I enjoyed a lovely day back on campus with Panda and a ton of other UCLA alumni today for Alumni Day 2013! It’s the first time most of us have ever seen or been in the new Pauley Pavilion and wow, it is nice. Our day started off by checking in outside and getting our reusable tote bags with the programs inside. We had nice large name tag lanyards displaying our graduation year. Inside Pauley’s food court/concession stand area were a bunch of stations filled with food options! The Chancellor was about to speak inside the arena, so we rushed to grab some breakfast before heading in. I got a couple of quiches and Panda got a parfait.

We sat down just as the Chancellor was introducing the keynote speaker: Guy Kawasaki. One of our friends happened to notice us and beckoned us to join her. We then settled in to learn the art of enchantment from Guy (and I was so enchanted that I totally forgot to take a picture or video to commemorate the event!!). We learned that crow’s feet are good, you’ve got to accept people, you should have a “yes” mentality, you should find something small in common to start building a connection, and so much more. When he was done speaking, we returned upstairs and found all kinds of tasty treats awaiting. We got some dessert items and a cup of Jamba Juice, but weren’t hungry enough for the hot dogs, nachos, churros, etc.

We then split up for the smaller sessions, which were about 20 minutes long. Each time slot had three options of topics to choose from and to cover the most ground, Panda I chose different ones so we could learn the most. I started off listening to the co-founder of the Nom Nom Truck talk about change, but I arrived late and kind of missed too much of the presentation to get much out of it. Then it was off to hear from Mike Flynn, co-founder of Opportunity Green, who told a fun story about his own path of growth. Then I heard from a guy who helped launch Startup UCLA, which is sort of an accelerator program for startups that UCLA students and recent grads work on. I actually know two people who participated in the program and worked on two different companies!

For the last presentation of the day, I went to hear Sue Enquist talk about Coach Wooden’s impact on her and advice taken from him for living a better life. I actually ran into a girl from my high school prior to heading in and got a chance to catch up with her as we went in to the session. Once we got out, I caught up with Panda and we got a chance to explore the store at Pauley, as well as some of the many booths and tables that were set up around the area.

By 2, everything within Pauley was wrapping up and many alum were already heading out, but Panda and I went to the SAC pool to enjoy a boat race put on by engineering students! It was a grand old time watching the students putting their cardboard and duct tape creations to the test of staying afloat as someone rowed it one lap in the pool. There were some pretty hilarious sinking moments that seemed to happen in slow motion and there were a few runaway successes too!

After all the fun was over, I got a chance to peruse the UCLA Store. It’s one of my favorite stores in the whole world, probably because of all the cool clothing they have with various UCLA messaging on them. I love anything related to my alma mater! I tried on some things and got a chance to purchase my favs. The rest will go on my wishlist. That hat? Not so much. And I was so surprised to find Hello Kitty as a Bruin! Lol.

To wrap up, Panda and I wandered around campus a bit to enjoy the sunshine and each other. Then it was off again, with both of us returning to our respective parents’ homes. As we were walking out, Panda realized we hadn’t done a single 8-clap all day (what?!?!) – that’s pretty much unheard of at a UCLA event, so I did one in my head. 😉

What a great day in terms of goodies! Not only was there tons of food (I later got a salad and sandwich that I brought back home with me, as well as chips and soda), but I got quite a few other treats as well. It started off with the reusable tote and my badge with lanyard. Then there were buttons and wooden USBs for the taking. At the UCLA Anderson table, I got a nice booklet with various sizes of post-its inside and a shiny pen. At the networking area, the engineering table had fun Raytheon post-its for the taking so I got some of those. Towards the end of the day, I went to chat with the people of Ecos and the VP generously offered me one of the full size products they had on display since they were leaving soon! I had already gotten a nice sample of their laundry detergent so I picked the stain & odor remover. And finally, in the UCLA Store, there was a shelf with Whitelines that were FREE. LOVE IT!!!

And to wrap up, I couldn’t resist spending some money on my alma mater. I acquired a sweet Spring Sing top to wear it loud and proud for our awesome musical tradition. I acquired a cool UCLA Fund t-shirt for donating money and participating in the North vs. South campus competition. Lastly, I acquired a lovely aqua sweatshirt with the UCLA seal on it in glittery screenprint. I’m so excited about each of these items and can’t wait to wear them excessively. 🙂