Skip to main content

Winter Retreat: Growing the Family Tree

As one of the main social events of the quarter, Winter Retreat is a night of activities that aims to strengthen the bonds within the Belles community. With everyone’s busy schedules and packed Google calendars, it can be all too easy to get swept up in academics and extracurriculars. Winter Retreat is a chance to relax for a night and enjoy some quality time running around (in onesies!) with fellow Belles. 

This year, the night kicked off with some classic games: we dashed around Wilson Plaza for Captain’s Orders, laughed through a UCLA-themed game of Pictionary-Telephone, and attempted to channel some Pitch Perfect energy for Riff-Off. My personal favorite activity of the night was the “Tap Someone Who…” activity, where you have a chance to anonymously show your appreciation for Belles by tapping them based on specific statements (e.g., “Tap someone who you admire”, “Tap someone who you learned something from”). It was a moment of reflection on how much the people in the club have impacted me, and reminded me of just how grateful I am for this community. 

Then, it was time for the eagerly anticipated Big-Little Reveal. This year, Belles received personalized cards with clues that sent them to different locations around campus. For each location, each Belle got a unique sticker placed on their card. At the end of the game, Big-Little pairs were revealed by finding the Belle with a matching pattern of stickers. Overall: creative, fun, and a great workout! The excitement was palpable as everyone finished up their cards and searched for their match, with squeals of delight and hugs in every direction. I picked up a Little this year, and could not be more excited to welcome Catie into my Belle family! 


As part of the Social Office this year, I got a glimpse at all the hard work that the board (shoutout to our Social Director, Aly!) puts into making these events happen. Ultimately, the goal of these events is to foster the sense of Belles community, allowing us to get to know each other as individuals and better appreciate the diversity of the group. For me, personally, this was a goal achieved! 

Claire Li
Distinguished Belle, Social Office


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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
Post a Comment
Read more

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
Post a Comment
Read more

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,
Post a Comment
Read more