10th floor in Dykstra Hall at UCLA (a.k.a. D10)

Here we are, welcome to the college life at University of California, Los Angeles! In case if you haven't seen my facebook profile, or you forget what my major is, it's chemical engineering! I have tons I must reveal about my new life in Los Angeles. For those who have been following my blog, I sincerely apologize for not updating my blog for over a month.

First off, Westwood village is a nice and safe neighborhood, if I say this without mentioning the many homeless that reside on these streets. In fact, I saw one on the way to picking up my debit card living on Westwood Plaza.


The people at Dykstra, where my dormitory is at, are both nerdy and extremely social! Now, the main drawback is the fact that Dykstra is the oldest residential hall around, with the last seismic strengthening being in 1989. It looks extremely old, ghettoish, and mainly just an ordinary building; nothing else special about it. It doesn't have AC, which was the reason why I retreated to De Neve Plaza (which has AC, fortunately) when the heat wave struck LA three weekends ago, at a record high of 113 degrees Fahrenheit! Also, the main way to get inside of this residential hall is by the bridge connecting between the 2nd floor of Dykstra and the 2nd floor of De Neve Plaza. Therefore, the main entrance to Dykstra is by going through De Neve.

In spite of these major characteristics, I find my dormitory to be comfortable, with a TV and microfridge around making life in UCLA tons easier, if it hadn't been for my roommate and best friend, Bryan Kitchener, who originally came from Santa Clarita, where he and Taylor Lautner went to high school together! I actually have two roommates, if you didn't know. The other roommate is Ivan Pena, who is of Panamanian descent who came from Texas!

I've had many good friends met so far, most of whom live on the same floor as me. Although many of my D10 friends beg for me to rank my most favorite people so far, the top position is obiviously Bryan, but everyone else whom I've met all rank after him. The last position is Ivan, as I haven't gotten that much of an opportunity to get to know him because of him being at UCLA for the summer program and thus, having many friends already.

The fact that I'm now living in LA, where my most favorite NBA team and professional sports team of all-time (Los Angeles Lakers) is located, means no Utahn can try to refer me as a bandwagoner ever again. Besides, Lakers was the very first team I started to support since I started to watch NBA aggressively!

I must admit, though the classes are about my level, or perhaps even harder, I'm having a fun time sharing my interests with my fellow D10 friends! For instance, I like the fact that I'm able to discuss Pokemon with both Bryan and Ryan Samii, who lives a couple rooms down from my dorm. I even discuss Pokemon to all my other D10 friends! I have yet to play chess against Ryan, but it'd be a fun challenge to take on. Not to mention, California's chess players who joined UCLA chess/backgammon club are insanely adept at that game!

I have to say that although I miss my home back in Utah, having to leave behind my mom, I am thorougly enjoying my life in UCLA so far, in spite of the many responsibilities that fall on my burden now!