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Dear Future Bruin…

My name is Eddie (Eduarda) and I must give you a very brief piece of information before I begin to tell you about my favorite memory at UCLA: I am directionally challenged. Just hold on to this sentence for a while, it’ll make sense as I tell you more.

It happened two quarters ago—Fall Quarter of my freshman year—a few weeks into classes. I was freshly out of my CHEM 20A lecture and was done with classes for the day, which is why I decided to go back to my Residence Hall and take a much needed nap. As it turns out, the nap was more necessary than I expected. I’m a bit of an insomniac and hadn’t slept the night before. I got out of Young Hall CS 50 in hopes of making it to Dykstra Hall, preferably in less than 15 minutes.

Looking at the picture above of a map portraying UCLA’s gorgeous campus. This highlights what I should’ve done in green and what I actually did in red, in case you’re not familiar with the campus just yet or are even half as lost as I am. I began my journey by walking out of Young Hall CS 50 and turning right. I then walked straight for a bit and turned right again, walking between Knudsen Hall and the Psychology Building (my first mistake, but at least I got to see the beautiful inverted fountain). I made a few other bad decisions and ended up walking in circles, which I realized after I saw the Shapiro Fountain (marked with an X) for the second time. I was tired and decided I didn’t have it in me to make it past the Shapiro fountain a third time, and the concrete next to the sparkling water was just so appealing in the afternoon sun, I decided the Shapiro fountain would serve as my nap site for the time being.

It ended up being a phenomenal nap. I think I rested there for over two hours, because by the time I awoke, the sun was on its way down. I decided to give the journey to Dykstra Hall a go again, especially because it would only get harder to find my way back in the dark. I headed off in the wrong direction, again! This time, I veered into North campus, ending up in the Sculpture Garden! For those of you who aren’t familiar, this is about as far as one can get on campus from the dorms. At this point, it was officially dark, and I decided it was time to pull out my much-trusted Google Maps, which got me home. Since that day, I’ve revisited the Sculpture Garden to sit amongst the chirping birds and the art. It is a very relaxing place to be, I recommend going there to decompress and gather your thoughts. I’m so glad I stumbled into it, since I likely wouldn’t have discovered it otherwise—I have had no classes there so far!

Lucky me! I had an excellent nap, took a tour of campus, and got a bit of extra exercise (these hills are no joke), all in one day! What a happy day, one that I still recall very fondly. It helped me build appreciation for the wonderful architecture and layout of campus. I mean, the architects were geniuses when they designed the Shapiro fountain—a tourist attraction, a wishing fountain, and a nap spot all in one! We’re so lucky to call UCLA our home, and I’m forever grateful my directional challengedness helped me appreciate it even more.

In terms of advice, I would like to tell new Bruins to not be afraid to get lost. Some of your best moments at UCLA will happen while your day isn’t going according to plan. Whether your being lost leads you to a hidden garden, an unexpected nap, or a beautiful view of the sunset while walking back to your Residence Hall: trust the process, keep Google Maps close just in case, and enjoy the beautiful campus.