10 Things Only UCLA Students Will Understand

“She just moved to LA, go to UCLA.” That is a quote from the song “UCLA” that every UCLA student has heard one too many times. Going to the #1 Public University in the US (sorry Berkeley) has its pros and cons, but overall UCLA students love our school and aren’t afraid to brag about it. Being a UCLA student, there are certain things that you will understand if you go there. Here are 10 things that all UCLA students will definitely relate to.

1. Living on The Hill requires extra walking to class and more stairs.

Going up the death stairs once a day is hard enough. It takes like 25 minutes to walk from Hedrick to North Campus, which is insane. After a long day, all you want to do is go back to your room and lie down, but that involves walking up a giant hill. If you have to go back later to campus for a meeting, you avoid going back to The Hill because so much walking. I think I walked like 30,000 steps a day just from living in Hedrick.

2. You attempt to avoid people on Bruinwalk ALL THE TIME.

Yes, I’d love to save the bees, but I’d also like to get to class on time too. Even if you put your headphones in, people still try to come up to you. You try to find different paths to avoid people yet they still end up chasing after you. I’m not going to lie, I have been one of those people flyering on Bruinwalk before, but I also understand when some people don’t want to be bothered. If someone doesn’t want to take a flyer, just leave them alone!

3. The rivalry between north and south campus majors is real.

South campus majors are always trying to trash north campus majors. Being a north campus major, we work just as hard; we just have different kinds of homework and studying to do then south campus majors. Also, north campus is way prettier than south campus….just saying.

4. You have almost been run over by a Bird scooter or a skateboard on multiple occasions.

Bird scooters are very convenient, especially if you don’t feel like walking to class. But sometimes people are reckless on them and they don’t watch where they are going. When you have headphones in, it’s especially terrifying when someone literally scooters up behind you, almost hitting you. Same thing with skateboarders though. I am fine with people using skateboards, but they think it’s okay to just swerve in and out of people. I have had to move out of the way for skateboarders before because they don’t slow down at all. Since many of the skateboarders aren’t really experienced, it’s best to stay out of their way.

5. You either love BPlate or hate it.

BPlate (Bruin Plate) is one of the dining halls at UCLA. It serves all healthy food, so if you are vegan or vegetarian it’s probably your go-to dining hall. Sometimes they can serve some weird dishes, but it’s still my favorite dining hall. You either love it or hate it; there’s really no in-between. But seriously the Tofu Cranberry bars are my favorite dessert and I don’t even like tofu!

6. Explaining to semester kids that your “midterm season” basically ends a week before finals.

This one mostly applies to the south campus majors who basically have midterms Weeks 3-9. Semester kids just don’t understand the struggle of being on the quarter system where there really is no rest between midterms and finals. It’s basically nonstop and there’s no real break. But it is pretty awesome not starting school until late September I must say.

7. When you say that football games are so much fun you’re really referring to the tailgates.

Let’s be honest, the UCLA football team kind of sucks right now. I mean they were featured on “All American”, but our football team is just not winning that many games. The game itself is not that fun to watch even if you like football. However, tailgates are a different story. Tailgates are so much fun to go to with your friends. Everyone gets all dressed up in their UCLA gear and just has fun together. You got to love school pride.

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8. Thirsty Thursdays: “We’ll check out the frats and then go to Rocco’s”

If your a girl at UCLA and haven’t aimlessly walked around frat row on a Thursday night with your friends, do you really go to UCLA? Most of the time people go into a frat house for 5 minutes, decide it’s lame, and then leave to Rocco’s. Rocco’s is the UCLA hangout spot. Basically, everyone goes there at some point on a Thursday night. “Let’s meet at Rocco’s” becomes part of your weekly vocabulary.

9. Every finals week you prepare to either participate in or listen to the midnight yell.

If you’re on the UCLA campus or live on The Hill, don’t be alarmed if you people screaming at midnight during all of finals week. Sometimes people complain about it, but RA’s and administrators still haven’t been able to stop the “UCLA Midnight Yell.” Everyone is so stressed and overwhelmed on finals week we all just need a way to release our frustrations.

10. You’ve joined the UCLA Memes and UCLA Secrets Facebook group.

If you’re a UCLA student I urge you to join “UCLA Memes for Sick AF Tweens.” People literally just submit memes about UCLA, campus life, etc. I think one of the most trending are the Daddy Block memes. Gene Block has become a UCLA icon. The memes of him are hilarious and people just don’t stop making them. Also, there is a UCLA Secrets group where students post anonymous posts about anything. Some of the posts are more serious while others are more lighthearted. It’s a good way to get advice or just get something off your chest without anyone knowing who it is.

UCLA is a great school and I’m glad I get the opportunity to go there! Now that I haven’t been able to be on campus for a while, I truly realize how much I took it for granted. Whether you are just starting UCLA or have been there for a while, appreciate your time there and take advantage of it! We only get to experience college once so we have to make the best out of it.