Happy New Year, dear reader. I hope you had a refreshing break (if you were indeed lucky enough to have one at all!) full of family and friends.

One of the benefits of being in college is that the quarter ends before Christmas vacation, meaning that there is not much bothering you once school lets out. As previously mentioned, I spent a few weeks traveling in Asia, and plan to dedicate a post or two to my experiences there.

Besides that, I plan to use this quarter’s posts to: 1) expand a bit on my experiences as a pre-medical student at UCLA, 2) keep you all updated with Bruin Athletics, and 3) show you how interesting classes (even/especially for a South Campus / science major!) can be.

Please let me know in the comments if there are any additional topics you would like to see addressed!

In the meantime, here are some UCLA holiday highlights from around the interwebs:

-Congratulations to the women’s volleyball team, which captured UCLA’s 108th NCAA Championship with a win over Illinois!

-The outstanding UCLA Health System recently reported its first double-lung and liver transplant, this coming after completing the West Coast’s first hand transplant earlier last year. Ridiculously impressive.

-As it turns out, Angelina Jolie consulted with retired four-star general Wesley Clark, a senior fellow with the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations, in preparation for her new movie, “In the Land of Blood and Honey” – the full story is here. Man, Bruins are everywhere!

-And if you haven’t already, check out “missed connection” site spottedatbruinwalk.com. Be careful though, it’s addictive!