Bruin Belles Service Association: Blog

Bruin Belles is such a great organization for so many reasons, one of which is the incredible relationships that it produces. By bringing girls together based on their values and shared passion for service and women's leadership, Bruin Belles creates so many valuable lifetime friendships. While all of these friendships are important, and I do consider all 89 other Belles my friends, sometimes you connect with a person and know almost immediately that they will be a friend for life. This is what happened when I met Nicole, who would later become my big Belle, at the Disneyland social in my first year in Belles. We immediately hit it off and were inseparable throughout the whole day. Though I didn't see Nicole much in the next month (I blame finals and winter break for keeping us apart), I was ecstatic at our Winter Retreat when I learned she was going to be my Big Belle. Since then, I've gotten to know her so much better and she's become one of my closest friends tha...

There are a lot of ways to spend a Saturday morning but, in my opinion, one of the best ways is volunteering with Saturday Opportunities for Adaptive Recreation.   With SOAR, Bruin Belles get the unique opportunity to spend one-on-one time with kids with disabilities by playing sports, hip-hop dancing, or doing arts and crafts.   This Saturday, I played soccer with a group some of the nicest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.   Their determination and positive outlook in the face of each of their considerable difficulties was inspiring, as were their considerable soccer skills.   Each Saturday I spend with SOAR leaves me in awe and gushing to everyone who will listen about how amazing the experience was.   Needless to say, SOAR is a Belle favorite and I am so thankful for the opportunity this incredible organization has given me to expand my horizons and be an active member of my community through volunteer work.   My college experience has ...