With its bright lights and busy streets, one of the principle
attractions of UCLA for students is its prime location ““
right in the thick of a ritzy Westwood community and basking in the
glow of downtown Los Angeles.
But some students, especially those from small towns or cities,
may find the sheer size of UCLA to be as intimidating as it is
attractive. After all, with a population of over 50,000 students,
staff and faculty, UCLA easily towers over many smaller cities
scattered around the nation.
Adjustment can be a problem, but students do have ways of
adapting. And while some people come in overwhelmed, many leave
with the realization that size doesn’t matter.
Campus organizations, events, parties and even just talking to
people in the elevator are ways students can chip away at the size
of UCLA.
“The best thing to do is to always be open to meeting
people and to get out, not stay in the room or go home all the
time,” said Lindsay Powers, a second-year psychology student
from Mt. Prospect, Ill., a city outside of Chicago with a
population of 50,000.
Powers, who went to a small high school in Mt. Prospect, said
she chose to attend UCLA specifically because she wanted to get out
of an enclosed community.
For Powers, the diverse selection of environments in the L.A.
area, from the grittiness of downtown to the gaudiness of Bel Air,
actually helped her to adjust.
“It’s easier to find your niche,” she
said.
Sean Gallagher, a second-year electrical engineering student
from Addison, Ill., a city of about 35,000, said that while UCLA
might be intimidating at first, the opportunities around campus
easily make up for it.
Gallagher added that he took advantage of clubs, concerts and
events at UCLA, in Westwood and Los Angeles.
“It’s good to get a lot of contrast,” he
said.
Gallagher and Powers met one another the summer before their
fall quarter through a UCLA alumni event in their area. Some
regional alumni chapters hold social gatherings for new students,
and both Gallagher and Powers agree that such events good ways of
networking with other new students.
No matter what city they come from, many new students feel the
impact of size on their first day of class, with many entry-level
lectures numbering in the hundreds.
Natalee Harrison, a second-year undeclared student who lives
between Pasadena and La Canada, attended a small private all-girls
high school where she was used to receiving personal attention from
her teachers.
When she stepped into the lecture hall on her first day of
classes at UCLA, Harrison said she felt that the size of the class
outnumbered the total size of her high school.
Intimidated, she sat in the back of the class and rarely talked
to anyone. However, as time went on, things gradually became more
comfortable.
“The beginning is always a difficult time, but by the end
of the year you’re not as nervous or self-conscious,”
she said.
Harrison added that she compensated for the lack of personal
attention from professors by talking to her teaching assistants
instead.
New students can also take advantage of some of the hundreds of
student groups on campus. These groups appeal to a broad range of
political preferences, cultural tastes, and special interests.
David Liu, a second-year communications studies student from San
Ramon, a Northern California city of about 42,000, said becoming
involved in a business fraternity and church groups played a huge
role in helping him adjust.
“Joining an on-campus organization forces you to meet new
people and put yourself out there,” he said. “And
it’s good because you’re working together for a common
cause.”
UCLA’s sense of a community within a community also made
the campus more familiar for Liu, who spent more time in the UCLA
area instead of the surrounding area.
“Every time I went out of campus, it felt real huge …
but on campus it felt like a small community,” he said.
But the best thing to remember, many students agree, is that
despite feelings of isolation and loneliness, many first-year
students are in the same boat.
“Everyone was in the same position here,” Gallagher
said, recalling his experience at orientation. “It
didn’t matter where you were from, they were all just here to
meet new people.”