Not so Gloomy Afterall!

In LA we may not get extreme weather, but we do experience a natural phenomenon known as “June Gloom”.  For those of you unfamiliar with this term, June Gloom refers to the spring/summer cloud cover that happens most mornings in June.  This may not sound all that extreme, but the weather in the mornings looks…

Hikes and Hobbies

One hobby that I never thought I would discover and develop while in LA is hiking.  When most people think of LA they imagine the beach, downtown, Hollywood, and other LA landmarks.  While all of these iconic places are part of what makes LA so unique, we also are blessed to be surrounded by several…

Summertime Travels

I love summer because there is a lot of freedom to do something exciting!  This summer I have friend on every continent (except Antarctica)!  I have tons of friends studying in France and Italy, a friend studying in Austria, a group of friends on a trip to East Asia, a friend going to Indonesia, a…

Summer Options

As week 9 comes to an end there is one thing on almost every Bruin’s mind… Summer! After one of the best quarters of the years, Bruins cannot wait to finalize summer plans and figure out where their next three months will take place. A great part of UCLA is the various options available to…

Internship Opportunities and Class Credit

While the classes I have taken on campus at UCLA have been incredibly valuable, one of the best experiences I have had is my internship class at a local elementary school. My goal is ultimately to become a teacher and having the chance to intern at an elementary for class credit has been absolutely amazing….

Back to L.A.

By the time that you read this, I will be back in Los Angeles. It is the night before I make a sort-of-a-surprise trip down to L.A. to see my friends and see my campus who I haven’t seen for a very long time. And it’s more or less overwhelming. I spent much of my…

Apartment Life

The dorm experience was one of my favorite parts of freshman year, but eventually bruins feel the need to spread their wings and venture into the intimidating world of apartments. UCLA freshman are guaranteed three years of on campus housing, but many chose to move after their second or third year to apartments off campus….

A nice break from busy

Fifth and sixth weeks are by far the busiest of the quarter!  Over the past two weeks I have written 14 pages worth of English papers, taken 3 midterms, and read 5 novels!  Between fifth and sixth weeks was Relay for Life (which was incredible!) and sixth week was USAC elections (meaning lots of flyers…

Self-study Abroad

I am done with school. More or less. I am still working on a research project I’m doing through my program, but all the other classes are totally terminé. I have now spent eight months in France doing lots of eating, a solid bit of traveling, and next to no schoolwork. This is, of course,…