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Post by nathanklassen on May 18, 2021 20:52:29 GMT
05/18 Interview with Chidi: I was looking forward to interviewing Chidi, as even though we do not technically have a family lineage, he is my adopted big’s big. Since we are from nearly the same area we talked about some of the things to do in the Sacramento area. I hope that over the summer, if I cross, I will actually be able to meet up with him and Megan as well as we are all in the relatively same region. One of the things we mentioned was fashion and how he wants to go to New York for an internship, which is the Fashion Capital of the US. I expressed that I am interested in fashion, but because I am frugal with my money I do not usually like expanding my wardrobe. It was a bit embarrassing asking to take a screenshot as my laptop is old and I need to press two buttons at the same time. I ended up asking Chidi to take the screenshot himself, which he graciously did.
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Post by nathanklassen on May 18, 2021 23:23:28 GMT
05/18 Interview with Ira: Although I was intimidated to talk with the current fraternity president Ira, the conversation went really well! It felt like we had been friends and were just catching up on what we had recently been involved with. I have actually gone to the high school Ira attended, Dublin High School, for a track meet and we talked about how the surrounding area and Contra Costa county is fairly well off. We then compared it to Orange County where people are especially affluent. This then got us into the conversation about law school and how there is the potential to make a lot of money, but it is difficult to keep up with all of the work as a lawyer. Both of us want to do international law, so we also talked about traveling. Ira has both a minor in French and a double major with IDS and Political Science and she gave me a lot of insight about those fields because I am thinking about adding both of them. It was a great conversation and I hope to talk with her more in the future.
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Post by nathanklassen on May 18, 2021 23:24:27 GMT
05/18 Interview with Luis: I was glad to get the chance and interview Luis. I had sent him a lot of emails to meet up, not only because we have a quota to fulfill, but mainly because Luis is involved with a lot of things I eventually want to participate in. These include UniCamp and ROTC. I am doing UniCamp this summer for the first time and asked about any advice he had or things to do while at camp. I also am thinking about joining the military and being a part of the JAG Corps through the Air Force. I asked about how he was able to be in ROTC at UCLA and how beneficial he thinks it was for his future career and managing it with his other time commitments, such as Kappa Alpha Pi. He also let me know that he has been very involved with the fraternity, serving in many different positions and is one of the last Alpha Thetas. I was very grateful that Luis set aside time for us to interview.
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Post by nathanklassen on May 24, 2021 6:41:50 GMT
05/20 Interview with Jessica: As one of our Membership Education instructors, I loved getting to learn from Jessica, as well as get to know her better. Jessica is from the Vancouver area, so you know I had to bring it up and prove that I am actually Canadian. She shared that she was not born in Canada either, but instead, she was born in New York and has some family there still. However, she actually has experience living in Vancouver, particularly Richmond, which is a city I know a bit about, mainly because it is where the airport is. I also asked what made her come to school in the states. Vancouver has a university called the University of British Columbia, where both of my parents went, and I also wanted to go there. She said that it always seemed like the best choice to come to university back in the USA. One reason I liked talking with Jessica is that she reminds me of my mom and my family in Canada as she says “tomorrow” and “resource” how other Canadians do.
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Post by nathanklassen on May 24, 2021 6:42:17 GMT
05/22 Interview with Claudia: Claudia and I had not met throughout the pledging process and I was looking forward to meeting her for the first time. One topic I mention with a lot of actives is traveling, and this conversation was no different as I loved hearing what she had to say about living and studying in Italy. Claudia mentioned how she knew very minimal Italian and that one of the only classes she was able to “communicate” in was math, which was very interesting, but makes sense as math is fairly universal. I discussed how she had become more proficient in this language and knows a couple of other languages too, and she retold the story of how she will be a bit more selective about saying how fluent she is in a language, as it can be awkward if you get quizzed on it. I wanted to know more about living on the East Coast and Boston, as my family often refers to it as the Evil Empire of sports. She owned this title with pride and let me know that she does her best to try and indoctrinate other sports fans that Boston is superior. My family has resentment towards their hockey team as they beat our hockey team, the Vancouver Canucks, in a Stanley Cup, but I said I was open to hearing some of her propaganda.
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Post by nathanklassen on May 24, 2021 6:42:55 GMT
05/22 Interview with Chanel: Talking with Chanel was very fun as I could tell our personalities were akin to each other. The one thing is that she is all of the things I aspire to be, yet we are the same age. We talked about her voyages to Europe and how she would like to go again, and how I have not traveled outside of the West Coast. Her experience is a bit limited, but the couple of European countries she has been to outweighs the zero I have visited. One of the things we were able to share was Pharisee, and although I do not speak it, it was my French teacher’s first language. She said that her parents speak it and she has a bit of resentment for them not making her learn the language, which was similar to my parents not making me learn German. Another similarity we had is our interest in reading. I am still stuck in my fantasy/dystopian phase for books, but I would like to branch out and she recommended a couple of books that are more mature. We also shared our excitement for living on campus for the fall and looking forward to the highly ranked dining hall food.
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Post by nathanklassen on May 24, 2021 6:43:24 GMT
05/23 Interview with Lauren: I was really appreciative that Lauren was able to make time for a quick interview as she had just gotten back from Hawaii. She had missed the last couple of Membership Education meetings, which was sad, but I am glad we were able to catch up and get to know her personally a bit better. On Thursday she was on a boat, so she discussed how beautiful it was and how depressing it was having to come back this weekend. I mentioned that Lauren has a fairly extensive LinkedIn profile and that it is a bit intimidating how my resume pales in comparison to hers. She said that she once was in the same boat and that eventually, these opportunities will find me if I continue to network and stay involved with organizations. When I was asking her about her plans for after graduation this quarter, she told me that she hopes to find a job and live in Los Angeles for the next year. She told me that she may get involved with corporate law for a little bit, but her main focus may be immigration or civil rights lawyer. I told her that I am considering doing international law and she let me know that at one point she also looked into this career path and subdued my confusion as it is a very specific career path with limited job opportunities. If I am able to cross into the fraternity, and we will both be in LA in the fall, I really hope I get the chance to meet with Lauren in person!
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Post by nathanklassen on May 24, 2021 6:43:39 GMT
05/23 Interview with David: I was really excited to meet with David as he was cool during the Big/Little Mixer, but we had not been able to talk since. One thing that we had in common was volunteering for UniCamp, and he and my big are in the same session. After discussing how I did not get the memo to be in their session, he reassured me that it is fine that I am feeling a bit apprehensive for camp as there will be some things you are not prepared for, and you need to think of things on the fly. (It reminds me of the saying “expect the unexpected” from Big Brother.) During the interview, he had received a book and we mentioned how we have been trying to get into reading more. We agreed that reading on paper is superior, especially when we are on our screens all day for school. Both being political science majors, he was able to give me some insight about lower and upper-division courses, and we found out that we share an experience with Professor Schwartz regarding his political affiliation, which was funny. David is definitely someone I would like to meet again!
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Post by nathanklassen on May 25, 2021 1:34:12 GMT
05/24 Interview with Carter: Carter had made himself out to be a very friendly person throughout the numerous brotherhood events he has hosted, so I was glad for the chance to talk with him and get to know him better. As a recent graduate, he had a lot to say about UCLA and the political science department. This was extremely beneficial as I have been having thoughts about switching my major. He also has invested a lot of time in studying for the LSAT recently, and he gave some advice about what works best for him. Carter let me know that he is pretty ambitious and would like to go to Stanford law, which I definitely think he can achieve as he is a hardworking student! I asked about his time playing golf and being a student in community college and any insight he would give to someone who wants to balance being an active member of multiple organizations at one time. Carter is a very funny person and I would love to talk with him more.
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