Exchange Visit to UCLA 2015 Grace Geng (Residence Tutor, Hall 10) Anson Lai (Residence Tutor, Hall 7) By
Residential Life in UCLA UCLA offers housing service to students, communities and faculties. The housing and dining buildings are scattered on the hill. Therefore, “the Hill” is a popular name of the housing areas. There are four main areas on the Hill and the Residence Life Office has multiple branches in each areas. In each resident area, there are three to eight buildings. The smallest building has about 400 people and the largest building has about 1000 people.
One resident director and one r e s i d e n t c o o r d i n a t o r a r e appointed to each building. Sometimes, one resident director looks after more than one building. In each building, there are a group of resident assistants taking the responsibilities of organizing activities, improving residence environment and connecting people in the building. In each branch of the residence life office, there are program coordinators working on large scale activities for all the residents.
Residence management and programs The UCLA Residential Life Office plans its management work based on five cores values: “Support academic mission”, “Cultivate safe environment”, “Foster social responsibility”, “Develop leaders”, “Encourage personal growth”. The faculty-in-residence program is set to integrate UCLA faculty members into residential communities and facilitate their active participation in student learning. Most of the people working in the residential life office live near the buildings they work for.
The resources and facilities on t h e H i l l a r e m a n a g e d independently from the main campus. Compared with the main campus, booking of activity venues and facilities in housing areas is free. Resident assistants in different buildings are provided w i t h wo rki n g a re a i n t h e residential office as well.
Student Rooms There are three types on-campus housing at UCLA. First, “Residence halls” provides typical college dorm experience. The residence hall buildings are usually very tall and holds most people. Each floor has two bathrooms, one for boys and one for girls. Second, “Plazas” provide rooms with shared or private bath. The life in Plazas is less social than Residence halls. The third type is “Suite”. It is for students who wants to live in an apartment but also want to live on campus. Suites usually have two bedrooms, a hallway, a bathroom and a living room. Suites are the most expensive among the three types of dorms. There are common study rooms, activity rooms and computer rooms in “Residence halls” and “Plazas”, where people can meet, talk or watch TV. People in “Residence halls” are relatively more social. Doors are often open and there is a theme on each floor.
Residence activities Various student activities are organized by resident coordinators, program coordinators, resident assistants and resident government teams. Featured activities include “Geek week exhibition”, “Sound Bath”, “Interactive dance”, etc. We attended an interactive dance themed “I and Me” which encourages the acceptance of true personality inside each one.
Dining Halls in UCLA UCLA caters the culinary needs of students from different cultural backgrounds and runs various dining halls specialising in several regional cuisines, such as the Asian, Mediterranean , European and classic American food. Unlike canteens in universities in Hong Kong, the majority of dining halls in UCLA serve in a all-you-can - eat style. Instead of paying at the cashier , students in UCLA can purchase meal plans at a discounted price , as a part of student welfare.
Department Tours We also made visits to the departments related to our majors in Hong Kong, i.e. the Law School and School of Engineering . These were definitely eye-openers as we could now have a better understanding of the academic development in the United States.
UCLA LGBTQ Centre UCLA is the pioneer in promoting LGBTQ rights in campus in the States. The LGBTQ Centre provides a wide range of support to students in need, including written resources, online chat rooms, anonymous hotlines and regular counseling services. The Centre also sheds light on safe sex by giving advice and offering free condoms for students. Rather than turning a blind eye on sex in campus, the Centre is dedicated to making sure that students know how to protect themselves.
Life in Los Angeles
Farmers’ Market There are dozens of Farmers Markets in the Los Angeles area. We visited the Westwood Farmers market. Fresh fruits, vegetables, dried fruits, flowers, ice cream, pop corns and many other green food are lined along the streets.
Venice Beach and Santa Monica The beaches in Los Angeles are iconic and integral part of Southern California. We visited the Santa Monica Bay and Venice Beach. Besides the clear water and soft sand, the people playing skateboards form another attractive scene. A number of stylish shops are ranged along the street. There are also a lot rides, attractions, and performances in Santa Monica. We were lucky to have seen beavers and dolphins near the beach.
Hollywood and Beverly Hills Hollywood, as the home of entertainment industry, is located in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Driving along the Sunset Avenue, we arrived at the Chinese Theatre and Hollywood Walk of Fame. Some famous names such as Micheal Jackson and Steven Allan Spielberg are seen. We also visited the city of Beverly Hills, the home of some of California’s most opulent homes. It is a small town for the w e a l t h y w i t h c h u r c h e s , restaurants, boutiques and parks.
Getty Center The J.Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, d r a w i n g s, s c u l p t u r e, i l l u m i n a t e d m a nu s c r i p t s, d e c o rat i ve a r t s a n d photography gathered internationally. It was a nice experience to have seems the work of Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet. There is also a beautiful garden in Getty Center with a lot of Californian Poppy, the flower of California.
Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is definitely the landmark attraction in Los Angeles. The various rides such as the Transformers, the Simpsons and the very famous Studios Tours were all so amazing and we for sure had a wonderful time there.
University of South California USC is another well-renowned university and a “rival” of UCLA both historically and culturally. In fact it is so drastically different from UCLA both from its interior and exterior. Excelling in dentistry and movie production, this university has also been nurturing a lot of students with huge success.
Disneyland Disneyland is a must-go location in Los Angeles. We got really lucky since we visited the theme park during its 60 th anniversary celebration and therefore we were able to witness the spectacular special parade.
Food in LA There were so many choices of food in LA and we always had a hard time choosing what to eat !
Grace’s Reflections The exchange visit to UCLA is absolutely a chapter of my best personal experience. I had learnt not only about the residential life style in UCLA but also the working and studying attitude of people there. The opportunity of talking with people in their residential life office, faculty in their departments, and students let me have deeper understanding of their education system. A lot management concepts are shared by both UCLA and City University. Only the programs and activities are quite different in their forms. Many good practices such as promoting water saving in residence, using recyclable tableware in dinner halls, various stress releasing programs, can be combined with our sustainability development plan in our residence. Activities stimulating various interests of students are also worth trying. As a resident tutor, I would like to share what I have seen and learnt in UCLA with fellow tutors and students. I am also willing to focus more on promoting culture diversity and openness to difference in the residence. As a bridge between students and SRO, I will encourage students to practice leadership in these events and build a better living environment.
Anson’s Reflections This trip to UCLA was definitely a dream come true for me and I was truly thankful for this experience which defied description. Apart from the beauty of the city of Los Angeles, I was also pleasantly surprised by a lot of things in the UCLA Residential Life : the diverse dining halls, the wide range of activities held for students as well as their management framework. There were just so many good inspirations for our own residential life development here at CityU. Another thing that intrigued me a lot was the LGBTQ Centre at UCLA. Sex does appear to be a taboo in the Chinese community yet it always exists even if we turn a blind eye to it. Therefore, I think it is worth reconsidering our approach to this matter within our residence and providing more help and assistance to the students. This once-in-a-lifetime experience would be something that I would never forget and I will try my very best to learn from and make good changes to the hall environment here at City U.
Recommend
More recommend
