37 Bruin athletes represent United States in World University Games

Team USA’s roster for the World University Games had UCLA written all over it.

The United States sent representatives for 15 sports to Naples, Italy to compete in the international tournament from July 3 through July 14. 37 Bruin athletes participated in different sports.

Team USA placed fourth overall with 21 gold, 17 silver and 15 bronze medals.

Water Polo

Nine UCLA water polo players traveled as part of team USA. Rising sophomore Jake Cavano, rising junior Felix Brozyna-Vilim, rising junior Evan Rosenfeld, incoming freshman Tommy Gruwell and transfer rising sophomore Sam Krutonog played for the men, and incoming freshman Abbi Hill, rising sophomore Ava Johnson, rising sophomore Val Ayala and rising junior Roxy Wheaton competed on the women’s team.

The women began the tournament with two straight losses to Russia and Italy. They rounded out bracket play with a 14-11 victory over China and an 11-9 losing effort against Australia. Hill said the team went through a rough stretch but regained some confidence from its better efforts.

“Bracket play was rough,” Hill said in an email statement Wednesday. “But I feel like we have some momentum going. I do very much believe that this team is capable of finishing out the tournament strong.”

In the round of 16 play-in match, the U.S. defeated the Czech Republic 25-5. However, it fell to Canada 10-9 in the quarterfinals, and wound up finishing eighth. The four Bruins on Team USA ended up scoring 36 of its 90 goals, including 16 by Hill.

“Having many UCLA athletes (on the national team) showcases how high the level of athletics is at UCLA and how much talent there is,” Hill said in the Wednesday statement.

The U.S. men’s team fared better than the women, running the table in group play by beating Korea, Great Britain, France and Russia by a total goal differential of 48 goals. It then defeated Croatia and Hungary by one and three goals, respectively, earning a spot in the final against Italy.

Team USA was outscored 7-3 by Italy in the first two periods and never recovered, falling 18-7. Cavano contributed 17 goals over the entire tournament, second on the team to Stanford’s Tyler Abramson’s 20 goals.

Women’s Soccer

20 members of UCLA women’s soccer led the U.S. in the Opening Ceremony and went on to place ninth in the tournament.

Rising junior forward Ashley Sanchez – who has played in the FIFA U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cups for the U.S. – was selected as the nation’s flag-bearer and the rest of her team was right behind her in the opening procession.

Team USA lost its opening two matches, falling 2-1 to host country Italy and by the same score to Japan, before bouncing back to defeat the Republic of South Africa 4-0 to finish out group play. The U.S. then faced Mexico in a match for ninth place, and secured a 3-1 win.

Sanchez, rising junior midfielder Olivia Athens and incoming freshman midfielder Mia Fishel scored two goals each in the team’s four games. Incoming freshman defender Brianne Riley joined Fishel as additions to the starting lineup.

Tennis

Team USA sent three athletes to represent the nation in tennis – and all of them were Bruins.

Rising junior Keegan Smith played men’s singles and mixed doubles with rising junior Abi Altick. Altick also played women’s singles along with rising junior Sophie Bendetti, and the two teamed up for women’s doubles.

Smith won three matches in his run to the men’s singles quarterfinals before falling to Khumoyun Sultanov of Uzbekistan, 6-1, 6-2. In mixed doubles, Smith and Altick won their first match, but pulled out of the tournament before their match in the round of 16.

Bendetti and Altick both lost in the first round of women’s singles, but Altick went on to win five straight matches in the consolation bracket, concluding with a 6-1, 7-6(6) win in the women’s consolation singles final over Vaidehi Chaudhari of India.

Bendetti and Altick won the first of their women’s doubles matches before dropping their second to Great Britain 6-4, 6-2 to end their tournament run.

Men’s Volleyball

Rising redshirt senior Brandon Rattray of UCLA men’s volleyball joined the U.S. men’s volleyball team.

The U.S. started off with consecutive five-set victories over Korea and China, but dropped its next two matches to Russia and Portugal in straight sets. Rattray played in the first three games and recorded 12 kills and a block against China.

Rattray said the high level of competition allowed him to learn more about what skills make players elite.

“I have been watching high-level, international volleyball here on this trip,” Rattray said in a text statement Saturday. “The best players are very good at mixing it up between hard shots, both cross court and down the line, tips and roll shots – it seems easy, but is a lot (easier) said than done.”

After the group stage, Team USA dropped three straight matches to Switzerland, Chile and Argentina to finish 16th out of 16 teams.

“USA Volleyball can elevate their game by providing opportunities for athletes,” Rattray said in the Saturday statement. “Offering opportunities to travel and compete like this is a great way to expand the skill level in upcoming players.”

Table Tennis

Isabel Chu competed for the U.S. table tennis team.

The recently graduated Bruin competed in the women’s team, singles, doubles and mixed doubles competitions. The women’s team dropped both matches in the tournament to Japan and Italy by a score of 3-0.

Chu lost all four of her other matches, two singles and one in each doubles competition. Even though she went winless in the tournament, Chu said it was an honor to help grow table tennis for the United States.

“I’m proud to represent table tennis,” Chu said in a text statement Wednesday. “I hope to bring greater awareness into the intricacies of the sport to the U.S. It’s now growing in the collegiate scene, especially with the help of the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association.”

Chu said the large UCLA representation for all the sports in the World University Games was really comforting.

“I was able to find some other Bruins during the Opening Ceremony. We did the 8-clap and it felt so nice to have a piece of home with me, even on a different continent!” Chu said in the Wednesday statement.

Swimming

Rising senior swimmer Erica Vong was the only international student-athlete competing for UCLA.

Vong represented Macao – an autonomous region of China – in the 100-meter and 50-meter backstroke. Vong won her heat in the 100-meter, but failed to advance to the semifinals or finals in either race, ending her World University Games run.

Taekwondo

Recent graduate Connor Wilson competed for the United States taekwondo squad.

In the -80 kg weight class, Wilson lost his opening round bout to Artur Baimatov of Russia 22-11, stopping his tournament run short in the round of 64.

Three Bruins contribute as Team USA wins silver at Volleyball Nations League Finals

A trio of Bruins played key parts in USA Volleyball’s silver medal performance in Chicago.

Recently graduated setter Micah Ma’a, former UCLA outside hitter Garrett Muagututia and Bruin coach John Speraw were chosen to represent Team USA at the FIVB Volleyball Nations League Finals from July 10 to 14. Team USA came back to defeat Brazil in five sets in Saturday’s semifinals, but then dropped the final to Russia in four sets, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20.

After compiling a 9-6 record against 15 teams in five qualifying rounds played internationally, the United States finished sixth in the overall standings – with the top six making the finals. As host of the finals, the U.S. automatically qualified for the finals regardless of its record.

“We played a really diverse set of lineups, mostly because we had already qualified,” Speraw said. “We got to take a look at some younger guys with less international experience, like (Ma’a). Playing with those guys, I’m really pleased we finished sixth.”

Ma’a started or substituted in 40 of 56 sets in qualifying, but during the VNL Finals, Ma’a only played in three of 16 sets. Ma’a said automatically qualifying allowed the team to grow and explore different strengths in the rounds leading up to the finals.

“Luckily, there was a lot less pressure because we received an automatic bid,” Ma’a said. “(The qualifying rounds) were good for the team to travel and get some games under our belt. Hopefully it helped the guys at home so they could rest up, recover and tune up their games.”

As one of the two nonprofessional players on the finals’ roster, Ma’a said it is key for players to understand their roles and recognize the situation of playing off the bench in big matches.

“It’s important to know your role in order to be able to do it correctly,” Ma’a said. “The guys on the team that aren’t starters and superstars, we said our job is to go out there and play the best we could. When the game is on the line, we’re probably going to take a back seat, and we’re all good with that.”

The U.S. began the finals in a group with Russia and France, last year’s gold and silver medalists, respectively. On Wednesday, Team USA defeated Team France in four sets and went on to dispatch Team Russia in three sets Friday.

“(The VNL Finals) are really all about getting guys back out there healthy in our full lineups,” Speraw said. “We’ve had a limited amount of time together (in qualifying), and we’re playing without some guys because of injuries. Working together and getting on the same page for the finals, that was the difference.”

Throughout the entire competition, Ma’a totaled 27 digs, 391 sets and eight aces. Ma’a is UCLA’s all-time leading server with 208 aces, and led the team in assists and digs in the 2019 season.

While Ma’a’s role with the national team wasn’t what it was at UCLA, Speraw said Ma’a made contributions to the team and will grow from the change in his situation.

“He was a starter for (UCLA) for four years, and now he has to re-earn his position,” Speraw said. “It’s a different role for both of us – he’s gone from being the senior back to the young guy on the team. That being said, he’s one of the best I’ve ever coached and deserves his spot on the national team.”

Besides coaching the Bruins since 2012, Speraw is also in his seventh year leading the U.S. men’s national team. He led the U.S. to a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics, as well as gold at the 2014 FIVB World League finals and the 2015 FIVB World Cup.

Muagututia, who played for UCLA from 2007 to 2010, ranked second on the national team in digs during the VNL, and led the team in kills, aces and total service receptions.

Ma’a said Muagututia has been a steadying force for him while he’s been adjusting to international play.

“(Muagututia) kind of took me under his wing,” Ma’a said. “He’s also (a) Bruin and Polynesian, so he’s been helping me every step of the way. Whether it’s advice in timeouts or talking on the court, he’s been giving me great pointers, and at 31 he’s been doing this a lot longer than I have.”

After the six weeks of the VNL, the national team will play in a tournament to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in August. Speraw said the unusual summer schedule altered which players and lineups many of the teams used during the VNL.

“It’s a real grind, five weekends in a row and then the finals,” Speraw said. “A lot of teams are resting guys for the Olympic qualifiers in August. It was great for us to host (the VNL Finals) because we can get that rest in early, and work on our twofold goal – winning the VNL Finals and doing well in Olympic qualifiers for Tokyo in 2020.”

Former UCLA middle blocker Mitch Stahl was on the roster in qualifying, but didn’t play the last two weeks due to injury, and wasn’t named to the roster for the finals.

California student-athletes closer to getting paid amid NCAA, UC opposition

Senate Bill 206 is one step closer to becoming a law.

The California State Assembly’s Committee on Higher Education voted unanimously with one abstention in favor of SB 206, which would give California collegiate student-athletes the ability to profit off their own likeness, on Tuesday. SB 206 – also known as the Fair Pay to Play Act – passed 31-4 in the California State Senate on May 22 and would go into effect in January 2023 if approved.

The California legislature went on summer recess Friday and will not return until mid-August, meaning the bill will not be up for an assemblywide vote for at least another month. SB 206 would then get passed on to the governor to be signed into law.

The Committee’s 9-0 vote took place less than a month after NCAA President Mark Emmert wrote a letter to the Senate requesting the bill’s postponement. Assembly chairman Jose Medina claimed the NCAA was attempting to bully the state.

“I don’t take too fondly to threats to the state of California, regardless of where they come from,” Medina said to ESPN on Tuesday.

Emmert wrote in his letter that the bill would create interstate inequalities and confuse prospective student-athletes immediately after passing, despite the proposed deferred effective date. Emmert also threatened to bar California schools from participating in NCAA events should the bill pass.

One committee member, assemblyman Jim Patterson, abstained from voting. He said moving forward with the bill would heighten the stakes of a “game of chicken” between California and the NCAA, according to ESPN.

The NCAA is currently in the midst of its own internal study on monetizing student-athlete name, image and likeness – or NIL – rights, and is scheduled to release its initial findings in August and a final report in October. The assessment does not cover the issues of agents and scholarship protections like SB 206, and Emmert claims the bill would compromise the NCAA’s study.

On the national stage, North Carolina Rep. Mark Walker introduced the Student-Athlete Equity Act in March. His legislation would revoke the NCAA’s tax-exempt status if Emmert refuses to give student-athletes the right to their own NIL rights.

The University of California and California State University systems have both released statements in opposition to SB 206.

Incoming women’s tennis player claims girls’ doubles title at Wimbledon

A Bruin was crowned doubles champion at arguably the most prestigious and historic tournament in the world of tennis.

Rising UCLA women’s tennis freshman Abigail Forbes and her parter Savannah Broadus claimed the girls’ doubles title at Wimbledon – a Grand Slam tournament held annually during the summer at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. While the tournament’s ladies’ and gentlemen’s draws are most widely watched, the tournament also includes junior competition.

From UCLA men’s tennis, rising sophomore Govind Nanda entered the boys’ doubles draw.

Forbes and fellow American Broadus won the doubles title Sunday, defeating Latvia’s Kamilla Bartone and Russia’s Oksana Selekhmeteva by a score of 7-5, 5-7, 6-2. Forbes and Broadus won 75% of points on their first serve on their way to the victory.

The pair was unseeded in the draw, but defeated seeded teams on two different occasions as they advanced to championship weekend. In their quarterfinal round, Forbes and Broadus triumphed over the No. 2-seeded pair Anastasia Tikhonova and Alina Charaeva 6-7 (3), 6-3, 9-7.

Forbes is listed as a Blue Chip recruit by the Tennis Recruiting Network. Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, Forbes was ranked No. 5 in her recruiting class and is set to join the Bruins in the fall, coming in as the women’s team lost three starters to graduation.

Nanda and partner Liam Draxl of Canada were seeded No. 7 and advanced through four rounds of play to reach the final Sunday, where they faced the No. 1-seeded team from the Czech Republic, Jonas Forejtek and Jiri Lehecka.

Nanda and Draxl were defeated in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. In a match that lasted one hour and 13 minutes, Forejtek and Lehecka captured three of four break point opportunities.

En route to the final, Nanda and Draxl did not drop a set. In the quarterfinals, the pair upset the No. 2 seed – Shintaro Mochizuki and Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune – 6-3, 7-5.

With the Bruins, Nanda posted a 12-12 doubles record, playing mostly with rising redshirt junior Connor Rapp. Nanda also won the Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship with UCLA men’s tennis assistant coach Rikus De Villiers in February.

Nanda, who turns 19 in February, will be unable to participate in junior Grand Slam tournaments next year.

NBA Summer League seasons come to an end for former Bruins

Jaylen Hands made it onto an NBA highlight reel – just not the way he might have envisioned it.

The former Bruin guard took a tumble to the floor in the second quarter of the Brooklyn Nets’ opening NBA Summer League playoff game Saturday after Detroit Pistons guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk stopped on a dime, broke Hands’ ankles and drained a 3-point shot from the wing.

The Nets went on to win the game, advancing to the semifinals of the NBA Summer League tournament. In Hands’ first four summer league games, he averaged 11 minutes and 5.5 points per game while shooting 30.8% from the field and 11.1% from long range.

After he sat out the game against the Croatian national team July 7, Hands came off the bench for 12 minutes against the Washington Wizards the next day, scoring four points on 0-of-4 shooting from deep.

In Brooklyn’s next game against the Orlando Magic, Hands also played just 12 minutes, though his six points led the Nets’ bench. Three of his points came from beyond the arc, good for Hands’ first NBA 3-pointer of the summer league after missing on seven attempts in his previous two games.

Brooklyn was seeded No. 7 out of eight qualifying teams in the Summer League tournament following its three wins against Croatia, Washington and Orlando.

In the Nets’ quarterfinal matchup against Detroit, Hands played a total of five minutes, in which he went 2-of-4 from the field and added an assist.

With their 105-85 win over the Pistons on Saturday, the Nets advanced to play the Minnesota Timberwolves in the semifinals Sunday night.

Against Minnesota, Hands tallied eight minutes and four points, going 1-of-6 from the floor and missing both 3-pointers attempted in the game. The Nets were defeated by the Timberwolves 85-77, ending the Nets’ Summer League season.

Houston Rockets center Moses Brown – the Bruins’ former starting center – made his professional debut July 6 against the Dallas Mavericks, but he spent just two minutes on the floor. In Houston’s final four games, Brown did not take the court despite being in uniform.

The Rockets did not make the Summer League bracket, so Brown’s run with the Summer League team came to an end Saturday.

Former Bruin wing Kris Wilkes was kept off the New York Knicks Summer League roster due to an illness. New York tallied a 2-3 record in Summer League play, but failed to advance to the playoff bracket.

High number of sleep deprivation cases and complications go underreported

This post was updated July 15 at 10:18 a.m.

After spending most of the previous night writing an essay, Kristen Ventura found herself struggling to stay awake during her 9:30 a.m. class.

“It was really hard to focus on what the professor was saying,” said Ventura, a rising fourth-year communication student. “It was almost as if I didn’t go to that lecture.”

About 64% of college students report feeling tired or sleepy during at least three days of the week, according to a fall 2018 research survey by the American College Health Association.

Despite the large percentage of cases similar to Ventura’s, sleep deprivation and its health consequences are often underreported, said Alon Avidan, vice chair of the neurology department and director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center.

The Sleep Disorders Center researches causes and treatments for sleep disturbances. Avidan studies the effects of sleep disturbances on underlying neurological disorders and focuses on educating the public and professionals about sleep deprivation.

“Many people are able to resist and go on with their lives, but have no idea that what they are doing is actually harmful,” Avidan said. “It’s like constantly being at a blood alcohol level in the range of being illegal.”

As a student, Ventura said she feels that academic expectations may be one reason why sleep deprivation is not taken seriously.

“It’s a weird thing because people like to wear their sleep deprivation like a badge of honor … just to show that they’re dedicated,” Ventura said.

People need at least seven hours of sleep every night for optimal cognition and memory, Avidan said. Students who pull all-nighters to study for exams are likely to see lower scores because they’ll struggle to remember the material and make good judgments, he added.

Chronic or prolonged sleep deprivation compounds cognitive impairments with physiological health risks, such as diabetes, obesity, heart issues, depression and impaired immunity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One may even develop symptoms of narcolepsy and experience sleep paralysis and hallucinations, Avidan said.

Another risk of chronic sleep deprivation is the development of delayed sleep phase circadian rhythm disorder, or a mismatch between one’s sleep pattern and the environment, Avidan said. This can make it difficult for students to wake up in time for their morning classes.

“Instead of waking up and going to bed within the sleep time in Los Angeles, their circadian rhythm is in Honolulu,” Avidan said.

Avidan suggested some measures students can take to improve their ability to sleep well. For example, electronic screens emit blue light that disrupts users’ circadian rhythms, so students should avoid using them from 9 p.m. onward, he said.

While “night modes” on phones lower brightness and claim to filter blue light, they are ineffective, he added.

Sleep-deprived students should take a strategic 15- to 20-minute power nap between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and return to a regular sleep schedule. Caffeine is a poor replacement for sleep because of its tendency to cause addiction, irritability and anxiety, Avidan said.

Those who find it difficult to voluntarily fall asleep should consult a physician, Avidan said.

Although many students know the costs of sleep deprivation, several said they struggle to maintain a regular sleep schedule on top of their other commitments, especially school, work or extracurriculars.

Josh Moon, a rising fourth-year philosophy student, said he has difficulty finding enough time for sleep because he commutes from Irvine to UCLA, and works 15 to 20 hours at his family’s restaurant.

“I always do my homework late at night because I just can’t wake up and get to work immediately,” Moon said. “But sometimes, I’ll just put it off until tomorrow because I almost crashed on the way home.”

Moon said he thinks a lack of personal time management skills are partly to blame for the high rates of sleep deprivation he sees among his peers. However, he added he thinks personal and environmental factors can also make it difficult for students to form and maintain good sleep habits.

“Even the most diligent students that I know, they still don’t get enough sleep as they want,” Moon said.

Naomi Raal, a rising fourth-year geography and environmental studies student, said her sporadic insomnia worsened a small extent after she transferred to UCLA. She said the fast pace at UCLA makes it difficult to schedule enough time for sleep.

“Most of the people I know here are either involved with clubs or they have a job or internship,” Raal said. “It’s unrealistic to expect people to take no downtime.”

Raal said she knows resources such as Counseling and Psychological Services might help with time management and sleep deprivation. However, she said she thinks many resources are not well-known or accessible.

“I have some friends that wanted to use CAPS, and I wanted to use it too, to talk about my insomnia, but the waitlist is often pretty long and you’re only allowed a few visits,” Raal said.

Moon said he thinks UCLA can do more to help sleep-deprived students by offering sleep pods or reclining chairs with domes to block out light. He said this would be useful for commuters that often spend most of their day on campus and need a space to nap.

“Sleeping pods would be amazing,” Moon said. “I don’t really have anywhere to just take a nap on campus, so sometimes it’ll be in my car.”

Ventura said the quarter system makes time management more difficult, especially around midterms and finals season. A semester system would help spread out the workload, she said.

“When I was at community college, I was not nearly as sleep deprived as I am here,” Ventura said. “I had more time to actually engage with the material, rather than just cram for it.”

 

Students participate in growing protests against Hong Kong’s extradition bill

Despite having final exams the next day, Jessica Ho and Heulwen Leung still took to the streets of Los Angeles on June 9 to call for the preservation of democracy in their home city of Hong Kong.

This would be the first of many protests that Ho, a rising fourth-year sociology student, and Leung, a rising third-year political science student, would participate in as they joined hundreds of thousands of people worldwide in protesting a controversial extradition bill in Hong Kong.

The extradition bill would allow criminal suspects from Hong Kong to be handed over to the jurisdiction of places it does not have formal extradition agreements with, such as Taiwan and mainland China.

Hong Kong citizens suspected of committing crimes in such places are currently unable to stand trial in those places or in Hong Kong, and proponents of the bill argue the legislation is a way to bring justice to criminal suspects caught in such a limbo, according to the New York Times.

However, opponents have expressed concern the bill would become a tool for political persecution by allowing the Chinese government to target critics of the Chinese Communist Party. Many view this as an attempt to encroach on Hong Kong’s democratic rights and political and legal independence, Leung said.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who is backed by the Chinese government, first introduced the bill in April, drawing immense local and international opposition that culminated in a wave of mass protests in Hong Kong and around the world throughout June and July as people called for the withdrawal of the bill.

After news of the first mass protest in Hong Kong broke June 9, Ho and Leung participated in a solidarity rally in Downtown Los Angeles the same day. The rally was organized by Hong Kong Forum, Los Angeles, an organization that advocates for democratic development in Hong Kong, said Gabriel Law, a UCLA alumnus and spokesperson for the organization.

At least 800 people participated in the rally, during which protesters chanted slogans like “No extradition to China” and gave short speeches, said Law, who graduated from UCLA in 1995. Several of the speakers broke down crying on stage, he added.

“It was very emotional to some of them because what is happening in Hong Kong is something that we never imagined would be happening, where we truly have to fear for our way of life, about the imminent possibility of loss of freedom, about how insensitive the government is to our demands,” Law said.

Ho had not planned to return to Hong Kong until later in the summer. However, after she saw videos of violent confrontations between Hong Kong police and peaceful protesters during the June 12 protests, she immediately booked a last-minute flight to Hong Kong and flew over on June 15 to take part in the movement.

Ho landed just in time to participate in the June 16 protest, which was the third mass protest and largest against the extradition bill. Hundreds of thousands of people spilled onto and shut down several streets, which became so congested that Ho was stuck for four hours in an area she would normally have been able to walk through in 10 minutes.

Protestors called for the withdrawal of the extradition bill and for Lam to resign from her position as chief executive, in addition to denouncing the violent actions of the Hong Kong police during the June 12 protest, Ho said.

Leung also flew back to Hong Kong just in time to participate in the June 16 protest. She landed in Hong Kong at 7 p.m. the day of the protest, and began marching only two hours later until 1 a.m.

She said she was shocked to see how packed the streets and bridges remained, even at such late hours, and was touched to see the demonstration remain peaceful, despite its massive size.

“Two million of us showed up, but not a single window was broken,” she said. “The whole protest was as peaceful as you can imagine. I was really surprised and touched that Hong Kongers can manage to behave such peacefully when we want to … force the government to respond to us.”

In addition to the massive crowds, Ho said she was astounded to see people of all ages take to the streets.

She recalled seeing a woman who seemed to be around six months pregnant, carrying a foldable chair and marching on the street in all black. Ho also saw many parents carrying infants while marching and toddlers sitting in strollers or walking with their parents.

Ho said witnessing this diversity among the participants was striking because it contrasted greatly with the demographics of the protests in Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement, which she had also participated in.

The Umbrella Movement consisted of a series of protests from September to December 2014, in which pro-democracy protesters called for the Chinese government to follow through on its promise to allow the people of Hong Kong to nominate and directly elect their head of government.

The movement was mostly driven by young students and faced criticism and opposition from older generations who did not agree with their methods or ideals, Ho said. However, she said she thinks the Umbrella Movement helped people become more politically aware, which helped foster greater unity among Hong Kong citizens across all generations in the anti-extradition movement.

“That’s a powerful moment to me because I feel like it’s not just me anymore,” Ho said. “Like it’s not just a scholarly, intellectual conversation anymore, and it’s more like a conversation that every person would have with their families and friends in Hong Kong. As long as you’re still living in Hong Kong, (the extradition bill) is an immediate concern.”

Lam announced Tuesday that the extradition bill is dead, but has refused to declare a formal withdrawal of the bill, leading to continued protests and rallies.

Law said Hong Kong Forum, Los Angeles, will continue efforts to raise awareness of the issue in the United States. Both Ho and Leung have continued to actively protest in Hong Kong, and said this experience has helped shape their academic and professional aspirations.

Ho had been conducting research on the politicization and mobilization of youth in the Umbrella Movement prior to the anti-extradition protests, but has decided to pivot the focus of her research to the increased cross-generational collaboration she witnessed in the current movement.

“I think it’s this kind of cooperation that makes me feel amazed about how people are connected this time in this movement, rather than diverted … compared to five years ago,” Ho said. “And this is probably going to be my research from now on.”

Leung said participating in the protests has reaffirmed her passion for politics and inspired her to pursue a career in international relations and diplomacy to help foster democratic development in Hong Kong.

“I think, as a political science major, politics is the most impactful and direct means to change,” she said. “I really care about the democracy situation in Hong Kong, and I really want to do something to fight for it.”