I was fortunate to spend this summer at UCLA as part of the Bruins in Genomics summer program. Suppose you are more interested in the research side of things. In that case, I highly recommend you check that out under the projects tab, where I wrote about my summer research. This post is more about life at UCLA and all the great people I could meet.

I first heard about this program from Professor Vanessa Jonsson, my research advisor at UCSC. She told me it would be an excellent opportunity to get in the door if I wanted to enter biomathematics. At the time, I was unsure what exactly I wanted to do. However, there was some interest after working on research with Professor Jonsson. I also knew it would be my first summer after college. I gave this opportunity a chance anyway because I needed practical experience for any job. I applied, and a few weeks later, I got in! I was thrilled since I wanted to do my undergraduate degree at UCLA but was never ready when I had completed high school. So roughly in March, when I was accepted, I knew I would spend my summer in Lala Los Angeles.

Los Angeles was exciting for a few reasons. First, the city is iconic and pictured in the movies as this super sunny, lovely beachy city that produces the best movie stars. My favorite movie is La La Land, and that movie’s plot and presentation had me excited to spend my summer there. Additionally, as a sports fan, I was a huge Los Angeles Lakers fan, so that was another reason to look forward to the opportunity. Though they weren’t in season in the summer, just being in the city with the world’s biggest stars excited me.

Fast forward to June; truth be told, I was a little sad at the time. I had just graduated college, which is supposed to be the happiest years of my life, and it was very unclear where or when I would see some of the people I met at UCSC for the next time. Closing a chapter of your life is never easy because of all the precious times and memories you were able to make at that moment. So up until my flight to LAX, I was pretty down. However, as soon as I landed, the energy was just different. The weather was sunny but not burning hot, and the atmosphere was just on a higher amplitude. Los Angeles was filled with culture, and I couldn’t wait to start. One of my long-time friends at LAX picked me up, and he was kind enough to get me my first meal and drop me off at De Neve Plaza, where I would be staying this summer.

Once I got to UCLA, I met my roommate Saiyang Li. At the time, it was a little awkward, like it always is with new roommates, but now I consider him one of my greatest friends. We walked around UCLA’s enormous and gorgeous campus together, and I was at such a loss for words for how fantastic this summer would be. That night I met even more great people at the SPUR pizza dinner, and I knew at this point that summer would be great! I was ecstatic to meet people all over America who shared similar interests to what I liked, which was something so valuable. Usually, friendships stem from similarities, making it easy to speak and get along with them. But the network was just as crazy to me. During these eight weeks, we would be spending much time together. However, once the program finished, the thought of having friends from Puerto Rico, New Jersey, North Carolina, etc., was just crazy. This concept of meeting people around the world was not very new, but it was new for me to meet people around the world with similar interests. Also, a diverse spread of people made it even better.

As time progressed, we integrated into our labs and began work, but since I was so happy to be here, it made it feel like I was not working. There was never a day where I dreaded going to “work” because it was just such a healthy work environment. I liked having my desk at Engineering VI because it made me feel like I was a software engineer working for UCLA, a globally recognized institution. We had key cards and assigned server logins, and I felt official during my time here. On top of that, our office space was shared between multiple labs, so a good chunk of us was working in the same area. This made getting lunch together and spending time together on our breaks much better.

However, one of my favorite parts about this summer was the events after work. I did not consider myself a social person for most of my life, but I sort of absolutely changed that during my time here. I tried to meet all the bright-minded people and wanted to hear their backgrounds and stories. This was hands down the best thing I did this summer because I got to hear so many perspectives and lifestyles that all work for us. I am proud to say I am nowhere near my final “form,” so it was nice to hear about new things from new people constantly. So all this talking and socializing occurred during events planned by us. I made a substantial effort to plan events because I loved the camaraderie. I left my dorm room open to anyone, and almost every night, we would get a group of old and new people to talk about the most random things together. The laughs and memories we shared, even in such simple moments, were invaluable to me.

One of my favorite events from the summer was my 21st birthday. 21 is typically a massive year for many college students, and I was super excited to spend it in Los Angeles. My birthday was on a Monday, but that did not stop me from making sure to celebrate properly. After work ended around 5 pm, I got dinner with a few friends at Ami Sushi to start the festivities. After that, I ran a tiny little social event at De Neve, where I shared a toast with all the fantastic people I have met at this summer program. We all shared a glass of champagne, and I was super grateful to have a group of brand-new friends that accepted me so quickly.

Some other events we had on the occasion were going to various places across Los Angeles: Venice Beach, Malibu, Downtown LA, etc. Exploring Los Angeles was also just very exciting. My ambition, which I think developed during the summer, pushed me tp explore Los Angeles and what it had to offer. One of my favorite memories of this was going to an LGBTQ+ book store where we were given three free books written by LGBTQ+ authors. I was never really exposed to literature work from these authors, so it just added to the experience of reading their perspectives. It was gratifying to have gone but also to hear the experiences of those within the LGBTQ+ community in this program. I would say a good majority were LGBTQ+ which exposed me to a lot about their community.

The last thing I wanted to also write about was the valuable time I spent with Noelle Wheeler. It was safe to say she was my absolute best friend during this program. She did her bachelor’s at UCLA, so she knew a lot about the area and had a car. We shared the same lab space at Engineering VI, and to be honest, there was not a moment from the day I met her that we were apart. She was brilliant and just a fun presence to be around. There was not a dull day with her, and she was a big part of my summer. We explored a lot of Los Angeles together, ate lunch together nearly every day, and were just able to develop a lifelong friendship within this short eight-week research program. I was lucky to meet such an incredible person and share much of my summer with her.

Well, this turned out to be a lot writing. It is safe to say I still left off a lot of great things, but there is not that much space to write more unless I want to make this blog post into a full-fledged journal. I just wanted to thank whoever allowed me to enter this program because it honestly changed my life. I met the most incredible people, worked on some impactful research, and was the happiest I have ever been in my life. These eight weeks went by too fast, and I am just at such a loss for words that it ended so soon. However, I told most of them that this was not the end and that I would travel across the world to see many of them again. I also just wanted to give a special shoutout to all whom I alluded to in this story without actually name-dropping them:

• Osagie
• Victoria
• Anna
• Philippa
• Aahna
• Tiffanie

Thanks for making my summer unbelievably unique, and thanks for reading!