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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Imposter Syndrome and Finding Myself

The person I was when I stepped on campus 4 years ago is unrecognizable to me now. I came to college knowing that I wanted to be pre-med but having no friends or family following a similar path, I felt so lost in navigating my path on my own. I started college being terrified of failing. I was so naive and so desperate to succeed I was not taking care of myself. My second year was when I reached my lowest point. I was so depressed and lonely, I considered leaving UCLA. I did not feel smart enough to be there, I didn’t feel likable enough because I didn’t really have friends. Joining Belles in my junior year was a big part of completely transforming my UCLA experience. Belles was the first time I felt completely embraced by a group of people. It was the first space in which I felt like everyone truly wanted the best for each other. The people and the opportunity to help others were exactly what my heart needed at that time in my life. Service is something that is so incredibly importan

Finding My Community

Coming onto campus for the first time as a sophomore was especially daunting. Similar to most people, transitioning to in-person classes and dorm life was challenging. As I attended classes and other club meetings, I felt like I might have missed out on opportunities during the online year to reach out to people and make friends. Stuck with random roommates and no close friends on campus, I felt very isolated. This wasn’t the college experience that I had imagined. But then I started attending Belles meetings and events, and things began to slowly click into place. Bruin Belles is such a uniquely amazing community where everyone is passionate about so many different things in terms of both academics and personal interests. The Belles community inspired me then and continues to encourage me to push the boundaries of my academic and professional pursuit, to put myself out there, and to carry a positive and optimistic attitude into all my endeavors. From volunteering at the LA Times Fest

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

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