If you’ve ever found yourself on the UCLA side of social media, you’ve definitely come across TikToks or Instagram posts and reels with titles like “Things About UCLA That Will Send Other Students into Shock.” For those unfamiliar, UCLA comes with its own set of traits that might leave students from other schools, especially those in Southern California or the Midwest, a bit stunned. Let’s break down some of the most notable traits.
For one, there are absurdly long lines for absolutely anything on campus. From waiting for food or coffee to just trying to pass through Bruin Walk, you will see large groups of people everywhere. Bruin Walk itself is an experience, filled with students promoting their organizations, fundraising and trying to dodge Andre, a campus character known for his iconic, “Can I ask you a question?” If you haven’t encountered him at least once during your time here, you simply haven’t been on campus long enough. Late-night food is another story altogether, with students lining up for over an hour at popular food trucks like Salpicón (acai bowls) and Smile Hotdog (Korean corn dogs). Late Night De Neve isn’t much better. The concept of standing in a line for an hour to get pizza might sound absurd to anyone outside of UCLA, but it’s somewhat a rite of passage here.
The student dorms are known as the Hill, which is not a figurative name. Our campus has a larger than average number of stairs and slopes, to the point where walking from campus to your dorm or vice versa can feel like a 30-minute endurance test. Even Bruins can forget just how huge our campus is. The difference in architecture between North and South Campus is a testament to UCLA’s versatility. Going from the more modern halls of the Anderson School of Management to the concrete walls of the Mathematical Sciences Building will make the difference brighter than day.
Living on the Hill comes with its own set of challenges, the most notorious being the laundry situation. Finding an available washer or dryer is a competitive sport. With roughly 14,000 to 15,000 students living on the Hill, it’s not surprising that the machines are often full or out of service when there are only a few machines available for hundreds of students. This overcrowding is also why UCLA is moving toward triple-occupancy dorms in the coming years, making the dream of a single or even a double-occupancy room practically impossible.
It is not uncommon to see celebrities if you are in Los Angeles, but it’s taken to another level at UCLA. With major movie premieres happening just 10 minutes from campus, you might just run into Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet or Sydney Sweeney during a casual trip to Westwood. Reputable films and shows, such as “Legally Blonde,” “Oppenheimer,” “The Sex Lives of College Girls” and “The Social Network,” have also been filmed on campus. You also might casually see Novak Djokovic playing some tennis at the Los Angeles Tennis Center or Kevin Durant shooting around at John Wooden Center.
Finals week is a rough time for students across the country, but being a UCLA student during finals week is slightly more exciting. There are unique traditions you have most definitely either participated in or seen on social media, such as the Undie Run and the Midnight Scream during finals week. Although this may be considered normal for UCLA students, that is because we are part of the festivities. To those who have never attended this institution or seen videos on social media, this will come as a huge shock! It never fails to amaze me just how many students rally to run to Powell Library in the freezing night, especially during the fall and winter quarters, on the Wednesday night of finals week. It almost makes finals seem like a breeze.
So, whether you’re trekking down Bruin Walk, conquering the Hill, screaming your lungs out during finals week or casually crossing paths with A-list celebrities, these experiences are what make UCLA uniquely memorable — and the kind of culture shocks that outsiders might find hard to believe!
