kash
Junior Member
Posts: 78
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Post by kash on May 25, 2022 22:38:02 GMT
This quarter was most definitely one for the books. Somehow it felt like the longest, yet shortest quarter? I think the end got especially a bit dragged on because all of my home friends are on the semester system, so around week 7, everyone started going home while I was still studying for my midterms, which was a bit of an annoying feeling. Also, this quarter was a bit bittersweet for me. On one hand, I am so happy I can go home and be with my parents because I literally have not seen them in like 4 months. And I have a half-brother who is 3 years old, and it is pretty heartbreaking to me that I will probably not be able to watch him grow up because I am so far away from him for most of the year. But on the other hand, I feel as if the connections and the relationships I have made here this last year do not make me want to leave at all. I have met some of the most amazing, wonderful, kind people I have ever met in my life, and I am going to miss them so much when I go home. So, a lot of this quarter has been me wanting it to end early so I can go home, but then also being as long as possible so I can take time to enjoy myself with the people I love so much here. In regards to pledging, this quarter has definitely been so insane. I started off the quarter without knowing my 14 other pledge brothers, to ending it and basically calling them my family. I met Chanel who is one of my favorite people in the world now, and it seems as if she has been in my life absolutely forever, even though it has literally been less than a quarter. I have learned so many valuable skills and developed so many traits in the last quarter which have forever changed my life. I do not get as anxious when I think of interviews anymore. I do not get nervous when I have to send professional emails. Pledging has most definitely helped my professional confidence, and change for the better, which I am extremely scared for. However, this quarter I feel as if I have also been taking four of some of the hardest classes which I have ever taken, and I have seen my grades suffer a little because of all that I put on my plate this quarter. I also had to take a pause from my job at UCLA Gymnastics, because there came a point where I just could not balance pledging, four classes, extra curricular, two jobs, an executive position in my sorority, maintaining friendships and relationships, and then still finding time to call my parents everyday. Something had to give, which was unfortunately one of my jobs. However, I am still so grateful for this quarter as I genuinely feel like I am leaving it becoming a better person throughout. Being so crunched on time led me to have a realization on which people matter the most to me and who I want to make time for, and where to split my energy, but still make sure I make enough time for myself and my mental health.
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Post by oliviadelapp on May 26, 2022 6:00:32 GMT
This quarter for me can be summed up in one word: growth. While pledging has taught me a lot professionally, I would say that I have experienced even more personal growth from it and from other events going on in my life. Rush week was one of the hardest weeks of my life, not because of rushing but because there were a lot of other things going on in my life that happened unexpectedly. However, once I got a bid for this fraternity, it made me realize that some of the things that seemed so monumental and soul-crushing at the time were not as big of a deal as I was making them out to be. This quarter, I kind of used pledge work as a distraction from some of these things and as a way to move on from them, and I feel like a completely different person now because of it. I've realized that once you stop putting your energy into people and things that aren't worth your time or effort, you are much happier. Furthermore, although I wouldn't say I was weak before pledging, the process has definitely made me a stronger and more resilient person. I do not think I am as much of a pushover anymore, and will not let people walk over me in the future. As much as I will be glad to have pledging behind me, I also think it will be an adjustment to not see my pledge brothers every day. Even last week when we did not have any events the second half of the week, I felt off and like something was missing. I am sincerely grateful for everyone I have met through the fraternity this quarter and have cherished every conversation I have had with both pledges and actives. My pledge brothers are some of my favorite people in the world now, and I know that they will all do great things in the future. We have only known each other for a little over a month now, and they have already shown me what true friendship is. Almost all of them have dropped what they were doing at some point or another to help me, which is extremely selfless. This week especially has shown me how kind they are, as I received messages from many of them asking how I was doing and if I was doing okay in isolation. Many of them have also gone out of their way to do a favor for me, like picking stuff up from my room for me or running an errand for me in Westwood because I cannot leave this room. I did not have any idea when I was signing up to rush for Kappa Alpha Pi that I would meet so many amazing, generous people, but I am so glad Raina and I decided to sign up and rush together that day in our Neurolaw seminar. I am sad that I will not be able to see my pledge brothers for a few months over the summer, but so excited that I have 14 new friends to come back to campus to in the fall.
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Post by abigailrubtsova on May 26, 2022 23:58:34 GMT
It has been one hell of a quarter. I went through one of the most difficult experiences of my life, right when I decided to pledge for Kappa Alpha Pi and take my most difficult classes. A lot of hard things have happened. I have been grappling with serious mental health issues all quarter that have affected me in every single other aspect of my life. Dealing with the mental toll of my situation affected my motivation and productivity for school. Being so consumed in the pledging process prevented me from doing the things I normally do to clear my mind. Not being able to attend my Torah or language classes, as well as not being able to celebrate Shabbat definitely added to my mental situation. Being busy can be a good thing, but I wish I had a little more time to myself this quarter. I feel as if I had less time to reflect, which is something I love to do. I lost a lot of things that make up who I am this quarter, and due to this I was also dealing with a lot of identity issues. On the other hand, I learned a lot more about myself. One of my main realizations this quarter is the growth I have had over the years. I have unlearned a lot of the trauma induced behaviors I grew up with. I have become a lot more comfortable standing up for myself, creating healthy boundaries. I have become less dependent on what other people think of me, and have cared a lot less about having a significant other in my life to validate me. I no longer stay friends with people that impact me negatively, and instead put effort into the people that value me. This quarter has taught me how to separate my personal life from my professional life, and the importance of having strong relationships. My best friends have carried me throughout this quarter. I learned quickly just how much they care about me, and it was the most special feeling. I finally feel like for once in my life I have people that I feel I can be my whole self around. I have had the ugliest breakdowns around them, and my happiest moments with them. These next few years, I am looking forward to continuing our friendship, and I hope that I can be an even better friend to them. I also am looking forward to continuing my new friendships that have begun this quarter. I have become great friends with my pledge brothers, and even besties some as well.
Something else I am looking forward to is continuing to put my new professional skills to use. Like Kash, I feel so confident in my new abilities. My emails to my professors have never looked better. I feel like my conversational skills have significantly improved and I am a lot better at thinking on my feet. I can’t wait to use these skills in future interviews, jobs, internships, or whatever else is headed my way. Again, it’s been one hell of a quarter, but I wouldn’t have done it any differently either way.
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Post by danieljudd on May 27, 2022 1:39:13 GMT
This has been quite the quarter. I have definitely made some of my best, and worst, college memories in the past few months. One thing that I have definitely gotten much better at throughout this quarter is time management. I have always had a bit of an issue with procrastination, and leaving work until the last minute. Pledging and all the things that I have had going on this quarter have definitely made it impossible for me to continue pushing things back like that. I have now started working on my assignments almost the second that I get them. Whenever I have a free moment that isnt taken up by pledging or some hanging out with friends, I am doing work. Since I have so little time I have made it a priority to finish all my work before I can do anything fun. This skill is already coming in handy, now that I am finishing up pledging and my time is starting to free up, I am noticing so much empty free time that I haven't had for months prior to this. Now I spend all this time being really productive and doing things that I never would have. Instead of mindlessly scrolling through TikTok or instagram, I now spend my free time with people that matter to me or working on future assignments or other work. In addition to learning how to be more productive, this quarter has also given me many new friends and relationships. I have grown close with my entire pledge class and feel like I have made a bunch of new friends, which is so totally awesome. When we first started the pledge process I was skeptical about the fact that I would become close with a bunch of strangers in my pledge class that I had never met before. Now I end up texting them every day and feel like they have become a great part of my life. It is going to be so weird for me to go back home now as soon as the pledge process ends and say bye to all these new friends that I made. It will be really nice to know that I will have my entire pledge class there for me when I return in the fall and I really look forward to making many new memories with them in the near future. I also really enjoyed all of our Mem Ed meetings especially. I value all the professional skills that I have developed throughout my pledging process. Working on cold emails, resumes, linkedins, elevator speeches, business professional attire and so much more has been really helpful and is something that I definitely think that I will use in the near future. I have definitely already used my email skills to apply to several internships and I hope to use my interview skills for these internships some time soon as well. This has definitely been a tough, yet rewarding quarter, I am looking forward to see what the next quarter has in store for me.
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Post by jackcarleton on May 27, 2022 6:28:48 GMT
This quarter was definitely the busiest one I've had at UCLA. I feel like I really only had time for pledging and my girlfriend. I haven't been to a lecture for any of my classes since week 2. I kinda planned it like that though and enrolled in three easy ge's because I knew I wanted to rush kappa alpha pi this quarter. I honestly could have been going to lectures for a while but I just don't really care or have the energy. I should get at least two As, and probably 3 if I can clutch the earthquakes final. One thing I really didn't like this quarter is how I've grown apart from everyone in my life who isn't involved with kappa alpha pi. I still hang out with other people but not as frequently as I used to, and when I do see them it's just kinda awkward. But going into the positives I've met a ton of super chill people that I never would have grown as close to outside of this frat. I really like all my pbros and the actives. I'm really grateful for the peteypire. Peter and Izzy are super different but they're both really fun to be around. I can't imagine trying to go through pledging without Peter having my back. He was hella good at scheduling interviews when I was being lazy, and always brought me food. I really admire Peter and how he's unafraid to tell people how he feels. I also think he's one of the funniest and most creative people I've ever met. Izzy is also one of my favorite people I've met through pledging. She's super fun to be around and is always a good sport when I clown her. She's also really honest and genuinely likes to help people, which I really admire. I'm excited to spend more time with Izzy if and when I cross. She's also super close with her a-little and my twin jonalyn so maybe we can all chill together. That brings me to the group of people who I've been spending every day with these last few weeks of pledging. I love all of my pbros equally, but Joanlyn, Vedant, and Juliana are real ones fr. They made pledging so much more fun. I can't count how many hours I've been in the delta terrace lounge just talking with them when we met up to do some pledge task. One night we all met up to film one tik tok for my duties as tik tok pledge. We ended up going to taco bell and then stayed up talking until like 5am about random shit. We did finally film the tik tok right before we dipped. Jonalyn is the biggest homie for always driving us around though. I definitely owe her a shit ton in gas money but she's too nice and always refuses it. I look forward to many more late night fast food runs with them. I also really want to get closer to a lot of my other pbros. I feel like I haven't hung out with a lot of them in a long time and that makes me a little sad. Everyone always says you're the closest while pledging, but I hope we can still all be cool. I really like all the pi's, and I look forward to hopefully being actives with all them.
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Post by korrale on May 27, 2022 6:37:18 GMT
Today was a silly slay yass werk. I woke up this morning to STINKY FEET but luckily I cleaned it lmaooo anyways so I went to the gym for three hours today until 9am then I went to breakfast with my super yass a big Cia Evangelio. I must say like Cia is so incredibly intelligent and slay! Afterwards I went to study SLAY for my oral  and written final with Jonny jon jon poo my pbro. I was getting ready to BOOTS THE HOUSE DOWN and I went into the zoom ready to werk. however I was asked a question about my big's foot fetish which made me honestly so included because in fact I ALSO have one <333 it makes me so happy that elaine also likes feet<3 oh ya the pledging process afterwards we went to our written finals which was YUMMY I wrote wrote wrote like no tomorrow because I studied hard and was really slaying the whole time! Afterwards my delicious sexy adopted big Cia Evangelio gave me BOBA which was nummy and I sipped it soooo well and it was so incredibly delishyy :DDDDD I nuzzled my a big and skipped away! at night decided to WERK with jonny wonny wishy washy gaspary poo on my paddle which is slay. Basically my takeaway is SILLY PLEDGING PROCESS IS SILLYYY and it made me vv busy ngl I did a lottie wottie during pledging and she's exhausting tbhh. Ye but obviously my biggie elainey poo was such a blessing and rlly came through to get me to where I NED 2 BEE! The membership educationship was so helpful in the way that it helped us with professionalism. anywaysss I loved interviewing all of the silly active members because I'm kinda happy to also maybe become a silly active member! I'm excited to see the banquet! I'm excited to eat nummy food just like during the silly bid dinner where I nommed and munched on a tonny ton of garlic knots!  To be honest (tbh is what that stands for) Yummy garlic knots is all I'm thinking about now. My silly a big really got me hooked on those delicious, fluffy, salty, amazing garlic knots. I hope that if and when I cross, the banquet will be just as yummy nommy. Anyways, back to talking like a normal person. I think my a big has influenced me a bit too much throughout this quarter; I've been possessed by the ghost of Cia Evanslayio. She really spoke through me for a hot minute and I think I need an exorcism as soon as possible. In all honesty and seriousness, this pledge quarter has been a wild ride. In the beginning, my first impression of my pbros was that we were all so different and diverse. I had no clue how we would grow close or work together as a group at all. Throughout these past seven weeks however, they've proven me wrong and shown that our differences only help us. They've allowed us, especially me, to see through others' perspectives and learn more about how other people see and experience the world. It's been an extremely memorable and valuable quarter that I wouldn't give up for anything. |
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Post by jonalyngaspar on May 27, 2022 6:38:40 GMT
Overall the pledging process has been pretty interesting. I am glad that I have been able to meet my pledge brothers and have built such amazing relationships with them. We have made such great memories together and I can’t wait to make more memories with them. One of my favorite memories I have made is going to Canes late at night with Jack, Julliana, and Vedant. I am looking forward to making more late night trips with them and all of my other pledge brothers. I really think that all of my pledge brothers have taught me new things. They are all so unique and fun to hang out with. Additionally, I am so glad to have gotten such $WAGGGGGGGALICOUS BIGS. I LOVE MY KING DAVID HERNANDEZ. David is such a G and is so cool and awesome. I love david. I love Mr. Hernandez. I love David Hernandez. From retreat to now, he has always been there for me. I really appreciate that the pledging has given me such a great big. I loved ax throwing with him and going to Hades family dinner with him. I think that he’s such a great guy to have conversation with and is really so $wag. I also think that IZZY IS VERY VERY $WAGILGIOUS AND $UPER $PICY. I had a lot of fun going on a hike with izzy and david. We went on a hike to the hollywood sign and I LOVE OUR LIL TRIO. I LOVE MY CO-PARENTS SO SUPER MUCH HEHEHEH. IZZY SOOO PERF AND SWAG. Additionally, I also enjoy going to northern cafe in Westwood with izzy. I went with her twice now and the second time we used some of her assassins mula to get our din din. So yummy in my tummy. I also think that pledging was an interesting way to learn how to manage multiple tasks. For example, we have to make our paddles while going through hell week. I am looking forward to finishing up my paddles with my fellow pledge brothers. I am so excited to show my amazeball paddle to David. I worked hard on his paddle and I am super proud of the turnout so far. I think that it turned out really really well and I hope that he loves it. I really like all the colors and the design and I can’t wait to see his reaction. Overall, the pledging process has brought me such great relationships and friends. I know that I can always count on my pledge brothers and bigs to help me out with anything that I may need. I feel like I have made great friends and have met genuine people who have my best interest at heart. I am looking forward to making new memories with them. I am looking forward to banquet and meeting future pledge classes. I think that our pledging quarter has taught everyone a lot, not just us pledges but as people. And I will forever remember this entire journey from beginning to end.
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Post by alizanovoa on May 27, 2022 6:52:38 GMT
This quarter I started of as hopeful. I was so excited that I was almost done with school where I can just relax and have a good time. During the rush process, I knew that I had to be optimistic about the whole process and I walked in nervous. I had not put myself out there here at UCLA before. I was the most confident I had been because when speaking to everyone it came naturally. So when I got past coffee chats and the interview I was still very excited to be here. Once at retreat, I was still blind to the patterns of the organization it self so all the challenges were still getting to me. I am not the best at hiding emotions so people will know that I am stressed just based on how I react to things. Throughout the rest of the process I just be came really tired. Which is probably one of the reasons why my motivation went down. I am so grateful to be one of the few that got chosen. I am still learning to navigate the pledge process and hopefully it will be make me a good active IF AND WHEN I CROSS. I think this week specifically taught me what I am looking for in a brotherhood and an organization and it is hard to say how I totally feel but I am unsure right now. I think this was a experience that needed to happen. I am so happy to have met a friend like Leslie and Faith because truly was the reason I stayed so long. Early in the process they were the ones I talked to the most. I am also so grateful for my big because she had to go through the emotional roller coaster I put her through and she always just wanted the best for me. My A big has also been a huge support so just having her check up on me so was nice. I simply could not have done this without Aya or chanel. I am looking forward to tomorrow because it will be the first time I am done with everything. I also appreciate all my pledge brothers because they made it worth staying as well. Staying up late to work on mock trial, music video, and the pyrmid was always a good time spent with them. I wish I could have gotten closer to more of them. I think we are all unique individuals that worked good together. There is also parts in the pledging process where I wish I was stronger in a few areas of the tasks that we had to do. I think that whatever happens now I am still optimistic and glad this happened. Now I get to use the remainder of the quarter working on myself. I think that I am also looking forward to getting to know the actives on outside of being professional. Along the way I learned many facts about them that made excited to get to speak to them in the future. I am now just curious of what is next and what does it mean to cross if and when of course.
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and written final with Jonny jon jon poo my pbro. I was getting ready to BOOTS THE HOUSE DOWN and I went into the zoom ready to werk. however I was asked a question about my big's foot fetish which made me honestly so included because in fact I ALSO have one <333 it makes me so happy that elaine also likes feet<3 oh ya the pledging process afterwards we went to our written finals which was YUMMY I wrote wrote wrote like no tomorrow because I studied hard and was really slaying the whole time! Afterwards my delicious sexy adopted big Cia Evangelio gave me BOBA which was nummy and I sipped it soooo well and it was so incredibly delishyy :DDDDD I nuzzled my a big and skipped away! at night decided to WERK with jonny wonny wishy washy gaspary poo on my paddle which is slay.
To be honest (tbh is what that stands for) Yummy garlic knots is all I'm thinking about now. My silly a big really got me hooked on those delicious, fluffy, salty, amazing garlic knots. I hope that if and when I cross, the banquet will be just as yummy nommy.