Winter Quarter Classes UPDATE

UPDATE ON MY LAST POST! Originally, I had planned to take Gender Studies 10 next quarter. However, when I went to register, I couldn't get in! So frustrating. Luckily, I was able to play around with my schedule and find another class that worked: Geography 5! I am excited to take another geography class. I'm really enjoying the one i'm in now and i'm interested to see how the next one compares.

My new class schedule! (practice not included)

Winter Quarter Classes!

Hard to believe that fall quarter here is almost over...each quarter is 10 weeks long, and tomorrow is the first day of week 7! Tomorrow is also the day I get to register for my WINTER CLASSES. Crazy.

Luckily, if you're an athlete here, you get priority enrollment for all classes. This means that I don't really need to stress about not getting the classes I want or need. Planning classes wasn't as stressful as it was for the fall basically for this reason.

SO WHAT AM I TAKING? As some might remember (if not, see my post about fall classes), I am currently taking an English composition class for my major (English Comp 3). Next quarter, i'm taking the next step up towards my major: English 4w. This means that i'll also be able to satisfy the university writing requirement! Along with 4w, i'm taking 2 new GE courses: Gender Studies 10/Intro to Gender Studies, and German 59 (Holocaust in film). I think i'm going to really enjoy my winter courses.

Here's my new course schedule!

Chloe+Isabel starter kit!

My starter kit for Chloe+Isabel arrived today!!!! Basically, when you start working with C+I, you pay a fee of $175 for startup. The startup includes your very own online boutique, a mentor, merchandising workshops and conference calls, many other online selling tools, and 14 of the most popular pieces as well as wish lists, order sheets, and look books. I got my kit today and almost peed myself. LOOK AT ALL THIS GOODNESS.

Also, my online boutique can be found RIGHT HERE!

My collection!

Necklaces

Bracelets

Earrings

Botanica: Fall/Winter 2014 Look book

Head of the American

We just got back from Head of the American last night, and it was so amazing! We left for Sacramento early on Friday morning- the bus left campus at 6:00 AM. The bus ride took about 6 hours. We stopped for lunch along the way which took about 45 minutes so our trip was naturally a little longer, but we had to eat. When we got to the course, we rigged the boats and then went out for a practice. Later that night, we went back to the hotel and had a chance to shower before heading to dinner at the Olive Garden, and then it was off to bed.

THE NEXT MORNING WAS RACE MORNING! Each boat went for a run together for 20 minutes and stretched before breakfast at the hotel. We had a boat meeting, and then headed down to the course to get ready to race. There was a little bit of time to walk around before the race, and I bought a regatta shirt to commemorate my very first college regatta. YAY. Then it was time to launch for our race!

The race went really well. Of course I was ready to die by the end but when you feel that way you know you're doing something right. We crossed the finish line and I knew we had done our best, and that is a great feeling. We then landed on shore and loaded the trailer, which took about 20 minutes (compared to the 4 hours it used to take in high school...) and it was back on the bus! I basically fell asleep the second I walked back into my dorm room last night.

The whole experience was so fun, and I wish we could do it every weekend! I'll never forget it.

Katie and I on the bus to the Olive Garden!

At the Olive Garden with Maddie Pont...LOVE this girl

RACE DAY

Sophie (DJ) and I were stern pair of the 4th Varsity 8+!

Maddie Pont and I carrying food lookin' like twins

Maddie Shrock and I after the race!

Mikayla and I after the race!

DJ and I after the race!

My beautiful team

Final results! Our varsity 8 WON! We were the UCLA B entry, and we tied with Stanford B for 13th

Chloe+Isabel

Hey world, I got a job!

I've been looking for a job for a while, but I needed a job that I could do on my own time: something where I could set my own hours, and maybe even work from my computer. And I found one!

I am working now as a merchandiser for a jewelry company called Chloe+Isabel. Basically, I have my very own online boutique where I can create collections and share my favorite pieces. People are then able to buy jewelry through my boutique, the website (through me) and also if I host any pop up shops. I make commission off of all purchases done through me. (25% for now, and it can increase depending on how much I sell) 

So far, I love this job! My friend Emma was a merchandiser for C+I too, and I ended up buying a pair of earrings from her over the summer. All of the jewelry is so beautiful, and it comes with a lifetime guarantee (even though the pieces are so well made, they don't even need one) 

I'm attaching a link to my online boutique HERE!!!

XOXO

The earrings I bought from Chloe+Isabel through Emma!

Some of my favorite Chloe+Isabel pieces

 

Adidas Christmas/First day of practice

Today was a monumental day for me! I was medically cleared to row last night so today was my first official day of practice. I had to do an erg test (5000m as fast as possible) I didn't pull my personal best, but I finished with a good enough result because I get to travel with the team this weekend! We are traveling to the Head of the American regatta in Sacramento. We leave on Friday morning and are racing on Saturday. I'm racing in the 4th boat and I am so excited to be back on the water racing.

We also received all of our gear today! UCLA is sponsored by Adidas, so all of our clothes are Adidas brand. They had already given us 2 shirts, a pair of shorts, and a pair of sneakers. Today, we got a TON of stuff. (A picture of all my gear is below) I love it all!

I'll make a post about the race after this Saturday.
XO

Mikayla and I in our matching UCLA tops!

All of my new gear!

Classes

I realized that i've been posting a lot about my social life and rowing life here at UCLA, but haven't talked about my classes yet. The UCLA year is broken up into 4 quarters, with each quarter being 10 weeks. (Spring quarter, summer quarter, fall quarter, winter quarter). The first quarter you enter in as a UCLA student is the fall quarter. Each quarter you are recommended to take 3-4 classes, with freshman being strongly advised to start out with 3. 

There are 2 different types of classes here: GE's, and major requirements. I am going into school as an English major. This quarter, I am taking 2 GE's (Geography and Intro to Sociology) and English Composition 3 (a major requirement as well as a UCLA requirement). 

I have 2 lecture sections each for my Geography and Sociology classes. Each of these classes also has a much smaller (20 kids vs 200 for lecture) once-a-week discussion section with a TA. (or, for Geography, a lab) My English Comp class is basically a discussion section with about 20 kids. 

Trying to find classes that fit my rowing schedule proved to be a challenge. Luckily, next quarter i'll be able to use priority athlete enrollment to make picking and scheduling my classes a lot easier and less stressful. 

GEOGRAPHY: I surprisingly really enjoy this class. I originally only signed up because it was a GE that had a lot of spots and fit into my schedule, but it's actually pretty interesting. I love my professor: he is really into the topic and really knows what he's doing (he wrote the textbook for the class) and keeps class interesting. 

SOCIOLOGY: This class is also super interesting but has some concepts that can be hard to grasp. Basically, sociology is the study of people as groups or individuals and why they do what they do. We're currently talking about reality, which has been a really big idea and concept to wrap my head around but it's really cool.

ENGLISH COMP: This has probably been my biggest challenge as far as my classes go so far *knock on wood* In high school, I had the same English teacher for 2 years in a row, so I was really used to a certain style and expectation in my writing. Writing for my professor now is intimidating and kind of scary but it's a good challenge for me. 

My schedule!