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Post by alexisp on Apr 15, 2021 4:37:21 GMT
April 14, 2021 So today was kind of a mess. It started off on a great note. I actually caught up on all my homework and assignments for KAPI and then the worse happened when I lost my wallet. It doesn’t bother me that I love the wallet per say because I know I can replace the items but it was the last thing I needed today and I hate myself because this could’ve been easily avoidable. So disappointed in myself for letting this happen but I guess the lesson of today would have to be acceptance and moving forward. I need to move forward in order to continue staying on top of things and not let this affect my other things which I did today. The social event today did honestly help because the one thing I feel like I could benefit from is just a simple mentor. I met so many great people today and I enjoyed getting to know them. It was so difficult choosing my big but I'm happy with whoever I end up with honestly because they all offer something amazing. When I talked about what happened to each of them, they were all very compassionate to me in their own unique and sweet way and I couldn't help but smile and feel at ease the whole time. One thing for sure I think I’m going to buy something to keep my wallet attached to my hip or something cuz I am tired of always losing it. For now I have to learn and realize that not everything is going to workout but I can still love forward and prosper.
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zzkhan
Junior Member
Posts: 72
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Post by zzkhan on Apr 15, 2021 4:53:33 GMT
April 14th: The past few weeks have been so draining, and I feel like a lot of it culminated today. I had a lot of difficult conversations last night and today, so I've just been trying to take a mental health break. I tried to journal and take care of myself, while also getting some work done. The Big/Little mixer event was so much fun, too, because now I'm just wondering who my Big is going to me and I am seriously so excited - it was so hard to rank everyone and I know I'm going to be so excited when I find out who it is. I'm also just really excited to have someone to help me ease into this organization better and honestly just make some amazing memories with. After the mixer, I joined a Zoom to talk to all my pledge brothers for a while. It was so nice to just decompress with them at the end of the night, all of us collectively stressed but having fun with our assignments. It makes me happy to see all of us really putting so much love and effort into this, I'm so excited to become closer with all of them and the actives. I'm so excited about the skit and song we are planning and I really hope it turns out well. I'm also just so proud of all of us for taking the initiative to work smarter together. Now, I really hope I'll have some time to myself just to chill and close my eyes because that's definitely something I need. I'm going to try to start journaling and meditating a lot more. I'll keep these posts updated with my progress!
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Post by emmyshaw on Apr 15, 2021 5:00:15 GMT
April 14: Today was pretty jam-packed. I had a lot of work to get through, but I think I'll get the knack of organising everything soon once things have settled down and bit and I've gotten used to everything.
Shocker, I went to my first class without caffeine in my system. Definitely a struggle. I then went to my labs/completed work and did some pilates and yoga which was nice. I then went to the Big/Little mixer which was really nice! I love talking to people and it's a nice break from all the other things going on. It was great to delve into further conversation with some of the active members, and I'm definitely very excited to find out who everyone's bigs are. I rounded off the night planning things for the next few days with my other pledges, and I think we have some really great things in store. It's so nice to get to know everyone better and I really like the dynamic of the group. I think we work really well together, and everyone is so easy to get along with!
Tomorrow, I again have many various meetings planned but I look forward to working again with all sorts of people. I'm also looking forward to getting some more sun tomorrow as the weather today was kind of overcast. I am always so much happier when the sun is out and I can just lie on the grass (lol). OH! I also listened to some pretty great music today which is always wonderful.
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Post by nathanklassen on Apr 15, 2021 5:07:57 GMT
Journal 4/14: Hello all, Reading the email this morning I was a bit overwhelmed with the number of tasks that needed to be completed. Even though my morning was stressful, my parents got donuts for breakfast this morning, which was very appreciated. This morning I also made a note to send out my interview emails, to give the actives I would like to interview ample time to respond and schedule the meeting. After I sent out my emails, I actually got a few responses from the actives, yet they were not what I had anticipated. The emails I sent out were not up to their standards. Thankfully, they each gave me insight on how to improve my emails as well as informing me that the membership education meeting tomorrow night will prepare me even more for sending out professional emails. Midday I worked on my schoolwork and revising my emails. The big/little mixer social was great! I was thrilled to get to know more of the actives in an informal setting. Although it came with its own stress, by ranking who our preferred bigs would be, it was reassuring to know we would have someone guide us in this process. Sadly, I had to miss some of the mixer as I had a different meeting to attend, but my WiFi cut out, so I was not able to participate in that meeting. Thankfully my WiFi was working again, allowing me to meet with my fellow pledges to discuss our different tasks. It served to both be productive and fun, as we were able to brainstorm together in a lax environment. Grateful to have another day completed. Best, Nathan Klassen
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Post by christianschellhase on Apr 15, 2021 5:12:33 GMT
Christian Schellhase Daily Journal Wednesday 4/14/21
I am a lot more tired today than I have felt in a while. It's about as first world as first world problems get, but it's also the truth. I got 6 hours of sleep (a lot for some, not enough for me) today because of how nervous I was about the interview emails. My nerves were well-placed. It was honestly rough getting back all of the no's, but the active members I received responses from were very clear in the areas they wanted to see improvement in, which I really appreciate. I learned information I had not known before about how to write professional cold emails, which is definitely a win. Still, definitely not an optimal start. Worked from about 9:30 to 12:30 on revising my email strategy, responding to the actives that replied asking for revisions, creating a LinkedIn (which I definitely needed) and Facebook (which I suppose might be helpful) account, and pushing forward with scheduling. I don't know how that took 3 hours, but it did to the displeasure of the schoolwork I set aside for today. I ate a banana (which, along with a couple of chicharrones, a Lindt chocolate, and too many altoids was my diet for today) and left my hermitage for the first of three times today. Got to work on the reading assigned for my sleep class (the irony of which I will reevaluate in next Wednesday's journal entry); thank goodness my TA didn't ask about it, because none of that information was retained. I wanted to sleep so badly during seminar, but I knew the minute I did he would ask a question through the poll and know I'm not listening. Again, I will evaluate the irony of wanting to sleep in a class about sleeping at a later date. I went to the big/little social, which was the most enjoyable thing I did today. It was really nice to talk with the potential Bigs and get to know them a little better. Shoutout to Carter for his presentation. The Xi's had a productive meeting afterwards to go over things we need to do in the coming days and planning everything out. I think I am a little culture shocked about how much interaction I have had over the past couple days after being isolated over the past year. Left my hermitage to get water and say goodnight to my parents. Political science reading will get done tonight. how late will that be? Late. Will I fall asleep in the shower? Probably. Am I excited for what tomorrow will bring?
Ride or Xi.
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Post by elainekim on Apr 15, 2021 5:18:21 GMT
April 14th: Today, I woke up just in time for my Asian American 30W discussion. I had a group presentation today on the week’s readings which went pretty smoothly. We had a really interesting discussion on topics like orientalism and imperialism. After that ended, I cleaned my room up a little bit and took a mental break for about an hour. I laid on my bed and relaxed while checking social media. I was on tik tok for about half an hour and then started on classwork that needed to get done. I watched a lecture for my gender studies class and took a small quiz for it after. I didn’t eat lunch today, which was sad.
Later, I joined the zoom for the big and little social event for Kappa Alpha Pi. I had a really great time getting to know all of my potential bigs in a casual setting where I had random conversations with all of them. All of the pledges sent in their big preferences. It was really hard for me because I was torn between so many people. After that, all of the pledges went onto a zoom together to work on all of our assignments. We got a lot of work done and planned out our social event, song, skit, and started our calendar photos. It was fun getting to know my fellow pledges more and have fun talking to them as well. I also got dinner from the dining hall towards the end of our call and there were really good mashed potatoes tonight. Before I go to sleep, I want to get the rest of my homework done and watch an episode of Avatar.
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Post by ericrousso on Apr 15, 2021 5:18:26 GMT
I was a little concerned about the productivity of my day today, as I anticipate the challenge of balancing pledge work with school work. I woke up around 9am, which felt nice because it was natural (no alarm). Then, I wrote up some emails to send out to actives for interviews. After the second email, one of the actives got back to me with some pretty intense feedback on how I should structure my future emails. This was quite jarring, as I did not anticipate such a rigid structure for our emails. I had planned to get work done after sending out the emails and before going out to lunch, but I really just spent the rest of the time sorting out emails and pledge due dates before taking a shower and leaving to go to lunch. Lunch was a nice break in my day, as I feel that every day, no matter how productive you feel you’re being, you need some time where school isn’t the number one priority, for once. Once I got back from lunch, I knocked out some LS7A work, which felt good to get done, even though I find the structure of the class incredibly confusing. After finishing that work, I thought I had a discussion at 5, but that discussion is actually tomorrow (the best feeling). With my newly freed hour, I went skateboarding on campus and saw Akunnia! I didn’t recognize her at the time and forgot to say hello, so it was embarrassing when I talked with her at the mixer. She was still so nice about it, and I’ll be sure to do a better job at pairing Actives’ faces over zoom with seeing them in real life. After the mixer, the other Xis and I hopped on a zoom call to get some much needed work finished, and set some solid due dates for ourselves. Now, I’m going to finish the night by watching a movie for my Musicology class (1930s Robinhood!). Overall, I enjoyed my day, and I’m hoping to wake up earlier and get to the gym tomorrow. My brother, who lives in New York, is coming to visit my apartment tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to spending time with him and my mom. Till tomorrow, journal!
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Post by hannasato on Apr 15, 2021 5:35:46 GMT
April 14th: My day originally started off on a bad note, I went to do my morning work out and was kicked out of the gym by my landlord, reaffirming my decision to move into the dorms or a different apartment complex next year. Then I headed down to my friend’s apartment again and began drafting emails to send to the actives for interview requests. I also tutored Colby, a sixth grader, for an hour and a half and helped him write a summary for his English class.
Later, I attended the Big Little Mixer which was incredibly exciting and I cannot wait to find out who my Big is. One of the parts I was looking forward to most throughout rush was getting a big and I am excited to get to know them. I also am looking forward to having someone to help me throughout the pledge process and give me advice about being a part of Kappa Alpha Pi and UCLA in general.
After the Mixer, the rest of my pledge class and I met to begin planning our social, skit, and song as well as debrief the information given to us the past few days. I was honestly shocked at how quickly we have begun to establish the brotherhood that Kappa Alpha Pi is all about and I can’t wait to see how it develops throughout our pledging process. Our Zoom meeting was definitely a great way to end the day, making me continue to look forward to future meetings and socials.
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Post by kylienakamoto on Apr 15, 2021 5:43:16 GMT
Wednesday April 14th: Today I woke up fairly early after getting only around six hours of sleep, because I knew I had a lot of work to do today and was already stressed with pledging activities. I read the Aftermath email from Christian, which really woke me up because I realized I had a lot of work to complete. I cold emailed five actives to interview. I received very helpful feedback from Ria, who was very sweet. I will correct my emails after the first Member Education meeting tomorrow, and resend my interview requests.
Today I was not very productive with schoolwork, but I am not too upset about it because I had a long day. I flew home because it is my boyfriend’s birthday this weekend and I want to spend it with him. The big/little mixer was super fun and I loved talking to all the actives. Everyone was so cool and had such a unique and fun personality. They were so welcoming and eased my stress about the pledging. I would be happy to have any one of them as my big! I also really appreciate the time Carter put in to organize this event, especially the Google Slides and pairings.
After the mixer, the pledge class met on zoom for a couple hours to discuss our assignments for the week. Not only was this very productive, but I felt like I got to know them all even better. Everyone is so great to talk to and I can feel us becoming closer already.
Tomorrow, I aim to be very productive with schoolwork. I will film my portion of the skit, which I am very excited for. I want to grind tomorrow so I have a lot of time during the weekend to spend with family, friends, and my boyfriend.
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Post by kylienakamoto on Apr 16, 2021 4:29:09 GMT
Thursdays are my busiest school day, so I am pretty exhausted. I still have some lectures and homework to do for accounting and economics. I am very behind on schoolwork because pledging has been a lot for me this week, but I feel like next week will be better. The highlight of my day was probably filming my scene for the Alpha Xi skit. Seeing the whole skit put together truly made my night; I feel like our bond is only growing stronger.
Our first membership education meeting was very helpful and informative. Lauren and Jessica taught us how to cold email, and now I feel a lot more prepared to email actives. They were so welcoming and made it clear that membership education is a safe space.
Tomorrow I have a lot to do as well. I need to catch up on schoolwork, as well as finish putting together the song that the Xi’s made. I also need to help my boyfriend prepare for his birthday party on Saturday. Finally, I have my first active interview with Ria. I am super excited to get to know her better. On the bright side, I don’t have class tomorrow, so it is basically the weekend for me. I have a lot planned this weekend that I am so excited about.
I am tired now, but I think I will go to Dutch Bros and get a rebel (blended energy drink) so I can stay up and do some work. I am going to my boyfriend’s house and we will do homework together. We want to spend as much time together as we can since I only come home every so often.
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Post by vidyapatel on Apr 16, 2021 4:30:54 GMT
April 15th: Today was a great day overall! Started off with a nice walk with my Mom around our neighborhood and because my siblings go to school I was able to do my homework and take classes from the living room. The morning felt super productive with the PA 60 lab, writing my PA 70 paper, New Voters calls, info collection for the interviews, and preparing for my portion for the skit! Once my sister got home she helped me film my portion and we had some nice laughs. My Mom made really great burgers for dinner and then I had class, did some homework, and then had Membership Education. The membership education was very helpful and eased some nerves about sending out emails and gave me confidence in writing them out tonight. I felt a lot of positivity today through messaging in our pledge class chat and the fresh air it really brightened my day. A week ago things were really difficult and I am really proud of myself. Also I have never laughed harder than when Zz showed us our skit so far! Overall progress I made today: PA 60 lab, rough draft of PA 70 paper, skit, and attending PA 70 lecture Goal for the night: draft 7 emails and submit PA 70 paper Overview for tomorrow: Sublime cupcakes shift in the morning, a few afternoon calls, Air Pollution assignment #5, send out all emails***, start inquiry application, and attend the inquiry specialist discussion. I am so grateful for the new friendships I am making and knowledge I am gaining- I feel so lucky.
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Post by ayacohen on Apr 16, 2021 4:34:13 GMT
April 15th: Today was a little less stressful than the rest. After really planning my days ahead, I realized that all the work I have to do is completely feasible; I just have to put my mind to it. To be honest, I haven't been used to doing this much work in months. I fell into such a depressive rut when COVID-19 hit, that I never gathered the energy to join any extracurriculars. Attending classes and doing what I had to do was not really all that difficult when I had nothing else going on. It was spring quarter when I decided that this would not be in my life anymore, and I'm so glad it led me to KAPi. Sure, the work is a little intense--but it motivates me every day to get out of bed, schedule every moment, and make the most out of it. No more lying in bed till noon, or watching Rupaul's Drag Race until 2 AM. As nice as that sounds every once in a while, it made me feel a lot worse every day. I am so glad to have these new tasks in my life with new friends to complete them with. Everyone is so funny and sweet!
Other than that, my boyfriend left this morning to go home. It was a little bittersweet, but considering that Westwood is less than an hour away from my hometown, I know that I can bother him soon enough. One complaint I have about today is that I barely ate anything because I forgot to buy groceries. I lived off of one donut and smoothie all the way till the Membership Education meeting. Note to self: never do that again, it makes you sleepy.
After the Membership Education meeting, my pledge brothers and I Zoomed and watched the skit we had created altogether. It was so nice seeing everybody bond with each other, and laughing over inside jokes we have already made three days in. Everything seems like it is going to work out just fine, and I cannot wait for the upcoming weeks.
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Post by nathanklassen on Apr 16, 2021 4:38:27 GMT
Journal 4/15: Hello all, Today I had a bit of a slower morning. The classes I have today are both about political science, and sometimes they can get a bit monotonous. The one class does not have any form of recording the meeting, which means I need to force myself to pay attention and diligently take notes the whole time. In that class, I also do my readings which ensures that I already know a lot of content covered. Right after that, I have my other political science class, but instead of attending, I meet with the College Academic Counseling department inquiring about whether or not it is an okay idea to drop that political science class. I came to this decision as I am currently enrolled in 4 classes, and this pledge quarter is also a good amount of work on top of that. I have a follow-up meeting with an academic advisor on Monday (as I met with only a peer counselor today), to plan out how I can still graduate on time and other related questions. My first interview was today and it went well! I am grateful that it was with Akunnia because we already have some rapport from rush week and the big/little mixer. I still need to send a thank you email for the interview, as well as write down a reflection for the email. With the later meeting for our membership education, I was able to sit down and eat dinner with my family, which was the first time this week. It was nice to have time to disconnect from all of my school worries and just have some time to relax with my family. Tomorrow I have another email lined up, and I need to send out two other emails in hopes of scoring the last two interviews needed to meet my quota for the week. Best, Nathan Klassen
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Post by elainekim on Apr 16, 2021 4:51:52 GMT
April 15th: Today I woke up very late around 2 pm because I went to sleep around 5 am. I realized that I really need to fix my sleep schedule since I could be a lot more productive if I get work done in the morning. I checked all of my messages and started working on rewording all of my interview request emails for Kappa Alpha Pi actives based on some of the feedback that I had received. Then, I went to my discussion for my political science game theory class and worked through a workshop problem with my TA.
I met with my fellow pledge brother Hanna to film our clips for Alpha Xi’s skit and song. It was really fun since she brought props and we kept messing up because we’d laugh. After we finished that, I got us food from the dining hall and we ate outside for a bit before we went to the first membership education meeting. In the meeting, it was really relieving that both Jessica and Lauren were very nice and allowed us to relax while we learned about professional skills. We mainly focused on email etiquette and it was really helpful that our activity was to write out a practice email. I feel a lot more confident in writing a professional interview request email now and am going to work on re-sending new ones to some of the active members. Right now, I’m going to take a shower and finish eating my dinner. Hopefully, after that, I won’t be too tired and will be able to work on the emails and the rest of my homework.
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Post by hannasato on Apr 16, 2021 4:56:02 GMT
April 15th: Today I woke up before 10 am which is rather out of character for me, but a nice surprise because I was able to send some emails for Kappa Alpha Pi and to set up interviews for the Daily Bruin. After that, I worked out and then walked to Trader Joe’s to get my groceries for the next two weeks. Since starting to pledge, I have not had as much time to cook so the frozen meals from Trader Joe’s have been a really convenient and honestly pretty tasty option.
I love grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s, it never disappoints. I also love giving my grocery haul so here it is: I bought a few types of fruit as I am on the LA grind and trying to be healthy, I also got some vegetables (all pre-cut because I do not have the motivation to cut them myself), almond and oat milk, and then around of half of the frozen food section. Since living on my own, I have spent my time trying to find the best frozen foods from Trader Joe’s because that is apparently what I deem a good way to spend my time and grocery budget. But here are my personal favorites: chicken tikka masala, orange chicken, edamame and carrot fried rice, chicken and cheese tamales, gnocchi, and chicken dumplings.
After I did the treacherous half mile walk back to my apartment with all of my groceries, I watched two of my lectures, continued to work on my article, and made lunch. I then went to my political science discussion and afterwards walked to campus to meet with Elaine. I was super excited to spend more time getting to know her and was also curious to see what the dorms are like, as I had never seen one. We filmed our parts for our song and skit and then went to De Neve for dinner. This was my first time in the dining hall which was also really exciting. Elaine loaded me up with food, giving me two slices of pizza, macaroni and cheese, a burrito, and a mousse cake. All of it was delicious and now I have enough food for dinner tomorrow which saves me a lot of time. I headed back to my apartment for the Membership Education meeting which was very insightful and helpful. I loved getting to know Jessica and Lauren better and appreciated their emphasis on Membership Education being a safe and supportive space. Then I hopped on Zoom with my pledge class for a few minutes to debrief and watch the skit we have put together so far.
Although at first I was not really looking forward to having to film a skit and song because I tend to embarrass myself with these types of activities, I loved the skit when I saw it put together. As a lot of actives mentioned throughout rush, Kappa Alpha Pi is the place to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, an idea which I am definitely seeing shine through this week. I am looking forward to getting to meet more of my pledge brothers in person and cannot wait to find out who my big is soon!
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