So, it is officially summer for me, but I don’t think I’ve quite gotten used to it yet. Being away from UCLA is hard – there’s just too much fun stuff to do there! (for example:)

Right before I left school, I was lucky enough to go to an event at the chancellor’s residence. There was an Enrollment Management Reception in celebration of UCLA’s efforts with this year’s admissions (UCLA did, after all, receive a record-breaking number of applications this year). Many people  in various departments were invited to the event – the tour guides included.

The reception was great; there were speeches, lovely appetizers, and plenty of people to chat with. As you would guess, the food was my favorite part. There were gobs of fancy meats and cheese, some bruschetta, fresh veggies, and super delicious lemonade. Yumm-o.

The chancellor’s residence was beautiful, probably the best place to live on campus (even though De Neve is pretty great, too). The house’s bottom level was open and guests were encouraged to take a look around inside. Each room was filled with artwork that was part of UCLA’s Hammer collection, which included a few pieces by Andy Warhol and Picasso. One room didn’t have any Hammer art in it – all of the pieces were by students at UCLA. Some were photos by graduate students, and some were sculptures by fellow undergrads. The residence’s study was curated as immaculately as the rest of the house, although many of the books and pictures on the shelves were the chancellor’s own personals.

I used the restroom while I was there, which was very exciting mostly because that meant I got to see even more of the house. It was neat and cute and had tiny yellow flowers next to the sink and light blue soap to match them.

Because the reception was held outside, guests were also allowed to stroll around the chancellor’s backyard. The outside is as pretty as the inside, and his pool looked good enough to swim in (seriously, I considered jumping in).

Towards the end, a group of us took some photos with the chancellor and most of us got to meet him! I shook his (extremely soft) hand – such a treat!

To say thank you, all of the tour guides signed the guest book. I’m not sure when I’ll be back to sign it again, but being at the chancellor’s was an awesome experience and a great way to say goodbye to UCLA (at least for now).