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Finding My Belle Family

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 that I know I can talk to about anything.

Big Belles and Baby Belles is one of my favorite Belles traditions because it makes our organization seem a little smaller by connecting you to your Belles "family," who are chosen by executive board every year. This year, I got to add to my family with my Baby Belle Faith, a perfect addition to our cute little family. What you do with your Belles family is up to you, but Nicole, Faith, and I have family dates a few times each quarter in which we eat yummy food and talk for hours. While it may not seem like much, the connection that I and many other Belles have with our families is really special, and the Big/Baby reveal during winter quarter is how many of us find our best friends at UCLA. I am so grateful to Bruin Belles for bringing me together with my Big and Baby Belles, and for helping me create some of the best friendships in my life thus far.



Katie Gilliland
Distinguished Belle
Second Year Bruin Belle

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