Life as a First Year at UCI
For many, the thought of entering college can be pretty intimidating. However, first years here at UCI are thriving! Two of my residents, Kristein and Sadat, volunteered to be my victims for this blog (well, I volun-told them that they needed to answer these questions, and so here we are). Thanks Kristein and Sadat!
Kristein Jo
Tell us about yourself! Where are you from? What’s your favorite hobby? Fun Fact?
My name is Kristein Jo and I'm from West San Jose. I love to go karaoke and play badminton, and I’m and Education Sciences major and I want to be a teacher. Fun Fact: I love to go out on adventures like rock climbing/skydiving.
What was your favorite welcome week event?
My favorite welcome week event was probably the movie in Aldrich Park: Incredibles 2.
How is living in the residential halls?
I love living in these halls. I thought I wouldn't be comfortable sharing a room with 3 other people but it's really fun and it feels nice to always have someone to talk to. But I also get some time to myself when needed since our class schedules don't match up all the time and there are times when I'm the only one without class.
What has been the best part of college so far?
I think the best part of college so far is being away from my parents. I loved being with my parents, it's just that here I make my own decisions. No one tells me what to do so I have to think carefully of the decisions I make.
What has been the most difficult transition for you?
I don't think I really had a difficult transition. I got comfortable here really quickly.
What are your goals for this year?
My goal is to stop procrastinating completely and plan out my next 3 years here at UCI properly.
Sadat Zaman
Tell us about yourself! Where are you from? What’s your favorite hobby? Fun Fact?
Hi! I’m Sadat Zaman and I grew up in Studio City, California. I lived in Studio City until I was 15 years old and then I moved to Reseda, California because it was closer to my high school. My favorite hobby is to play basketball, watch basketball, talk about basketball… pretty much anything related to basketball. I’m also a biological sciences major. A fun fact about me is that I was born left handed, but I naturally just converted to using my right hand for daily tasks.
What was your favorite welcome week event?
My favorite welcome week event was the Guinness World Records Official Attempt for the Largest Game of Balloon Tag. First, I loved it because they gave a lot of free stuff and also because I could now say that I have a world record. Side Note: it was a lot of fun!
How is living in the residential halls?
Living in the residential halls has been an adventure for me because I have experienced all of the highs and the lows of living in residential halls this first quarter. I would not trade this experience for anything else in the world. Living in the residential halls is so much fun and it’s a unique experience that you can only experience during your freshman year of university. I have made so many new friends from so many different parts of California that I would’ve never met if I didn’t live in the residence halls. It’s a good way to network as well .
What has been the best part of college so far?
The best part about college so far has been socializing in the residence halls. So far, it has only been 8 weeks into my illustrious university career but I know that I have already made some new lifelong friends. We’ve had arguments, conflicts, and countless all-nighters but the amount of fun and memories we have accumulated overshadows all of the lows we have had. All of the hall activities our RA’s have held, the sleepovers we have had, the studying we have done the night before an exam, the lack of sleep we get because we’re too busy laughing, etc are all experiences that I truly will never get to experience in an another setting other than Caballo 2/3.
What has been the most difficult transition for you?
The most difficult transition for me has been living on my own. Back at home, my mom used to do everything for me but now she’s not with me all the time so I had to learn how to do stuff SOLO. It was tough but now I am finally getting the hang of living on my own, but I still have much to learn. You need to seek discomfort to grow as a person and living on my own has broken me down, but I have grown immensely as a person this past quarter.
What are your goals for this year?
My goals for this year are to form lifelong friendships, memories that I can share for the rest of my life, and OF COURSE to pass all of my classes. I like to live spontaneously, so I don’t have any specific goals in mind, but I look forward to what the future has in store for me.
