“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”
But you can’t really. The good old days are what they are because they’re viewed through the lens of today. They’re a product of not just raw memories but also personal reflection—connecting the dots to add meaning to moments.
The other day my mom asked me, “What’s the biggest thing you learned in college?” I took a moment to think about it.
I remembered making each other feel special through birthday cakes and Smirnoff Ice’s. Being there for each other when the math homework’s freakin’ impossible. Keeping each other awake during a 36-hour hackathon. Having heated political conversations but then grabbing dinner together at Feast (a dining hall) after. Staying up together til 3 a.m. to finish that Daily Bruin project. Walking each other home after a wild party. Falling on my butt during Foundations dance practice but everyone still being super supportive. Crying together on the B-Plate balcony past midnight. Disagreeing about everything about how to run Nova but still striving to work together and, ultimately, enjoying each others’ company.
I also remembered the tougher moments. Learning to say no and set boundaries. Dealing with confrontation. Losing people’s trust or respect. Saying goodbye to good friends.
Through it all, I was surrounded by good people whose behavior I could emulate, whose advice I could seek. And these same people came to me for help sometimes, and asked for my insight, such that I felt like I had an important place in this world.
Thank you to everyone at UCLA for inspiring me to be better to those around me, while also being better to myself.
Thank you for bringing me along a highly stochastic path, but one that has me happier with who I am today.