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Post by korrale on Apr 25, 2022 4:56:56 GMT
I feel this Big/Little Weekend was something that I really enjoyed and on some level, needed. Although some time has passed now, I still find the pledging process to be overwhelming at times, and to have a Big and a co-little is very encouraging. For our weekend, we decided to go to Little Tokyo and spend our time there. My Big rented a Zipcar and drove us from campus to Little Tokyo. We left around 2:30pm. During the long car ride to downtown LA, we talked quite a bit, about what has been happening this week, our weekend plans, and of course, how we feel about the pledging process at the moment. Whenever my co-little, Faith, and I feel stressed, we know we can always count on our Big to remind us that this stress is momentary and that we are both capable of completing the pledging process and handling other events currently happening in our lives. Conversation between us flowed very easily and I feel that we get along very well. As we walked in Little Tokyo, we tried several shops. We bought red bean pastries from a bakery, a blueberry match latte from Cafe Dulce, and several other items. I love matcha and this was Faith’s first time trying a lot of these items. At one point, we bought takoyaki and dango, both of which were really enjoyable. I really enjoyed these two items: the takoyaki because I love salty snacks, and the dango because I’ve always loved the chewiness of the mochi. Although I’ve been to Little Tokyo before, I am direction-blind and incapable of being a tour guide, so we ended up walking in circles a few times. After walking for a bit, we decided to go to Daiso and buy a few snacks. We got our parking ticket validated there and returned to campus. After we got back to campus, we went up to the Engineering XI building. It was beautiful up there because we had gotten there just before the sunset. When the sun did set, we took quite a few pictures. We were up on that roof for hours, talking about every possible topic. We spoke about the diversity at UCLA and how a great benefit of this school is that we get to meet so many different people and hear all of their unique perspectives and stories. We have peers that had their own college counselors and tutors taking classes with peers who struggled to fill out the FAFSA on their own. Despite these stark differences, we’ve all ended up at the same school. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I even made it here. We also talked about how someone’s background affects their outlook on life. Those who come from more unfortunate socioeconomic backgrounds often see no way out of the lives they currently live, leading them to be trapped in a cycle of poverty and hardship. To be born in such circumstances and to escape them could be considered a miracle by many, including me. We also talked about friend groups and there is a space for everyone here. The diversity of the student body allows for the vast majority of us to find at least a few people that are similar to us. Although this school has its flaws, the opportunities it offers are undeniable. After talking for a long time, we realized it was getting pretty chilly. I was in a long-sleeve and considerably cold. On the other hands, Faith and Elaine were doing fine. I think this is because I was born in a tropical country and they’ve both been accustomed to slightly cold weather all their lives—Elaine being from Chicago and Faith being further up Northern California. Because it got a bit too cold for me, we eventually ended up leaving the rooftop and returning to the dorms around 9pm. It was a great day and I’m happy that this is the family I was chosen for.  |
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Post by korrale on May 9, 2022 5:36:44 GMT
A dream law school of mine would be New York University Law School. I have several main reasons for wanting to attend this school, varying from its prestige to its curriculum and style of teaching. For example, NYU’s classes are practice-based and they give students first-hand experience in the legal field. Some of NYU’s introductory courses include Introduction to US Law and Introduction to US Legal Practice. The class Introduction to US Legal Practice teaches actual legal skills such as finding cases, legislation, and other legal source materials; appropriately citing legal authority; and assessing the legitimacy of case citations. Furthermore, these introductory seminars assist students to prepare for law school by honing their skills in briefing cases, outlining courses, and taking law school exams.
A second reason I would love to attend NYU is that I really like the campus. The school is located in Greenwich Village in downtown Manhattan. Its buildings are scattered across a square in the city, meaning that to get to different buildings, you would get to walk throughout the city. I would really enjoy walking around the city and getting to know the campus at the same time. The campus contains historic buildings like the Silver Center and the enormous Elmer Holmes Bobst Library. The Elmer Holmes Bobst Library is actually 12 stories high and was designed by Phillip Johnson and Richard Foster. It is the main library for NYU and I think that studying there would be so helpful because of the academic feeling that it gives off. The fact that NYU Law is located on the east coast is also important to me. I have lived in California for almost all of my life and I would love to enter a new environment. If I could get into NYU Law, I would be very excited about the prospect of moving across the country and experiencing the freedom that this distance from my offers.
Of course, I would also love to attend NYU Law for its quality of education. Despite the fact that NYU Law does not rank top in any of the best law school rankings, the quality of education is undoubtedly high quality. If one wanted to specialize in international or tax law, the New York University School of Law is one of the top options. Aside from these specialties, NYU Law also offers a variety of JD, LLM, JSD, and advanced and executive degrees. Students are even allowed to design their own curriculums, making this school extremely flexible and suitable for a wide range of students. The scope of NYU Law's scholarly research is one feature that sets it apart from other law schools. Those interested in contributing to the scholarly realm by publishing new articles have the opportunity to do so in one of 10 prestigious law journals. The New York University Law Review and the Journal of Law & Liberty are two options. Because these publications provide equal opportunities for all students, the possibilities for academic and scientific advancement are endless.
Yet another reason NYU amazes me is that it offers amazing career opportunities. Almost 94 percent of all graduates land full-time, JD-required, and professionally oriented jobs. No other institution has such a high employment rate after graduation, therefore this number speaks for itself. If one is looking for a law school that nearly ensures you a job after graduation, NYU Law is one of the best selections in the country.
Lastly, I would love to go to NYU Law because I think that its student body would be a great community for me to be in. At UCLA, we have a very diverse student body, with people from all walks of life and from all different types of socioeconomic backgrounds. I think that NYU would be similar to this, in that is it a large melting for all types of people. Although it will be diverse, all these people would still be united by their goal of attending law school.
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Post by korrale on May 23, 2022 6:33:02 GMT
One NGO, or non-governmental organization that I would be interested in is called CERES. It is a non-profit sustainability advocacy organization. It is based in Boston, Massachusetts and its name CERES, stands for Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies. CERES was also the ancient Roman goddess of fertility and agriculture, which I think is really cool. One of the companies’ crowning achievements is the creation of the GRI, or Global Reporting Initiative. It serves as an international standard for over 1,200 companies for corporate reporting on environmental, social, and economic performance.
The goal of CERES is to implement sustainable business practices for as many companies as possible. CERES' distinctive philosophy of change aims to persuade investors, firms, policymakers, and other capital market influencers to address four global sustainability challenges: climate change, water scarcity and pollution, unequal workplaces, and obsolete capital market institutions. CERES was created in 1989 by a group of forward-thinking investors and environmentalists in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, with a vision for a better way of conducting business. These investors, led by Joan Bavaria, began to reconsider the role and responsibilities of businesses as environmental stewards and agents of economic and social transformation.
CERES has created powerful networks of investors, entrepreneurs, and charity groups over the years that have increased in size, scope, and depth of engagement. CERES has built a potent formula for reshaping the global economy by providing these leaders with science-based knowledge and innovative tools on sustainability risks and opportunities and then applying them. Because sustainability is the bottom line, investors and firms that incorporate sustainability into decision-making outperform their peers. CERES works with significant investors and companies to integrate sustainability practices into fundamental business strategy and grab the opportunities in the clean energy economy through its extensive networks. More than 170 institutional investors make up the CERES Investor Network, which manages more than $26 trillion in assets and promotes outstanding investment practices, business engagement methods, and crucial policy and regulatory solutions. The CERES Company Network, which includes more than 50 organizations, nearly 75 percent of which are Fortune 500 companies, sets the bar for sustainability leadership. CERES encourages firms to increase their ambition for robust sustainability goals and strengthen resiliency in their operations and supply chains through direct stakeholder involvement, standard-setting, regular benchmarking, and strong collaborations. The CERES Policy Network is a coalition of more than 50 corporations, including dozens of Fortune 500 companies, that advocate for strong climate, clean energy, and water policies at the state and federal levels. The organization helped launch and grow the "We Are Still In" movement into a coalition of over 3500 investors, companies, mayors, governors, college presidents, and other leaders committed to U.S. action on climate change in the wake of President Trump's announcement that the US would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. CERES' Nonprofit Network brings together more than 90 environmental, labor, religious, and investor nonprofit organizations to strengthen the advocacy community's role in influencing business leadership on sustainability risks and opportunities.
I am passionate about their goals because I believe that large corporations play a large part in driving climate change as they operate on extremely large scales and have huge impacts on the environment. In order to truly make a difference in the climate crisis, the solution should come these large companies who have the power to change not only their currently harmful business practices, but also the power to influence customers to make individual changes in their lives and communities. In my opinion, the pressure to change should be shouldered by those who have the most power, in this case those are corporations, not individuals. CERES aligns with this belief of mine and that is why I am interested in their organization.
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