Traveling and being home is a lot of fun for me. I adore visiting tourist attractions, relaxing, and spending time with family, but I miss the perks UCLA has to offer. When I am in Westwood I spend a lot of my time at the John Wooden Center, which is our on campus gym. All a student has to do to get in the gym is swipe their bruin card (student ID) and they can spend as much time as they want lifting weights or burning calories on the cardio machines. Another benefit to being a full-time student is the Powell library that is open till the wee hours of the morning, which is known as “Night Powell“. This allows students to get in those study hours and stay in the library for as long as they wish. I am also a green advocate and that’s why I also miss the close proximity to everything on campus and in Westwood. Students are able to walk to class, grocery shopping, the gym, the off campus apartments, etc. If a student ever needs to get off campus though, you can always take the Big Blue Bus. Students are able to take this mode of public transportation for only 50 cents! These are just some of the perks that UCLA offers their students.
I love UCLA, but by our tenth week of school during spring quarter I am completely burnt out. However spring quarter is always the best. The sun is always shining, there are endless outdoor activities to take part in, and best of all spring quarter is followed by summer. As soon as I finished I was ready to leave because I love traveling and would rather do so than be stuck in Los Angeles, but for people who want to stay connected after spring quarter there are many ways. Some students work on campus or get internships, others enroll in summer school, and some go abroad for the summer. No matter what you decide to do, the end of spring quarter leaves you with many options.
Finals are currently the only thing on my mind. Most people assume that a final is a written test composed of multiple choice, short answers, or in class essays. However, in the World Arts and Cultures (WAC) department, professors measure a students knowledge differently. Our finals are often composed of reflection essays, projects, and physical movement examinations. In my art and social action class I comprised a project that confronted the problem of childhood obesity. My group created a fun and easy dance to dynamite that included an instructional video that allowed kids to learn the choreography–you can watch it above! You can even see some video responses we received from kids near the end.
We thought that getting kids up and dancing to music is the best way for them to become active. In my choreography class, two of my classmates and I made a piece that dealt with the forces between good and evil. The last final I completed was in my ballet class where I was asked to perform all of the vocabulary we had learnt that quarter. This is generally what WAC students have to do during finals week.
Last week was busy and filled with exams, projects, and papers. All of this stress has made it nearly impossible for me to get out of my study cave and get onto campus. The only time I was outside was when I was walking to and from class. As I walked through the sunken gardens at 8AM in the morning I saw hundreds of colorful shirts swaying in the wind. This project was being presented by a group of students who were raising awareness about violence. Each shirt that hung from the clothes lines was associated with a different type of violence (rape, sexual harassment, etc). Although the exhibition was extremely heart wrenching, it is nice to know how involved our students on campus are. These types of protests are constantly happening on campus and it is proof of how UCLA challenges students to speak up for what they believe in. I have even been involved in the budget cuts protests. Just remember to let your voice be heard for the things that you believe in!
Students are able to experience many things on the UCLA campus, but as soon as the end of the quarter hits you can feel the tension in the air. It’s just about time to crack open those textbooks and start memorizing those flash cards. We are currently on our eighth week of school going onto our ninth week and instead of staying on campus and studying, I decided to take a little vacation before finals and go home to the Bay Area.
UCLA just makes it too easy for us to leave campus. We have a FlyAway bus that only costs five dollars and it will take you all the way to LAX. How simple and easy is that? There are also bus routes that can take you to union station if you are looking to take the train. In no way am I promoting procrastination, but just know that there are ways to travel around and off of campus. I’ve got to get back to enjoying home. Go Bruins!
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