UCLA community’s passion, contributions set it apart
By Daily Bruin Staff
June 6, 2010 9:00 p.m.
The morning of September 29th was a monumental morning for me. It was the first morning of my senior year, and the day I found inspiration ““ in a bathroom stall.
With sweat dripping down my neck from running up the many hills of UCLA, I rushed into the bathroom at Rolfe Hall to grab some tissue. Upon entering the stall, I saw the most curious inscription: “This is only my first day at UCLA and I already feel like I won’t make it.” Poor girl, I thought to myself, as I grabbed some tissue for my overactive nose and rushed to class. The next Thursday, I entered the bathroom again and to my surprise, found a reply written next to the first inscription: “I know how you feel. Join a student group, talk to a counselor and you will soon find your family at UCLA.” And the next day: “Girrrrl, you made it into UCLA for a reason! You are smart, amazing and bright and you WILL make it! Don’t doubt yourself, you’re going to change the world!” And the next day, more encouraging, embracing quotes were on the wall. Throughout that quarter, I saw countless encouraging quotes joining the first little quote written above the toilet dispenser, until the whole wall was filled with positive messages.
And that, my fellow bruins, is what makes UCLA unique. UCLA is a place where people raise their voices to effect positive change in the most unlikely of places, through the most unlikely of methods, in the most unlikely of bathroom stalls. No platform is too small; no opportunity goes unexplored by UCLA students.
You know the quote, “Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses”? UCLA students don’t just stop to smell the roses, we water the roses! With our words and smiles, we water each other’s lives and help each other grow emotionally, intellectually and professionally. Even the small things, like a simple hello, word of encouragement or a bright smile can give vital water to someone’s parched soul and help them grow. Not only do we water each other’s lives, we water the lives of people around the world with our accomplishments in research, community service and entertainment. I’m proud to be a graduate of UCLA, a place that fosters political change, scientific discovery and artistic ingenuity. For you lucky younguns who still have time at UCLA, appreciate the resources UCLA has to offer – like the extensive research libraries, the ingenious professors, to-die-for dorm food, $2 movies in Ackerman, Undie Run (it better come back!) and of course, the nation’s best student newspaper.
And to my fellow seniors ““ I am honored to have shared time together with you, the world’s future award winning engineers, nurses, actors, astronauts, news anchors, mathematicians and more. College is romanticized for good reason ““ it’s the last place where people from all walks of life are together. Like a kaleidoscope of mismatched pieces, together we make a dazzling picture.
We are the ardent youth of today. Our class is an eclectic mix of people with myriad interests, passions and dreams, and we’ve proven and we will prove again that we’ve got both the dream and the drive. So lets never lose that hunger and drive inside that makes us come alive.
As author Gil Bailie states, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
Class of 2010, I challenge you to come alive, and to smile ““ it increases your face value.
Sarah Ho was a Daily Bruin Video contributor for 2009-2010.
