To Two Glorious Years

During my two years at UCLA, I had been quite involved in various campus organizations. However, I still felt like I had not found that one organization that would make me want to eagerly wait for the next week just so I could attend meetings and work on events and programs with my fellow Bruins. After hearing about Bruin Belles, I thought I had found the one organization that checked all the boxes. However, after I applied, got in and went to our first event (Fall retreat) was when I was truly sure that Bruin Belles encapsulated everything I wanted in a college organization because Bruin Belles is so much more than just another college organization.

Through Belles, I have met some of the most phenomenal and incredible women who inspire me everyday to help and empower others. It was at Fall retreat when all the older Belles welcomed me and all the other baby Belles with open arms that I found myself part of a community that has played such an integral role in my college career. From attending meetings in the cute and classy Belle attire, to running around Disneyland in the pouring rain, to listening to powerful women tell their stories at the Women’s Leadership Conference, to playing soccer with little kids, to dancing the night away at Formal, and to just laughing our heads off, each fleeting moment has been a memory I will never forget. I have grown personally and professionally, I have learned to live selflessly and to always give, but most importantly, I have realized the immense value and importance of female friendships.

To my fellow Bruin Belles, thank you for two beautiful years at UCLA, thank you for welcoming me in, thank you for giving me a family of the most supportive young girls and thank you for being the lovely, strong and extremely admirable women that all of you are. Each and everyone of you is unique and special and we lead through service and through empowering those around us. To say my time in Belles has been amazing would be an understatement, as it has truly been sublime and I am so grateful to call myself a Bruin Belle!

Irsa Ashraf

Distinguished Belle

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What I Didn't Know

What I didn't know The morning after I got the highly anticipated call that I got into Bruin Belles, I found this bell (figure 1) on my dorm door: a door belle…get it? I can still very clearly remember the few weeks surrounding this moment. I wanted it SO BADLY! When I saw the Belles tri-fold at the enormous activities fair, I knew immediately that I needed to be a part of that community. On paper, it sounded like everything I wanted: a group of likeminded passionate women who did community service together and other social events. I worked tirelessly on my application and was so nervous for my interview that I signed up for the very first slot (Monday at 8am… yikes). I got the long-awaited call late on a Friday night. Yashvi, the public relations director at the time, told me that I had gotten in, and while still on the phone I screamed “I GOT IN!” to my roommate. My heart was beating so fast. However, I think if I had known what was to come, my heart would have beat so fast it

Finding My Home

My time as a Bruin Belle has been incredibly transformative. This exceptional group of empowered women has not only enriched my college experience but also inspired me to make a lasting impact on the world. Entering UCLA, I was eager to find a community that aligned with my passion for service and personal growth. Joining the Bruin Belles provided that and more—a warm embrace within the vast UCLA landscape. At the core of our experience is our dedication to service, from local volunteer work to impactful fundraisers. We take action, build connections, and create change within our community. Being a Belle has given me the opportunity to volunteer for initiatives such as dog adoption, environmental activism, food insecurity, education advocacy, and houselessness. Through volunteering in various areas of our community, I have found purpose and a newfound passion for advocacy. Additionally, BBSA is more than a service organization to me; we are a sisterhood that fosters leadership. The s

Stepping Outside my Comfort Zone

Spring Retreat 2023 was by far one of the highlights of my BBSA experience, for reasons I never expected. Throughout my second year in Belles I served as a Social DB, and for this retreat, was tasked with the job of heading the Activities Committee. A couple months of planning and preparation later, I was wracked with anxiety about being so in charge– what if nobody had fun? What if we planned too much? Too little? What if someone gets hurt, what if I screw up as a host, what if quite literally anything negative happens? It was a very rigid, unforgiving feeling, and I was then left with the personal expectation that I was going to get there and not be able to enjoy myself because of this pressure. I was terrified of letting anyone down, especially so because this was the first weekend retreat Belles has hosted in years. If anything went awry, I felt fully unprepared to handle it, but at least I could say I had considered the worst. I tried to take solace in that semblance of control,

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