When I look back at my first two years at UCLA, the differences between the two are immediately noticeable. By the time my second year was in full gear, I was more comfortable, doing better in my classes, and making memories that I knew would stick with me for a lifetime. This change in my college experience was no coincidence- it was a result of joining Bruin Belles. Freshman year, as it tends to be for many of us, was quite the difficult transition for me to make. Going from living in the same town for my entire life and having been constantly surrounded by family and friends to being on a huge campus over a thousand miles from home was something that I don’t know how I could have prepared myself for. That first year was a lot of trial and error- with extracurriculars, with classes, with my major- any and every part of my life felt like it was undecided and thinking about the future was a daunting task that I avoided at all costs. I often found myself questioning my decision to
This year, I was so grateful to have had the opportunity to serve on our Women’s Leadership Conference Outreach, Advertising, and Alumni Relations Committee. With all the changes this year has brought us, we had to find a way to transition our annual conference to be as engaging and impactful on our virtual platforms. Ever since the conference theme was initially announced, I began to reflect more on how I define the terms “interdisciplinary” and “allyship” and what these terms mean to me in my everyday life. During the conference committee meetings, I engaged with fellow Belles who had their unique definitions and perspectives of these terms which motivated me to think more deeply on how I identify with these terms. I realized that to me interdisciplinary education is much more than seeking out new information about different ideas and topics. Rather, intersectionality is the overlap of different cultures, races, socioeconomic status, backgrounds, identities, etc. (the list goes on) a