Hello everyone.
Professors, classmates, friends, listeners. My name’s Olivia Miller. Communication and sociology student. Daily Bruin Podcasts editor. Investigative tunnel explorer. And – somehow – a UCLA graduate.
Like many of us, I only got here two years ago. I’m a transfer student. I graduated high school early, so I am graduating on my 21st birthday.
I didn’t get the full four years – but I got the heart of it. And I didn’t waste a second. Somewhere between midterms, deadlines and breakdowns in Kerckhoff 118, I ended up in the UCLA tunnels.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
When I first arrived, I was terrified. Everyone already seemed to know where to go, who to be, what to study. I was just hoping not to end up in the background of a prank video.
And then – communication and sociology. Two majors that didn’t just help me understand the world but helped me see why it’s structured the way it is. What’s visible. What’s hidden. And what’s up for grabs. They gave me the tools to decode power, media, identity – and then go do something with that knowledge.
That brought me to the Daily Bruin.
I joined the podcast section and not long after, I found myself running it. And I don’t mean “running” metaphorically. I mean running on zero sleep, racing to finish edits, chasing down interviewees, praying to my Adobe Premiere Pro.
That experience didn’t just keep me in the studio – it took me places. Including underground.
Through a university-approved tour, I explored the tunnels beneath UCLA. And walking through those spaces – lined with protest graffiti, old signage and layers of forgotten student life – I felt something shift. Like I was walking through UCLA’s hidden memory.
That’s what storytelling gave me. Not just access to spaces – but to meaning. To questions. To histories no one’s bothering to ask about anymore.
And then came Michael Negrete.
Michael was a UCLA student who disappeared from Dykstra Hall in 1999. No trace. No closure.
So I followed the story. Dug through archives. Spoke to his family. And realized: This wasn’t just about one student. It’s about what institutions choose to remember – and what they quietly forget. It’s about silence. Loss. And our responsibility to bear witness.
Because if communication is about shedding light – and sociology is about understanding the structures behind it – then creating meaning is about going where the light doesn’t reach, and asking what was left in the dark.
I didn’t get four years. But I got UCLA.
I got the weirdness. The beauty. The pressure. The privilege. I found a department – or two – that didn’t just teach me theory. It showed me how performance is power. How language, identity and structure shape everything. And how stories – when told with care – can do more than describe the world. They can change it.
I got professors who pushed me. Peers who carried me. Deadlines that humbled me. And a microphone – and the courage to turn it on.
To the Daily Bruin: Thank you for trusting me with sound and space. For letting me lead, mess up, make meaning – and find a voice by amplifying others.
To the transfers: We didn’t waste time. We didn’t have to. We built something meaningful at full speed.
To my peers: Wherever you go next, go boldly. Communicate with clarity. Think critically. Create with purpose. And if you ever find yourself in a tunnel – literal or not – don’t just leave.
Explore it. There’s meaning in the mess. And on the other side is a story only you can tell.
Thank you for listening.
Signing off,
Olivia
Miller was the Podcasts producer and a Sports, Arts and News contributor 2024-2025 and a Podcasts contributor 2023-2024.
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