Skip to main content

Belles Through a Different Lense

    This year has been rough! When we're living in a world where it can be scary to go outside and to interact with other humans, it's hard to make and maintain relationships. On top of that fear, it feels like almost every aspect of our lives have changed. Yet the warmth and the love of Belles has remained a constant in my life. I can still feel the impact of Belles through the sweet messages, check-ins, weekly zoom meetings, and coffee chats because Belles has created such an incredible network of individuals! It’s almost as good as watching the sunset after Monday Meetings outside of Royce.

    I’ve found myself spending a lot of time thinking of the things I will be able to do once the pandemic is over once life returns to “normal”: when I can give my friends hugs, when I can see my grandparents, when I can travel to a new city, when I can study in a library (never thought I’d miss doing that!). But Belles has managed to find a way to continue offering such incredible events, a support system, and a family during a time where I feel like I really need it. You will see this in every blog post and hear this at every event, but Belles is truly made up of an incredible group of individuals that make this club more than a club. And the dedication of every Belle is what makes it possible for us to do my favorite thing in Belles: service! Coming into this school year after being home for seven months (how did that happen?) I missed the community service opportunities that I had and I was honestly nervous about how this would look in a virtual setting. I was also nervous to find out if Belles could make as big of an impact on the LA community as it did when we were in person.

    Fast forward ten weeks into the quarter and Belles has given so many opportunities to get involved with community service virtually. I’ve loved attending service conferences, having thought-provoking conversations with other Belles, supporting local businesses, and learning more through the Mobile Clinic Project. And those are just a few of the events I’ve been able to attend; there have been so many more amazing events offered through each pillar of Belles. This club has really shown me that each individual can have an impact, even virtually, so that we can keep each other and our communities safe!

    I can’t wait to be able to hug all of you again, blast music on the way to events, and watch the sunsets after Monday Meetings. However, I know that Belles will continue to make the most of the time we have to spend apart by making it feel like we are still together.


Kyra Fisher

Social Distinguished Belle





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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,