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Post by ericrousso on May 5, 2021 22:32:14 GMT
Aneri Parikh Interview (5/5 @ 2:30pm)
I had a fantastic interview with Aneri. Currently, she is in Arizona, so she was telling me about her time there and what she enjoys doing. We also talked a lot about USAC, considering we both hold positions in different USAC offices (she works with the USAC office of the president). Additionally, we talked about what our plans are for after we graduate UCLA, and Aneri mentioned how she wanted to practice corporate law. We also talked much about the pledging process and how to manage the workload of pledging along with schoolwork and life responsibilities. Aneri also told me that she was passionate about studying foreign countries and the borders between them, which is something we had in common, as I am concentrating in international relations. Overall, my interview with Aneri was very productive, and I am excited to talk to her more in the future.
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Post by ericrousso on May 5, 2021 23:52:02 GMT
Taylor Han Interview (5/5 @ 4pm)
I had a lovely interview with Taylor! We started off by talking about how we were doing, and we found out we were both recovering from being sick, although Taylor has strep and had to quarantine for the past couple of days, which was sad to hear. She also loved our imitation video, and that got us talking about a lot of pledging things. She also told me about how she is involved with a consulting club at UCLA that specializes in helping firms meet their sustainability goals. She is excited for the club to move in person next year, and she loves the work she does because she gets to help companies be more environmentally friendly. We also talked about USAC and USAC elections, and we were both surprised about the level of detail behind USAC and the drama that follows USAC elections. She also told me about how she loves road trips, and the longest road trip she went on was from New York to California. I was worried that I talked a bit too much about myself during the interview, but I don’t know if Taylor feels the same and I still feel like I learned a lot about her. Overall, I enjoyed speaking with Taylor and I hope to get to know her more in the future.
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Post by ericrousso on May 6, 2021 21:03:29 GMT
Megan Hoang Interview (⅚ @ 1pm)
I really enjoyed talking to Megan. We started off by talking a lot about the pledge process and what the difference was between virtual and in-person experiences. Megan is one of two people in her pledge class currently not in Westwood, so we also talked about the general FOMO she may have been feeling by not being in LA. Nonetheless, she still made really strong bonds with her pledge brothers, so the feeling of being left out is not really a concern. We also spent some time talking about journaling, and Megan told me how she loves to journal, although she regrets not journaling more frequently. She thinks journaling is something to look back on in the future to keep track of how far you have come. Finally, we discussed our hobbies, and Megan told me she really is not that into TV shows or movies, but she loves finding memes on Twitter and exploring Instagram.
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Post by ericrousso on May 10, 2021 18:58:07 GMT
Lillan Lamb Interview (5/10 @ 12:15pm)
I had a really enjoyable conversation with Lillan. She was so considerate in meeting with me, as our schedules were very difficult to align, but she found time to speak with me and help me meet quota. Other than that, I loved talking to Lillan about her experience in Kappa Alpha Pi as a STEM major, and hearing about how she loves the social life of the fraternity and found it difficult to find the same energy in STEM clubs. She told me about how she wants to go into patent/technology law in the future. We also found out we have a mutual friend who went to her high school, which was incredibly interesting to discuss, as we are both really good friends with this person. Lillan also told me about her freshman year experience in the dorms, and we had fun discussing one of her roommates, who had some hygiene issues. Overall, I loved talking to Lillan, and I hope I get the chance to speak with her more in the future.
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Post by ericrousso on May 11, 2021 5:28:07 GMT
Anita Ramasastry Interview (5/10 @ 3:30pm)
Kylie and I had a lovely interview with Anita. We started by talking a lot about our pledge quarter, how it is going, and how it differed from her pledge quarter, especially considering she had many more people in her pledge class. We also found out that Anita is currently at home, as she felt incredibly sick over the past two weeks, and needed to be home. Anita told us about her current roommate situation, and how she will be moving into an apartment on Midvale next year, whereas she currently lives on Kelton and has to deal with an apathetic landlord. She also told us an awesome story about how she first started playing golf, where someone on the varsity golf team at her high school told her that girls don’t play golf. Anita took this as a challenge, and started playing golf and eventually beat the person that told her she couldn’t play. We also talked about our bigs and how much we appreciated them, and Anita told us how much she loves her little. Overall, we shared lots of laughs, and I really enjoyed conversing with Anita!
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Post by ericrousso on May 11, 2021 5:28:21 GMT
Max Dalton Interview (5/10 @ 5pm)
My interview with Max has been one of my most interesting thus far. We talked a lot about her plans for after she graduates from UCLA, and I found it fascinating that she either wants to work for the CIA or FBI when she graduates. However, she has been having difficulty incorporating her plans for law school into the mix. Additionally, I learned much about her high school experience, as she went to the only high school in the country where sports were prioritized as equally as regular school. Basically, over the summer, she did regular schoolwork (albeit an extremely small class size and the same teachers every year). Over the winter, she trained and ski raced in multiple countries. Ultimately, she ended up getting multiple D1 offers to play rugby at a variety of schools. Overall, I had a very fun conversation with Max, and I am excited to learn more about her in the future.
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Post by ericrousso on May 11, 2021 18:07:15 GMT
Carter Walling Interview (5/11 @ 9:30am)
I had a wonderful interview with my grand adopted big (?), Carter. After a fairly long email chain, and a strenuous buildup of hype on the part of my adopted big, Peter, it felt good to finally be able to meet Carter one on one. We started talking a lot about our family lineage, and Carter’s relationship with his adopted little, Peter. It was fun to hear about how they first started talking to each other during rush, and when it came time for Peter to interview Carter, they had accrued quite a long chain of complicated emails. Aside from that, we also talked about Carter’s love for golf, which has earned him many accolades. Additionally, Carter has professional experience working for the Los Angeles DA’s office, which was interesting to hear about. Unfortunately, as a result of this work, Carter had to get working on a project, and we were not able to discuss much more. However, I am looking forward to future conversations I may have with Carter, and learning more about him from Peter.
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Post by ericrousso on May 11, 2021 20:07:46 GMT
Loren Sim Interview (5/11 @ 12:30pm)
Loren and I had a great conversation. We started off by talking about what she loves about Kappa Alpha Pi. We have a shared experience in that we are both first years at UCLA, except she is a transfer student and has also never had the opportunity to meet people on campus. However, the fraternity has provided her with an amazing opportunity to become incredibly close with other students, and she absolutely loves the social aspect of it. We also talked about books, as Loren is an avid reader and loves to spend her time reading. She also enjoys being outside and hanging out with her friends, which we definitely had in common. Overall, I had a great time talking to Loren, and I hope to speak with her again in the future.
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Post by ericrousso on May 11, 2021 20:59:44 GMT
Caroline Hsu Interview (5/11 @ 1:15pm)
I loved talking to Caroline! I already knew quite a bit about her, considering she is the one that told me I should come to rush in the first place. However, because of the pledge/active boundary, I have been unable to speak with her since I first accepted my bid. Anyways, it was nice to catch up with her! She told me about how she recently went home for a tennis match (which she won), and has just returned to Westwood. She also just moved to Westwood in general at the start of Spring quarter, and she is loving it, especially because of the friends she made as a result of joining Kappa Alpha Pi. We talked a lot about our USAC experiences and the friends we made along the way, as well as the recent elections and who we voted for. Caroline also updated me on her latest travel plans, as she plans to go to Yosemite over the summer with her friends. Overall, I had an amazing time catching up with Caroline, and I am excited to converse with her more in the future.
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Post by ericrousso on May 12, 2021 23:25:02 GMT
Adrian Pagan Interview (5/12 @ 3pm)
I had a great time talking with Adrian. We started off by talking about pledging and updating him with how things were going. He also went over the Sophie’s place to do laundry because he will be going to a Dodgers game later today. When he got back to his palace, we talked a lot about military history, as that is something Adrian is very passionate about. He told me many interesting stories about World War I and World War II, which was fun (if that’s the right word) to hear. We also have a shared interest in Marvel, so we spent some time talking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe and comparing it to the continuity of the Star Wars films. We wrapped up our conversation by talking about interesting conspiracy theories and more military history. It was fun to talk with Adrian, and I hope to be able to speak to him again soon.
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Post by ericrousso on May 16, 2021 22:33:31 GMT
Jessica Cen Interview (5/15 @ 6pm)
I had a great interview with Jessica. We started off by talking about her role as membership education co-director, and how she came to be in charge of membership education and why she decided to do it. I also talked with her about her position as a legal assistant for a law firm, and she gave me some incredibly helpful advice on where to look for law internships and how to get a job. We also found out that we both volunteered for the American Cancer Society, and talked more about her involvement at UCLA outside the fraternity. She has held numerous internships and volunteer positions in the past, and was very communicative and helpful towards me. I loved talking to Jessica, and we are lucky to have her as our membership education director.
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Post by ericrousso on May 17, 2021 22:36:48 GMT
Ricky Fu Interview (5/17 @ 2:30pm)
I really enjoyed having a conversation with Ricky. We found out that his roommate is one of my good friends from an internship I did with the USAC IVP office Fall Quarter, so he showed me him and we said hi. Ricky then told me about what it was like pledging a social fraternity (Lambda) and a professional fraternity (Kappa Alpha Pi) at the same time. He showed me his planner from Week 7 last quarter and Week 7 this quarter, noting that he had much more free time this quarter considering he recently wrapped up pledging for Lambda. We also talked about how Ricky has Candian citizenship but currently lives in New Jersey, and talked about the East coast for a bit considering I am from New York. We then talked about what it is like to live so far away from home, at which point Ricky mentioned how he did not want to return home when he was supposed to because he finally had enough free time to enjoy Westwood. Finally, we concluded by getting our hopes up for a return to normal following COVID, especially considering the rate of vaccinations. Overall, I had a great time talking to Ricky, and I hope to get to know him more in the future.
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Post by ericrousso on May 18, 2021 4:02:56 GMT
Caitlin Buckley Interview (5/17 @ 6pm)
I did another joint interview with Kylie, and this time we talked with Caitlin. It was so much fun, and I feel like I learned a lot about her. She told us much about her job, where she works as a recruitment agent for a law firm at Century City. She has been working there for the past two years, and actually got the job through a Kappa Alpha Pi connection. We also talked about her plans to move to the East Coast, where she will be taking a gap year before she plans on applying to law schools. However, she is nervous about what it will be like to live on the East Coast, as she was raised in SoCal and has never experienced anything different. Finally, we talked about her time as AVPR last quarter, and how she came about the position. I had so much fun talking with Caitlin, as she is overall a very energetic and humorous individual, and I hope to speak with her again soon!
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Post by ericrousso on May 18, 2021 4:03:30 GMT
Lefter Espinoza Coronel Interview (5/17 @ 5:10pm)
Kylie and I did a joint interview with Lefter. He was so much fun to talk to! He told us a lot about his experiences with the stock market, and how he first got involved at the start of quarantine. He seems really invested and passionate, so it was interesting to hear his opinions on recent stock market trends. After he graduates, Lefter would like to go into the military, although he is still considering becoming a lawyer. In regards to the specific type of law he would like to practice, he wants to work in reforming policy. He also told us how he likes to watch Youtube more than Netflix, with his main interests being videos about working out (which he loves to do; he left our interview by telling us he was on his way to work out with his girlfriend) and the stock market. Overall, I loved our interview with Lefter, and I hope to be able to speak to him again in the future!
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Post by ericrousso on May 18, 2021 4:16:23 GMT
Naomi Haryono (5/17 @ 8pm)
I loved talking with Naomi! My first interaction with her was actually before pledging began, as Kylie and I ran into her at a coffee shop. We then talked about how we are both from the East coast, as Naomi is from Maryland. We shared a lot of our opinions on what it’s like to live in California versus living on the East coast, specifically how (1) whoever said it was always sunny and warm in SoCal was lying and (2) snow is overrated. Additionally, we had some extremely hot takes on what shapes a person into who they are in adulthood, specifically how interactions between peers affect development. We talked about our own childhoods, and had a very fun conversation about old trends. Naomi was so fun to talk to, and I am excited to speak with her more in the future!
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