Cacophony

One of the things I like most about UCLA is the experience.

Walking down Bruinwalk on any given day, you're in the midst of a symphony of sound-- as individual noises, they drive the average person crazy because it seems like an assault to the ears-- so many different things going on, all at the same time, competing for your attention.
I revel in it.

Like today. As I headed to Comm 150 around 2:30 in the afternoon, there was drilling and hammering and warning shouts from the construction guys working on Pauley to my right, revving from a lawnmower behind me, whirring from a leafblower just ahead of me to my left, the raised voice of a student tour guide explaining to all the incoming freshies and their parents how UCLA means "Under Construction"... *drat* how does it go? "Literally Always"? as they passed by the dustclouds and fenced off areas, three different languages being spoken by people around me into phones pressed tightly to their ears, and a yappy dog having the time of its life barking its lungs out at one of our infamous UCLA squirrels.

This evening as I walked back from my 8pm class, Ackerman Plaza was thumping with the bass of the hip hop dance practice on the stage, clacking in time with the Asian cultural dance rehearsals nearest Bruinwalk, and whirling with the rhythm of the salsa/Latin Ballroom class at the Bruin Bear.

It's crazy.

And I love it.

College is amazing when you think about the kind of people you're surrounded by, how much they've accomplished, and what you could be adding to the culture. Consider who has walked these hallways, pathways, and stairways before you. {Every time I walk into Powell, I always hear my student tour guide telling us about how James Franco climbed these very steps as he went to study in the library while getting his degree}. Remember what movies have been filmed here, who the people were who've graduated from here, how much people respect the college you get the chance to attend every day.

You're in the heart of LA, land of {supposedly} endless sunshine and blue skies and beaches and palm trees. It's a city never stopping, always moving, can't slow down. It's ambitious and driven and motivated and insane. Forever rushed and busy with things to do and places to go. Companies and businesses and people and ideas rise and fall here... and you could be a part of it all if you want.

You have to know what you want and go after it here because no one's giving anyone anything if they don't truly want it.

We are a part of something so much larger than ourselves that it's boggling just contemplating it.

There are days when we doubt ourselves-- when we get that midterm grade back, spend all night writing a paper whose topic we really don't care about, have a class with an awful professor, get into a fight with the roommates, talk on the phone with a friend who seems to be doing so much better than we are at a different university, come back from break and realize we'd rather be home.
And we ask ourselves these questions:

How did I get here? Do I belong? How can I know? Was this the right decision?

Let me reassure you. Someone out there thought we fit in just fine because they asked us to join this community. Someone out there thinks we have just as much potential to make a mark on the world as the greats who've studied here before us. Someone out there believes in us and that should give us confidence that we can and will prove them right.

And better than that? Someone who raised you thought you could hack it and were willing to let you go and study at UCLA. Someone who has known you since childhood is always interested in how you're doing away at college. Someone whom you went to high school with supports you and is just as excited to hear about your adventures as you are about theirs. Someone who has class with you now thinks you're pretty darn awesome, else they wouldn't be chattering with you during lecture. There are so many someone's who love you and care for you and think you're wonderful and they believe in you, too.

You're golden.