“Scholars…Chosen for Leadership…United to Serve” That was the message plastered on the home page. And it was here that a select group of students, united by a drive for excellence, represented the very best of the best here at UCLA.

Arguably the premier honor society recognized by American universities, Mortar Board was an organization that recognizes an exclusive group of seniors for their relentless determination and pursuit of success. It honored those few who have emerged at the top at one of the most esteemed universities in the nation. It bestowed an honor to the select few that have achieved and overachieved, accomplishing much beyond what was expected.

Ever since the organization that eventually became Mortar Board was founded in 1918, the society had gone on to induct roughly a quarter of a million students at campuses across the United States. UCLA’s current class consisted of…Click Here to Continue Reading.

An innocent flyer for a student group called One Heart Source hung from the bathroom wall in Powell Library.  Scanning it as she walked toward the door, third-year psychology student Ty Duong became absorbed in thought about its contents as she rushed home.  Following the directions of the flyer, she checked out the corresponding website, and a wealth of information popped open upon her computer screen.  She drank in the words and the pictures that flashed before her.

Inspired by the mission statement of the student group, Duong knew she needed to join.  After applying to the program and completing her interview, she found herself staring outside the window of a plane, gazing down at the clouds as she jetted off to spend the summer with Tanzanian orphans in a remote rural village, a far cry from the study abroad programs her peers engaged in.  “I had no expectations…because I really didn’t know what to expect.  The main goal [of the trip] and…Click Here to Continue Reading.

Fraternity. The word often conjured up ideas of networking, service, skill development, philanthropy and, ultimately, brotherhood. While fraternities were usually associated with Greek Life, there were a few more prominently known for their focus on pre-professional goals. Phi Delta Epsilon was one such fraternity well-recognized as the only co-ed pre-medical group on campus. Founded in 1906 at Cornell University, Phi Delta Epsilon was an internationally respected association, which provided its members with a group of associates who had similar dreams about their future.

These associates, however, did not just remain acquaintances. They became a close-knit family. They regularly enjoyed group dinners, hosted events, and had many bonding episodes where the people became familiar with each other at a deeper level. One such activity was the Brother and Sister Appreciation Event, which was made possible by the co-ed dimension of the organization. Another event that bonded the members was the “big-little” system. When a new member (little) joined the group, an older member (big) was assigned to them and the “big” had to introduce them to the ways of the fraternity. This amalgamation…Click Here to Continue Reading.

Taiko, which meant “drum” in Japanese, evolved from a traditional ritual in Japan to a purely Japanese American performing art form in America.  The student group Kyodo Taiko existed to involve and educate its members in playing Taiko drums, as well as the Japanese history and traditions of the art. Many of Kyodo’s members did not have prior Taiko drumming experience before joining the group and were attracted by the performances put on in various venues, such as culture nights or even freshman orientation or convocation.  Fourth-year sociology student Eryn Tokuhara remembered she watched Kyodo perform at her freshman orientation, and that “the energy and passion that was apparent from an audience point of view” was what initially attracted her to join.

Taiko was no walk in the park. It required dedication and practice, especially for novice drummers. Tokuhara said, “Taiko is one of those things that you get as much out of as you put in.” New Taiko drummers spent their time outside of practices developing their own unique style. Directors, on the other hand spent the majority…Click Here to Continue Reading.

Started in 1966, the Grupo Folklorico de UCLA celebrated the Mexican heritage through its traditional dance performances to music as played throughout Mexico, utilizing costumes from about 10 different regions, from Veracruz to Sinaloa to Jalisco. Its goal was to create positive Chicana and Chicano role models, promote cultural awareness in surrounding communities, and encourage the younger generations of Los Angeles to celebrate their cultural roots and aim for higher education.

Members joined for a variety of reasons. Third-year sociology student Adan Calzada, for example, wanted to expand on an already-committed passion. He said, “I danced back at home, and I wanted to stay in contact with my Mexican roots.” Calzada had been dancing since he was 10-years-old for 11 years and was joined by his two younger sisters for eight of those years. Yet third-year history student Helga Salinas joined to…Click Here to Continue Reading.

Whether you loved photography or wanted to learn a little more about it, Photography Club at UCLA may have been a good fit for you. The club, which was completely free, did not even require those interested to own a camera in order to join. According to Michael Sun, a fourth-year biochemistry student and the club’s vice president, Photography Club at UCLA welcomed anyone and everyone to join. He stated, “[It] was founded so that students could come together and enjoy the art of photography. The organization strives to bring together photographers from all backgrounds and skill levels to help each other and those who seek guidance in matters related to photography. Although the club is still fairly young, it has quickly established itself in the UCLA community.” The club became so well established amongst our fellow Bruins that it acquired over 250 members on its Facebook page and a large number of individuals who consistently went to meetings during this school year.

In fact, it was not uncommon for one to two new faces to show up at the weekly meetings every quarter, which could be attributed to the club’s expansive list of fun and unique activities. The Photography Club at UCLA treated its members to outings around the…Click Here to Continue Reading.

As a young child, second-year ethnomusicology student Kevin Willoughby demonstrated exceptional musical talent, playing the piano at a mere five years of age.  But piano alone could not satiate his musical desires.  His Japanese mother raised Willoughby in an environment saturated in Japanese culture and languages, which played a vital role in facilitating his true musical passion.  “Shamisen is derived from the Chinese instrument called a sanxian, which I also play,” described Willoughby. “I have always grown up surrounded by Japanese culture.  My mom does Japanese traditional dance so I’ve always kind of heard the music.  [Japanese culture] has always influenced me.”

But it was not until high school that Willoughby truly embraced every facet of Japanese life.  In his sophomore year of high school, he embarked on the first of many future journeys to Japan for a student exchange program, which became a springboard into Japanese language that launched him into seriously studying Japanese in the hopes of becoming fluent.  Acquiring a deeper knowledge of the Japanese language, Willoughby was able to truly immerse himself in…Click Here to Continue Reading.

“My mom raised four kids by herself with huge emotional problems the whole time.  [She was] in and out of therapy.  My dad got into drugs, and it wasn’t until he left that things got better” said fourth-year art history student Jacob Patterson.  Emerging out of a sometimes single-parent household fraught with drug abuse, Patterson did not let anything hold him back.  As soon as he could, he left his hometown of Sacramento and moved to Los Angeles, a city which offered him a plethora of opportunities in the art world.  “The whole time I was in Sacramento I was thinking this city was not for me. I always thought I was going to move to San Francisco, but then I decided go to UCLA instead of UC Berkeley.  And then I fell in love with this city.  I’ve been to places like Dublin and Paris but LA is still my favorite city out of all of them.”  Ever since his move, Patterson became smitten with the vibrant culture and art life of Los Angeles, and he planted his roots firmly into the city, transforming his loft in Downtown to an art gallery and making contacts with other artists and agents.

As a child growing up, Patterson always remembered dabbling with art, and from a young age he displayed an amazing talent for the trade.  “I’ve been doing art work since I could pick up a pencil.  Once my parents figured out I could draw they said I had to draw…Click Here to Continue Reading.

Even for adults, creating plans for the years to come was difficult.  Third-year nursing student Judy Li knew years beforehand what she wanted to do.  While the rest of us were still worrying about the PSAT and prepping for the real thing, Li already had her eyes set on a solid goal for her future.  Ever since her sophomore year, Li knew she wanted to be a nurse when she grew up.  Actually, she had always wanted to be in the medical field.  “Before I had wanted to become a doctor, but after volunteering and experiencing the hospital environment, I realized what I really wanted was to establish that sense of trust with my patients and have more opportunities to build a connection with them to promote their healing and wellbeing.”  On top of knowing what she wanted to be, she knew precisely where she wanted to go as well.  With her eyes set on giving back to her hometown of San Francisco, she did what most seniors did not do even as they applied to colleges: research.  And plan.  “I saw that UCLA has one of the best nursing schools in the country,” she said, “and right then and there, UCLA became my dream school.  [Then] maybe go to grad school in the east coast to get my master’s.”  But the nursing school at UCLA was no easy place to get into.  According to Li, “there are about 50-something students per class—the acceptance rate is extremely low.  I’m just very lucky to have been accepted and be a part of this university.”

Li had plenty of commitment needed to carry through her plan.  She had been on the UCLA Dragonboat Team since her first year, but it was not something she discovered in college.  Living in San Francisco, a city with a high amount of Asian (namely Chinese) influence and close to the bay, Li was acquainted with the competitive water-racing sport of dragonboat fairly early in…Click Here to Continue Reading.

Here at UCLA, a relatively large research university, it took some new incoming students more time than others to acclimate and get into the sync of a new lifestyle. However, one freshman student, Adrina Kocharian, had little trouble adjusting to the college life and got into the swing of things relatively quickly. She came into UCLA this year as a microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics student minoring in theatre, and has wasted no time becoming involved in activities relating to these fields. In fact, even while she attended high school here nearby in San Fernando Valley, Kocharian made it a priority to get early exposure to research in the science and medical fields.

Encouraged by the senior project program at her high school in Simi Valley, Kocharian had been working at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center since the beginning of 12th grade. She worked specifically in the Gene Therapeutics Research Institute where her work focused on neurological cancer. “We do gene therapy, which is the manipulation of certain genes to express a certain phenotype. In this case, we aim to generate cancer, which we try to cure later. I work with plasmids, and the point of the research, ultimately, is to over express oncogenes or to under express tumor suppressor genes in an effort to generate cancer cells so we…Click Here to Continue Reading.