The places you frequent on campus can say a lot about you: Are you a Charles E. Young Research Library bookworm or Kerckhoff patio socialite? Whatever it may be, there’s a spot on campus to accommodate you, however niche. By the time you’re a fourth-year student, these settings become a part of your UCLA identity, instrumental to the kinds of experiences you’ve had during your time here.
I spoke with some fourth-year students, as they prepare to leave the nest, to find out more about these spots and pass them on to you – the next generation of Bruins looking for scenery that will allow you to feel more connected with your goals and personal UCLA experience.
I first met with Leon Tran, who discovered his spot in a way that he described as serendipitous. “It was a late final, and I got out right when the sun was setting. I was walking back from North Campus toward Bruin Plaza, and I just looked up and saw it,” he said. What he spotted was one particular tree, sitting alone on an empty part of the hill beside Tongva Steps. He said, “I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a nice spot to perch; let me set up shop.’ And I did, and the hours went by.” During this time, Tran told me he “reflected on the quarter: the good, the bad and what [he had] accomplished.” Every quarter since that first time in his second year, he has come back to that exact tree after finals at sunset to reflect and recharge, as it’s his ritual. One thing Tran likes about this spot is that it allows him to exist in his “own private bubble without being fully secluded.” For Tran, this setting allows him to feel like a piece of the social UCLA community while reflecting on his role within it.
For Grace Binder, the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden allows her to briefly escape the academic scene. Having grown up in Los Angeles, Binder visited the botanical garden for the first time on a field trip as a kid. When she started attending UCLA, she returned to the familiar space to escape and recenter herself after a rough organic chemistry final. It was then that she discovered it was the perfect spot for studying, and it has been a regular spot for her ever since. “It’s so beautiful and takes me out of the UCLA bubble, where I can feel productive in an environment that isn’t necessarily scholastic.” She knows it’s an unusual spot for studying, but she likes to have her own secret place, where she can focus on her thoughts. “It’s always good to have places that are special or just for you.” However, she told me that in sharing it, she hopes to discover whether people feel the same way about the space that she does, or if they will discover their own meaning in it.
This is a desire she unknowingly shares with Alex Adamson, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, who had a bizarre selection to share: the men’s restroom on the fifth floor (elevator floor 3) of Ackerman Union. He first found the bathroom during his second year with a group of friends. As soon as they walked in, they were shocked by the strange layout and began taking pictures. He said, “It was just such a marvel, you know? I didn’t know something like this would exist on a college campus.” Adamson was eager to share the spot. “I don’t want to gatekeep,” he said, showing me a picture of the empty bathroom. He’s right – the deep, white-tiled room, consisting of nothing but wall-to-wall urinals, makes a strange, surreal impression. Seeing the photo, I too suddenly felt a strange bond over the shared knowledge of this unusual space.
Adamson seemed aware of the ridiculousness of his selection, but a large part of him is earnest and he wanted me to know that, as he said, “I’m actually being serious … this place has a really strong footprint in my mind.” However, he said, “It’s not just the place … it’s also about me and a bunch of guys just finding it and f—ing around there … it was just a stupid place to be. I won’t just remember what a bizarre place it was; I’ll remember the good friends I discovered it with.”
In finding and sharing these spaces, we connect, both with each other and with the goals that led us there. We find the places that speak to us and reflect the experiences we seek.
Your environment is a mirror into which you can better understand yourself, and by sharing these spaces, our fourth-years students are turning the glass to you, permitting you to assess and seek out your goals and desires.
