people drift apart as their situations change. This weekend however, was amazing to say the least. I bonded with my friends in a way that really made me realize how much they mean to me.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. My family attended Mass together and then went out for pho (Vietnamese beef noodle soup)! That night, we sat around the dinner table for a quiet, but amazing Thanksgiving dinner. My mom’s cooking is excellent. There were only eight of us at the table, but there was so much food! Eggrolls, potatoes, egg drop soup, noodles, salad, turkey, cheesecake, and ice cream were only a few of the many options available. I tried not to fall asleep right after eating, but I did anyway. Oops.

^fruit flan! So so so good.

I ended my Thanksgiving weekend with a final Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday evening. That’s three Thanksgivings this in four days! My parents invited a lot of their friends over, and that night, my house was packed with people. There was food everywhere, everyone was laughing and there were kids running around through all the rooms. It was loud and a little crazy, but a lot of fun.

I think it’s pretty clear that I took full advantage of this holiday break to do zero studying. I don’t feel too bad about it because I worked hard the week before in order to have time to relax this weekend. I have a set schedule for this week though. Finals are coming up and I have no longer have any excuse to not be studying. I got a new Moleskine planner and I’m really excited to use it! I hope it’ll motivate me to keep on task. And hold a lot of doodles. :3

-Cecilia

Week 8
November 22, 2009

Week Eight is finally over! It kind of scares me how fast this quarter is going by. Freshman year is so fun, I kind of want it to last forever.

Last Sunday, I went home for an annual event my parents’ church group was holding. We made a trip to downtown LA and served food to the homeless. My mom was able to get major grocery stores to donate food or sell them in bulk for wholesale prices. I came home to my living room walls covered in stacks with hams, loaves of bread, cheese, and mashed potatoes. When we settled at the location, each person helped themselves to a huge meal along with sandwiches and fruit for a couple of days and socks and beanies for the cold. The line for food and clothes was really long and we ended up being able to feed over three hundred people! It was an amazing experience. I love volunteering so much.

^The line wraps around the corner of the street!

Going home to be involved in my community really flowed into this week, Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week held by UCI’s Center for Service in Action. I wish my schedule had permitted me to attend more of their events, but I’m not too upset about it because the one that I went to was the one I was most interested in.

Monday night, I made my way over to the conference rooms for the Peace Corps Information Session. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of packing up my life to live for two years in a country I’ve never been to. The event turned out to be fascinating! Four Return Peace Corps Volunteers sat in a panel and talked about their experiences in Nicaragua, Verde Islands, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine. The most inspiring thing about the event was that each of the Return Volunteers had vastly different experiences, but each came back to the US with the same sense of fulfillment. I was most interested in the Volunteers whose missions involved teaching the youth English and basic health education. The Information Session really answered a lot of the questions I had about Peace Corps and now I’m really considering being a part of something so amazing.

My first quarter at UCI is almost over. I still don’t know what I want to major in, but this week truly reconfirmed my interest in travel and service. I’m almost positive that I want my future to involve helping people, living in another country, and possibly teaching. It’s all I can imagine myself doing.

It’s been an exhausting week. I cannot wait until Thanksgiving! Get ready for some serious stories about food next week. Nomnomnommm. :3

-Cecilia

PS. I got the position as an intern for MEMO! I’m really excited! Yay, more involvement in service! Wish me luck!

Week 7
November 15, 2009

I’ve noticed that I’m the only ZotBlogger living in Middle Earth! That means I’m the only one who can share about what it’s like, so I’m going to take it upon myself to share how amazing Middle Earth is.

Middle Earth is one of the two housing options available to freshmen. It’s great, to say the least. The halls are named after different places and characters from J. R. R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings series, so all the names are epic. I live in Oakenshield. Sounds epic, doesn’t it? It’s because it is. Middle Earth is supposed to be smaller than Mesa Court, so it seems like everything and everyone is a whole lot closer together, (which is a good thing in my opinion.) The Middle Earth Community Council and Resident Advisors really work hard to make every week here exciting. There are always social and academic events going on around Middle Earth to look forward to.

This week, Alice in Casinoland was held in Pippins. The entire Commons was decorated to fit the theme. Even the dealers dressed up in costume! There were great prizes and even someone making balloon animals! It was really nice to see so many of the residents get together having fun.

Middle Earth always has a lot of exciting activities going on. This Saturday, residents were invited to take bike ride to the bay and this coming Tuesday, my RA has a Secret Santa event planned. There have already been so many creative and exciting events, I can’t wait to see what else is in store for the rest of the year.

See for yourself how great Middle Earth is! The Stay Over Program gives prospective students the chance to spend a day with a current freshman and experience the dorm life. I hope people really take advantage of the opportunity. I wish I had done it before entering as a freshman. It would have made my decision to apply for Middle Earth a lot easier. :3

Take care and have a good week everyone!

-Cecilia

Week 6
November 7, 2009

The stress of midterms is over (for now), so this week, I set some time aside to participate in things other than academics. I went a VSA meeting this week! The Vietnamese Student Association always has upcoming events, and it’s really cool to be in the know of it all. I also went to a MEMO meeting as well. MEMO is Medical, Educational Missions and Outreach , an organization dedicated to making health care and education more available in third world countries. It was my first meeting, but I found it to be something I’m really interested in. This Saturday, the club is going on a sponsorship run around Little Saigon to find some sponsors willing to help with the cause. I’m pretty excited, and I think I might even want to intern for this club. Here is a really cool promo video about their work.

So inspiring, right? I am really interested in their cause, and I hope to be a lot more involved now that I know more about it.

While we’re on the topic of things I’m interested in, this week was Harry Potter week in Middle Earth! I am a huge Harry Potter fangirl, so this was all very exciting to me. A huge chessboard was set up on the basketball court on Tuesday, and I played a bishop in Wizards’ Chess. There was cape-making on Monday, a showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on Friday, and a game of Quidditch on Saturday. Brandywine was even decorated in the colors of each House and Harry Potter themed food was served. I love Middle Earth so much.

This week I apply for housing for next year! I’ve only been in school for six weeks and I already have to think about where I’m going to be living next year. The window opens up at exactly 7:00am tomorrow morning, and it’s on a first come first serve basis, so everyone will be rushing to apply. I heard last year’s server crashed. I hope that doesn’t happen again this year. I also have academic advising this week. I’m really looking forward to getting to talk to someone about what classes I’m taking next quarter. Everything’s happening so fast!

As always, feel free to leave a comment or question below!

-Cecilia

Week 5
November 1, 2009

Midterms! There aren’t a lot of things I dislike about school, but exams are definitely one of them. It’s scary to think that tests can affect your grade and ultimately, your future. This past week, I had two midterms, one for Intro to Bio Anthro, and the other for HumCore. I spent most of my week in my dorm trying to recall lecture after lecture and remember concept after concept. I read through all my lecture notes, went through all the terms, and by the end of it all, my brain was a swimming mess of facts about Anophleles gambiae, lactose intolerance, Aristotelian ethics, and a whole lot of things I’d rather not think of right now.

My Anthro midterm was pretty bad. I made flashcards, read through the chapters, studied alone and with a partner, but for some reason, it was pretty hard to retain it all. I think it’s because the exam was primarily lecture-based, and I don’t think my lecture notes were detailed enough. But now I know better! From now on, I’m going to make an extra effort to pay attention in lecture and read and reread the assigned text if I have to.

HumCore was, surprisingly enough, a lot easier than Anthro. My discussion sections for HumCore are really interesting, interactive, and really complement the lecture, so I didn’t feel too behind when I was studying for it. It was in-class writing, and I was able to recall and apply most of what was in lecture into my short answer questions and essay. I hope I did well though, because this class means a lot to me.

I’m glad all of the midterm stress was over in time for Halloween! On Wednesday, the bookstore had their annual Halloween sale, something I’ve been waiting for since I got here. Apparel went for 25% off, so I used the opportunity to buy a sweater for my sister and I. I saved about twenty dollars! Yay!

My hall did pumpkin carving on Thursday, and it felt really nice to talk to people about topics that didn’t involve Socrates and MLA format. My suite carved a “π” into our pumpkin, so we ended up with a sweet suite pumpkin pie. Get it? Bahahaa. I love Oakenshield, Middle Earth! I went home this weekend and spent Halloween having quality time with my friends. This weekend was a refreshing end to a stressful week. I might not know I did on my midterms, and I prepared for the worst, but it really gave me the reality check I needed. I’m motivated to try even harder now, I want to finish my first quarter strong. Wish me luck and happy November!

-Cecilia

Week 4
October 24, 2009

Hullo! I’m Cecilia. I look and act like I’m twelve, but I promise I’m eighteen. I like people, smiling, people that smile, music, travel, and taking pictures. I’m very easily entertained, and even more easily distracted. I love learning new songs on new instruments and my favorite thing to do is sit and pretend I know what I’m doing on the guitar and piano.  I’ve been to a couple of countries in both Europe and Southeast Asia, and that is not enough. I’m going to be looking into Study Abroad as soon as midterms are over.

I’m a strong believer of the idea that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they live, so maybe a couple shots of my dorm will give you a vibe of what I’m like. I’ve been trying to liven it up a bit, but I’m on a tight budget, so I’m making an extra effort to be creative. It’s a work in progress, but here’s what I have so far:

I’m originally from Rosemead, California, which is about an hour away from Irvine. I graduated from a tiny all-girl Catholic high school, so being at a public university has been an interesting (but nice) change. This summer, I was a part of UCI’s Freshman Summer Start Program. It was an invaluable experience, and really helped me to adjust to the college life. It really helped familiarize me with the campus and its resources, and best of all, I met the most amazing people. They say the first few friendships you make here are the ones that are really special, and it’s completely true. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t met the close friends I made during summer school. In sum, I’m doing a lot better in college than I expected, and I can honestly say I already feel at home at UCI.

It’s been an incredible four weeks so far! I never imagined that my first month at Irvine would be so exciting and eventful. Welcome week, new classes, new people, hall bonding, activities, basketball games, concerts, clubs and events; there hasn’t been a dull moment! Until now. I have midterms coming up, so I plan on locking myself up in my dorm away from all the fun for the next couple of days to get some serious studying done. I’m currently taking Intro to Bio Anthro, University Studies 2: Majors, and Humanities Core. HumCore is year-long course, and it’s really interesting, but very intense! I especially hope to do well in that class because Humanities is something I might want to go into. It’s a challenge, but I’m definitely up for it.

Well, that’s me for now. If you have any questions or comments regarding anything ever, feel free to leave a comment! I promise I’ll do my best to answer.

-Cecilia