Anyone who walks into my shared office knows that I love to hoard things. The miraculously sound, pumpkin squash on my desk from last Halloween? It’s been given a pair of eyes, luscious lips and was essentially turned into a flirtatious dog, thanks to the loving touch of coworkers. The eclipsing, yet untouched metal cabinet in the corner? It’s...
I came back to UCR in January of 2014. Since it was winter quarter, I was the “new girl” in my dorm hall. I was pretty bummed, since I felt like everybody had already formed their little cliques, and didn’t have room for a newcomer.
I was wrong. I’m so grateful I got put in that hall because they are...
Early one Saturday morning, I woke up and prepared for one of the most iconic activities available to a UCR student: a swim to the C. Every UCR student knows this swim is as mandatory as passing your finals in order to be a true Highlander. The people who say that the sea monsters that try to gouge out...
I wonder what spurred me on to become a well-rounded student. Perhaps it was Rory of “Gilmore Girls” with her impeccable academics, respectable extracurriculars, devoted interests and her repetitive drama that infatuated me? Or maybe it was the Japanese environment of my youth, where my classmates would often go to cram school, or “kumon,” to learn a second language...
Whenever I pictured graduate school, I imagined myself driving to campus in a flying car, sporting a tweed overcoat, smoking a cigar Tony Soprano-style. I’m not quite sure where this image of a graduate student emerged, but it’s a look I’m confident I could rock.
Now that I’m a third-year who plans to attend graduate school the fall following my...
If people ask what I’m usually scribbling down in my notebooks, I feel I have to discredit my fan fiction by stating it’s “not real writing,” even though I believe it is. Common among blogging or writing communities on the Internet, fan fiction is produced and read in prolific amounts. Fan fiction receives its name from its writers, fans...
Whether it's 30 miles or 300 miles, living away from home for the first time can be a frightening experience. However, living away from home isn't quite the same as living on your own. For many college students, the experience of living away from home for the first time begins on move-in day, when it is time to pack...
It is 3 a.m and you walk into your dorm room. Your roommate is up, dark circles under her eyes, and she is mumbling about Karl Marx. There is another person passed out on the floor next to a pile of what may be vomit but smells like Powerade. It doesn’t matter. Techno music thuds loudly throughout the room....
Living on your own for the first time is one of the most daunting things that any reasonable person can think of. Without the familial support net that most people rely on or the help of school facilities to keep you afloat, most newly independent students tend to make seemingly obvious mistakes. Without any sort of help, stress levels...
My, how time flies. A part of me doesn’t believe it; but here I am, writing a reflection of my time spent in college. Has it really been four years since I first set foot in my dorm room? I’m in my fifth year and what people say about college being a transformative period for a young adult holds...