I grew up in a quiet suburban town, where the majority of my classmates went through the entire school system with each other. The only fun thing to do with your friends was to go to each other’s houses or to traverse the same restaurants that had been there our whole lives. Everyone seemed to know each other, and every backroad was well-traveled. Moving to a big city like Los Angeles completely flipped life as I knew it. Everyone in LA is in motion, there’s always something going on, and every day constitutes dozens of new faces. In the middle of my chaotic transition, I saw how different life was across the country, and how much opportunity I had to grow.Â
For the first time in my life, I felt like I had been thrown into a completely new whirlpool of people. No one knew me, and I was starting with a clean slate. In such a small town, it was easy to feel suffocated by the group that you had been with for the majority of your life. I’d never met such a diverse group of people before coming to LA. Quickly, my worldview began to expand. I met different types of people from all over the world, not just America. Aspiring artists, dancers, architects, doctors and more all come together at UCLA.Â
The combination of all of the different people at UCLA meshes into a work-hard, play-hard mentality. The quarter system makes it feel like everyone always has a deadline or a goal to work toward. You would think that between this shift from a quiet, slow-paced town to a bustling hub of people would cause me to feel the pressure more – and I can definitely agree to an extent. It feels like there is a constant expectation to know what to do. Surprisingly, though, I feel like I have become more mellow and laid-back since coming to UCLA. Maybe it’s the change from the stereotypical East Coast “uptight” personality to the West Coast “chill.” In my hometown, when it came to school, I would stress myself out and study until I saw lessons in my dreams. Here, I’ve been enjoying the process of learning significantly more.Â
It may just be the fact that I’ve taken AP classes and am relearning a lot of material, but I believe that a lot of this change is due to Los Angeles as a college campus. From the sunny weather (except for the random week stretch of rain) to the diverse personalities, I feel like I’ve been learning to really step back, relax, and reflect on the opportunity I have to learn in one of the country’s largest cities. The city’s energy has pushed me to grow, become more independent, and learn more about myself than I have in my hometown. Even in moments of discomfort and on days I feel like I can’t catch up, LA is full of inspiration and possibility that defines the college experience here.