In the summer, I said that I was excited to be sharing this part of my life with you, and I still hold on to that even though I haven’t posted for a month (I’m sorry!). In this post, I’ll be sharing some pictures that I’ve taken of the place that I live in and the people I’ve met. As I was scrolling through my phone, I realized that I didn’t take many photos of the UCSD campus, food, and classes. Maybe I’ll do a separate post on the logistics of college life along with a dorm tour! As for now, I just want to share with you my experience in college so far and some things that I’ve learned about myself, college, and life.
1. LIving in La Jolla
UC San Diego is located in La Jolla, California, one of the prettiest cities I have been to. I feel blessed to be able to live here! La Jolla is known for its wealthy neighborhoods and gorgeous, ocean view houses. UCSD is located right next to these neighborhoods, so whenever I take a walk down the streets I feel like I’m walking in a movie set. I’m waiting for the day when I befriend a person who lives in one of these houses haha! Living right next to beach also means having daily access to beautiful sunrises and sunsets over the ocean. I never wake up early for the sunrises, but get to witness a different sunset every single night. Probably 50% of the pictures I’ve taken since I came here are just pictures of sunsets. No, I’m not obsessed.
Move in day was less stressful than I thought it would be. I can’t wait to give a dorm tour in the future!
The first place that my family visited when arriving on campus was Geisel Library, named after Dr. Seuss. Geisel is one of my favorite places to study. In fact, I’m writing this post on the sixth floor right now! The architecture of the library is unlike any library architecture I’ve seen before. You have a 360º view of campus along with multiple floors to study on. They even have treadmills on the first floor!
This is the view from my floor. Isn’t it gorgeous?
The two photos above are taken at this place called The Loop. I come here whenever I want to clear my mind or just need to be alone. It’s a peaceful place that’s up on the cliffs and overlooks Black’s Beach, a popular surf spot. The mansion in the background belongs to the owner of Ralph’s or Vons, I believe.
These are just a few of the many sunset pictures I’ve taken from my floor!
2. SweetMates
As I mentioned in my last post, the people that I’ve met here at UC San Diego are amazing. I’ve never been surrounded by so many unique, diverse, and talented people. While it can be intimidating to be surrounded by people different from you, it ultimately pushes you to get out of your comfort zone and learn about other cultures. Isn’t that what college is known for?
Each floor of my dorm building is sectioned off into single gender suites. My suite has five rooms- three triples and two singles, so there are eleven girls that I live with. My suitemates, or as we like to call each other, sweetmates, have ultimately become my friends here in college. All of us chose to get random roommates, and you get assigned into a suite randomly. You can imagine how there was a huge possibility of us not getting along. Yet, despite how we all have different backgrounds, all of us get along really well! I’m thankful that I get to live with them this year. They’re all incredibly sweet, caring, and fun to be around.
This picture doesn’t contain all of my suitemates, but this was the first official day after moving into college. My roommates Abi and Shelby are to the left of me. They are the sweetest roommates, and I am so lucky to get to come home to them. I laugh all the time when I’m with them, and I know that they’re there for me when I’m having a bad day.
After three days of moving in, Prasadini, Gen, Abi, and I hiked down to the beach for a swim. When I left my house just a few days earlier, I had no idea that I would be going to swimming so soon. These girls are definitely helping me in becoming more spontaneous.
We went down to the beach again for UC San Diego’s annual Meet the Beach event. We all took a surfing class, and my arms were sore afterwards! I’ve always wanted to learn how to surf and was able to stand and ride one wave before getting tired haha. I think one of my goals is to learn how to surf before the end of college, but that isn’t going to happen unless I start working out my arms.
Shelby and I!
Prasadini and I!
Achol did my makeup one night- isn’t she amazing at it?
Good lighting and good company with Achol and Gen.
I’ve always seen videos on Instagram of people putting up sticky notes on their windows to spell out messages, and seeing them first hand on campus is really funny.
3. Being Away From Home
Going to class, studying, and being around my suitemates keep me from missing home all the time. There are some moments when I miss the familiarity of my city, home cooked meals, and friends and family, but I think what’s really helped is being able to call or FaceTime. Even though it’s not the same and the conversation with my family are often cut short, I’m thankful that I get to at least talk to them everyday. Part of being in college is learning to grow independently, and I feel like I am slowly becoming more independent in the actions and decisions that I make.
My family visited me during Family Weekend. It was nice to catch up and spend time with them. We ate Filipino and Thai food, went to the mall, and just relaxed. They also brought me boba from home and Porto’s desserts, which are two of the best kinds of food.
4. What I’ve Learned so far in college
So far, my experiences in college have taught me the following things:
1. Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow.
I’m the type of person that has to plan things out and am only comfortable when things are organized. However, I’ve learned that sometimes, what you plan is just not going to go your way. Instead of stressing about something, just live it out. If it’s meant to be, it will be.
2. “No expectations, no disappointments” – Gen
When you try to take control over everything, you hold certain expectations for yourself and others. When it doesn’t go the way you planned, you will inevitably get disappointed. My friend Gen told me this line, and it’s something that we tell each other and our suitemates when we need a reminder to stop sweating the small stuff.
3. There’s more to life than just studying
I feel like this is something that I will always need constant reminder of, and my suitemates definitely keep me in check on this one. I have a paranoia of not getting work done in time, so sometimes I’ll miss out on social events to study even when it probably isn’t necessary. However, my suitemates encourage me to have some fun and live a little. I don’t want to make the same mistake and miss out like I did in high school.
4. NIKE- Just Do It!
My friends and I were in an Uber at 11PM going to Denny’s the other night, and our driver who was extremely friendly asked us how old we were and where we were from. We told him that we were 18 and attending UCSD, and he gave us some advice that stuck to all of us. He advised us to not be afraid to take risks and try new things because being young, we had less to lose if we made mistakes. We had more time to bounce back after a fall than adults. And ultimately, we should not be afraid to make mistakes because they helps us learn and grow as a person.
Tuesdays are “pants days” for me because we’re required to cover up for my biology lab! This gingham top is from Zara, sandals are from Nine West, and jeans are from Old Navy.
Coat and top are from Zara, skirt is from H&M, and boots are from Clark’s.
Thank you so much for reading this post! Let me know if you enjoy these types of posts because I had fun reflecting back on the past seven weeks. I’m going to try to post more often now that I know how my schedule is. Hope you have a great week!
love,
blaze ann
