Last fall, I wrote a column about students’ dependency on
cell phones, which make the college experience more isolated than
ever before. A disgruntled reader e-mailed: “I’m not
here for the experience. I’m here to get my degree.
That’s it.”
How can you not enjoy the experience of being here? How can you
be at UCLA and never do the eight clap, never bash ‘SC, never
be involved in the North vs. South campus rivalry, never get a
parking ticket, never have problems with URSA, or never complain
about construction? All these and much more are unique to the UCLA
experience.
And as the school year comes to a close and many of us prepare
to leave this bubble, I want to acknowledge and thank the little
things that have made my UCLA experience so unforgettable:
Thank you, URSA, for being the voice of reason to my
disillusionment and frustration with university bureaucracy. You
made me laugh (“Your grade is not yet available”) and
you made me cry (“Your attempted transaction cannot be
completed because the class is closed and the waitlist is
full”). Unlike significant others who come and go, you are
something I can always depend on.
Thank you, Financial Aid, for giving financially disadvantaged
students like me the opportunity to go to college, pay rent and
backpack through Europe.
Thank you, Towell, for being there when Powell wasn’t. For
those of us old enough to remember the ugly metal building between
the Dance Building and Men’s Gym, Towell was the closest
thing to a library we had.
Thank you, dorm food, for making me three sizes larger than I
was in September 1995. Without you, I never could have become the
voluptuous, full-figured woman I am today.
Thank you, Officer 52, for the 30 parking tickets you gave me
during my college career. I will never understand how you knew
exactly when my meter was going to expire.
Thank you, Royce bells, for sweet melodies that brightened my
days.
Thank you, Murphy Hall, for never ceasing to find absurd ways of
taking my money. How I can pay class enhancement fees for
absolutely no class enhancement is beyond me.
Thank you, Royce, for opening your doors to student talent and
Pilipino Culture Night.
Thank you, Midnight Yell, for causing riots in Westwood and
allowing me to participate in a wonderful college tradition.
Thank you, campus squirrels, for making me laugh with your
antics.
Thank you, overdressed women of UCLA, for showing me that
fashion is more important than comfort.
Thank you, mom, Kenneth, Paula, Rocelle, Janice, family and
friends, for supporting me and making college life more
bearable.
Thank you, Student Media, for giving me a voice to represent and
reach out to the UCLA community. In a place where one can easily be
lost in the crowd, you provided a much-needed outlet for
expression.
And thank you, fellow students, for making the college
experience what it is supposed to be: an experience. While there
are those who are here solely to take classes and get straight As,
the majority of us seek something more: the chance to mature and
discover ourselves, to grow up without being too
“grown-up.”
So as we go on to bigger and better things, let us not forget
that learning is a life-long process.
Harold B. Melchart said, “Live your life each day as you
would climb a mountain. An occasional glance toward the summit
keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be
observed from each new vantage point.”