Admissions Blog :: UCLA Undergraduate Admissions

Signing off

The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of....not blogging anymore.

Yes, unfortunately friends I am going to be leaving UCLA Undergraduate Admissions and officially resigning my post as UARS blog mistress at the end of the month. I've loved posting and reading your comments, and I swear it's not you, it's me. I'm going to be returning to my Northern California roots, but I won't forget all the great experiences I've had during my time here at UCLA.

Fear not, fans of the Admissions Blog (all both of you), Marisela is at the helm and we will still be tapping other experts around the office and the campus at large to answer your pressing admissions questions.

To our incoming students: enjoy your summer and get ready to begin your exciting new lives as Bruins. My time at UCLA has been incredibly memorable, and I hope that yours is too!

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this blog and submit your comments and please keep it up!

Pac-10 Fitness Challenge Part Two

The Pac-10 Fitness Challenge is officially over, and while us Bruins didn't win the competition (congratulations Stanford!) we definitely made a respectable showing, had a great time in the process, and beat USC in a landslide! All in all, a successful week.

I participated in every Fitness Challenge-related event last week and had a lot of fun! Tuesday was the "Super Walk" out at Drake Stadium. Staff, faculty, and students alike ran, walked, jogged, or climbed the stairs and won some awesome prizes for participating. One lucky runner received an iPod Nano, but I was pretty satisfied with my spiffy new pedometer! Wednesday was the "Spin Marathon," where UCLA Recreation staff members led all interested in Bruins intense, 45 minute spin workouts from 7:30am to 7:30pm. And all week long people were sweating on the elliptical machine at the front of the John Wooden Center for "Perpetual Motion."

I feel like I'm a pretty motivated exerciser, but nothing pushed me to do my best like my desire to support UCLA! If only there was a way to bottle that feeling...

Congratulations to everyone who participated for a job well done. I hope you all had as much fun as I did!

         

Pac 10 Fitness Challenge: Go Bruins!

I never thought I'd see the day when I could say I was in a Pac-10 athletics competition, but here I am! I am helping UCLA compete for the title of "Most Fit in the Pac 10" by logging on to the Pac 10 Fitness Challenge Website everyday and recording my daily activity.

The Pac-10 Fitness Challenge is a different kind of sporting event. All 10 universities in the conference are competing against each other at the same time, and non-athletes (including faculty, staff, and supporters) can play, too! The Pac-10 Fitness challenge is a conference wide initiative to increase physical activity on college campuses.

Here at UCLA, we're taking this competition very seriously. In addition to encouraging all students, faculty, staff, and friends to work out every day this week (Nov. 5-Nov. 9) and log their progress at: www.pac-10fitnesschallenge.com, we've also organized group-exercise efforts to help our score and increase team spirit. Tomorrow there is going to be a "Super Walk" on the Drake Stadium Track, and Wednesday we have a "Spin Marathon" in the John Wooden Center, where we will try to keep Bruins on cycles from 7:30am-7:30pm. As long-time readers know, I like to work out on my lunch hour, so I'm excited that this week I'll be able to get in my exercise time and help UCLA win this fun competition.

For anyone who is interested in supporting UCLA (or another Pac-10 campus) in the Fitness Challenge, it's not too late! Visit the link above and start running, swimming, pumping, biking or doing whatever it is you love to do. The competition is stiff and we need all the help we can get! Go Bruins!

Korea Summer 2007

Hey guys this is Eric Kim, UARS techie and official photographer. I’m really glad to be back here at UCLA after spending about a month and a half at Korea. There was nothing better than seeing the gleaming faces of all my fellow coworkers when I returned to the office after my three month summer break.

I have to admit going to Korea was one of my best summer experiences ever. Meeting extended family, sightseeing, and checking out the local nightlife were a few of the many things I was able to do in my home country. Although the culture and heritage of Korea is radically different to that of the United States, I found out that in both nations the people are more similar than different. When it comes down to the wire, both peoples are friendly and know how to have a good time. 

Being a photographer, I was overjoyed to see all of the photo opportunities in Korea. The complex architecture in Seoul, the smiling faces of children in Busan, and the untouched nature in the countryside were just a few of my photo subjects.

Anyways hope you enjoy my pictures and check out http://www.erickimphotography.com for more
pictures!

Hannah Carter Japanese Garden

Life without Justine is pretty rough so far. In addition to being a great writer and amazing resource in the office, she also became a good friend, and, more importantly, my lunch buddy. Justine and I would spend our lunch walking around campus, taking Pilates at Wooden, or checking out new exhibits at the Fowler Musuem. With her gone, my lunch hours have been very lonely and I have been seeking out various activities to make the time more bearable.

Next on my list? The Hannah Carter Japanese Garden. Located about a mile north of campus in Bel Air, this garden was inspired by the gardens of Kyoto, Japan. In addition to a beautiful trees and flowers, the garden boasts pagodas, a sunken bath, a moon-viewing deck, and a koi pond. The garden is not only peaceful and lovely, but also steeped in symbolism.The key elements of the garden are: water, stones, and plants. Water symbolizes the ocean, groups of stones can represent the shore or islands, and plants are supposed to embody a more human spirit. It's a great place to relax and unwind, either with a friend or (sob) by yourself.

The Hannah Carter Japanese Garden is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:00am-3:00pm. Reservations are required, and guided tours are available for groups of 10 or more. To schedule a tour or learn more about the garden, please visit: http://www.japanesegarden.ucla.edu/.

I say goodbye, she says hello.

Dear readers of Justine's Blog,

Today is my last day with UCLA Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools (UARS), and consequently, my last day as the editor of this blog. I've decided to venture out into freelance writing, which should be exciting, weird, and really fun. And sad because it means that I have to leave UARS and the blog.

Thankfully, my dear co-worker and pal Stacy Redd (pictured desperately trying to hold me on campus) has stepped up to take over the blog so that you can stay up-to-date on the latest information and miscellany from UCLA. Justine's Blog will be morphing into Stacy's Blog over the next couple of weeks. She has already been an active contributor, and will continue to do so as the blog's editor. I am still an alumna, so I wouldn't be surprised if a few posts from me showed up now and then.

I wish you all my very best as you begin the school year, and good luck to all of those who are getting ready to apply to UCLA for Fall 2008. UCLA, as they say, is truly an amazing place.

Justine

Famous Alumni: Sara Bareilles

It’s no secret that UCLA alums go on to do a lot of incredible things. Some of our most famous alumni include Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Gore Verbinski, and current Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Keeping with the tradition, there’s currently another Bruin making headlines these days: musician Sara Bareilles, Bruin class of 2003. Bareilles's new album, Little Voice, is attracting attention from Entertainment Weekly, People, LA Weekly, and of course, this blog. Her single "Love Song" was featured as a free download on iTunes in June 2007 and she is going to be touring with Maroon 5 this fall.

While at UCLA, Bareilles was a member of Awaken, a student a cappella group, and she says that her first big solo performance was during Spring Sing 2001. In fact, Bareilles partially credits UCLA with her current success. In an interview for UCLA’s "Notable Alumni" webpage, she says, "Honestly, I thank UCLA for providing me with such a strong support system of fans and fellow musicians." We’re happy to do it, Sarah. Keep up the great work.

I’m the newest Bruin inductee into the Sara Bareilles fan club, but I’m sure I won’t be the last. Her clear voice and honest lyrics make her music incredibly listenable, and her sound is somehow both familiar and original. But don’t take my word for it. Learn more about Sara, her music, and her upcoming performances at http://www.sarabmusic.com/.

UniCamp

It's summertime, and, for thousands of kids across the country, summertime means summer camp. And the camp of choice here at UCLA is UniCamp, the official student charity of UCLA. UniCamp is an independently funded non-profit organization that links UCLA with the surrounding community. Each summer, nearly 1000 children from low-income families come to UniCamp to have a great time with the 350 student volunteers who serve the camp each year.

UniCamp takes place at Camp River Glen, where kids can swim, make arts and crafts, do archery, or fish in the nearby Santa Ana River. If that doesn’t sound like enough fun, they’re making plans to install an Alpine Climbing Tower and ropes course.

But there's more to UniCamp than just having fun (although fun is definitely a key ingredient!). UniCamp is all about paying it forward. The mission of UniCamp is to create "the opportunity for today's kids from underserved communities to eventually contribute to the development of tomorrow's underserved kids." The idea is that children from underserved communities will become UniCamp campers who will be so inspired by our amazing student volunteers that they will want to become student volunteers themselves someday, and hopefully those student volunteers will become community leaders who will make the community and the world a better place for everyone.

If you’re interested in UniCamp, or want to get involved, please visit their website:www.unicamp.org.

UCLA Bruins: First to 100!

U-C-L-A Fight, Fight Fight! The UCLA Bruins are the first university in the nation to win 100 NCAA National Championships!

Hi, it's Ginger again. I’m a huge Bruin fan, so today is one of the best days ever for me! At noon today, the Bruins held a huge rally to honor our Women’s Water Polo Team, who won their 6^th , and UCLA’s 100^th NCAA National Championship. We also celebrated UCLA’s victory over the Trojans in the annual Lexus Gauntlet competition. In the six year history of the Gauntlet, neither athletic program had ever swept its arch rival in football, basketball, and baseball in the same year…until now. UCLA so dominated USC in 2006-07 that our margin of victory was the greatest ever.

Want to know the best thing about today? I got to meet Ben Howland, UCLA’s Men’s Basketball Coach! I like to think of myself as the Bruin basketball team’s sixth man, so getting to meet Coach Howland was incredible. I am confident that next year will be the year that the Bruins win their 12^th basketball championship.

As a student at UCLA, I loved our outstanding athletic tradition because it created so much spirit and pride. As an alum, I love the fact that I get to be a part of the Bruin Family for the rest of my life! Choosing the right college is all about finding a place that is the best match for you. UCLA was the perfect match for me, and, as you can see, my love for my school is still strong! Go Bruins!

Redd Alert

Hi everyone! I’m Stacy Redd, assistant to the UCLA Director of Admissions. When I’m not reading applications and communicating with prospective students, I love to collect interesting facts about UCLA. For instance, did you know that UCLA was originally UCSB? When UCLA was created, it was the second UC campus (after UC Berkeley in northern California) and was called University of California, Southern Branch. I especially like that fact because it involves both my alma mater, UC Santa Barbara (the current UCSB), and my new home, UCLA.

On a more serious note, I want to address any students who have applied to UCLA for Fall 2007. If you have made any changes to your academic program or if your contact information has changed, please let our office know as soon as possible by emailing datachng@saonet.ucla.edu

I’ll be back periodically with more tips and UCLA trivia. Justine and our colleagues in UARS and beyond will be dispensing valuable info via this blog every week, so make sure to check it regularly.