UCLA presents a perfect opportunity to expand one’s horizons
By Tessa McClellan
June 6, 2010 9:00 p.m.
As a native Seattleite, I’ve always been partial to Los Angeles on its colder, windier days. But when I found myself cursing the 65-degree weather and shivering while eating chips and sandy salsa at my birthday beach picnic, I realized that maybe my Seattle friends have a point when they claim I have been “L.A.-ified.”
I celebrated my birthday a few weeks ago with people from all phases of my UCLA career. My freshman floormates, my Daily Bruin friends, and others I lucked out in finding along the way showed up to celebrate. Birthdays, like graduations, often generate introspection and reflection. And when they fall close to a major transition like the end of college, they prompt even more looking backward.
That picnic reminded me to be grateful for the decisions I made throughout my last four years. Moving a few states away for college excited and scared me. Expanding out of my comfort zone and getting involved in the UCLA community challenged me. But it was worth it. UCLA has been very good to me.
I joined the Daily Bruin as a news writer in the fall of my sophomore year. Through the Daily Bruin, I met some of my closest friends, grew as a communicator and explored previously inaccessible academic and political arenas. I interviewed Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, documented Obama-fever among students, and wrote of gun-toting Americans expressing their views via YouTube in presidential debates. To be honest, the newsroom never became the social and intellectual haven I initially anticipated. But writing for the paper was my jumping off point, my first step in and catalyst for branching out and making college what I wanted it to be. And for that, I am truly thankful.
I also began working as an athletics tutor as a sophomore. Three years later, I’m still spending several nights a week with students sometimes two or three times my size. My tutoring sessions fostered more pleasant discussions, frustrating debates over the necessity of opening textbooks, unforeseen friendships, and memorable “learning experiences” than I ever expected.
A few weeks ago, one athlete asked what I would have done differently at UCLA. I struggled to answer her question. Perhaps I should regret that I didn’t do research, that I didn’t join the Daily Bruin or other clubs sooner, that in some ways I never found my so-called “niche.” But in reality, regrets don’t accomplish much, and truthfully, I am very happy with my choices.
Ultimately, I gave her recommendations inspired by my college experiences. Though I cherish memories of late nights in the lounge on Rieber 5 North, I’m glad I stepped away from the comfort of my freshman year and took initiative to find my place at UCLA. I’m glad I took up journalism, I’m glad I worked on the Jazz Reggae Festival, and I’m glad I majored in international development and spent six months in Buenos Aires studying, traveling and enjoying Argentine helado. Of course, I made some mistakes. But the lessons learned have made me smarter, happier and stronger than four years ago. My friends from home are right ““ I’m not the same as when I came to L.A. I have much less tolerance for cold and a greater understanding of the fact that fleece and Birkenstocks do not always make the best fashion statement. I learned so much from living in a new city and exposing myself to different activities and diverse people. I’m glad I pushed through homesickness for my Seattle friends and embraced the friends and friends of friends I found at UCLA.
As I said before, UCLA has been good to me. And, in response to the athlete I tutored ““ if I had the opportunity, I’d do it all again.
McClellan was a News writer from 2007-2010.
