Freshman Year
Changes are in the air.
A new life of freedom, discovery and even more.
A cheerful and crowded campus is one that I see.
I can start as a new person if I choose to be.
Welcome Week, Clubs, and Aldrich Park After Dark
Does anyone know about that program LARC?
Dorms, new residents and majors galore!
How many people will be taking Humanities Core?
Hello boba and ring road.
Hello UTC and new student workload.
A bright and eager student to start the year.
Everything ahead of me seems completely clear.
What could go wrong since I’m ahead of the game?
I had no idea that college could bring so many gains.
Sophomore Year
Another year, another quarter.
Fall is in the air and second year awaits.
I make another batch of spam musubi on an empty plate.
I find an opportunity to be a part of a team.
So many challenges and then everything seems
To be going well with UCI’s first anime con
Where many people had their cosplay on.
I changed my major where I found my love to write
The future seems brilliant and bright.
No longer am I learning about GPCR.
No more Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium or calculating how far
I have to walk to make it to lab on time.
No more of those long staircase climbs.
I’m having one of the best times
Where I’m discovering myself even more.
I hope the next year has much more in store.
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Junior Year
Ah yes the hardest year they say.
You have to just get through things day by day.
A page here and a quiz there.
I have so many options everywhere.
I have delved into the world of writing and books.
I found a flame that ignited my passion to blossom.
I learned that having fun can be pretty awesome.
A supportive friend, a hang out and some delicious dinner
Can honestly make you feel like a total winner.
You feel on top of the world and are looking forward to the rest—
Oh wait, everything stops.
Lockdown, quarantine, social distancing, remote learning galore.
I can’t process everything at once, my brain is getting sore.
I leave everything I knew at UCI behind.
Goodbye for now?
I don’t know how
The world came to a stop.
Like a broken ticking clock.
Tick tock, Tick tock.
The world is in chaos and everything is going to drop.
Goodbye normalcy and memories yet to be made.
Now let’s jump to the next grade.
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Senior Year
It’s finally here, but in a different way.
I have to make the best of it and not be gray.
Hello new classes, new people, it’s time to score
Some new experiences by joining four
Clubs to expand my empty horizon during this time.
I feel like I’m on a never-ending staircase waiting to climb
To the door of a new beginning that feels like an eternity away.
I find myself always having to constantly weigh
The impediments, opportunities and classes that will
Complete my future by the choices I still
Continue to make.
Where will this unprecedented time take me?
I want to continue to set sail in my thriving sea
Of knowledge, writing, and whatever is to come.
Graduation looms and I want to enjoy what I can
Before it’s actually time to say goodbye and I lie in the sand
Where the waves crash up against me and then I fly
Into the simmering sunset touching the unknown sky.
