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Channel Islands: UCSB Senior Year Bucket List
Senior year at UCSB meant trying to check off as many experiences as I could. At the top of my bucket list was making it to the Channel Islands. So when the opportunity presented itself, I pounced, blood pounding when a signup list came out for a trip in April. There were 15 of us girls, mostly strangers until we slowly gathered in front of UCSB’s Excursion Club house, exchanging names and distributing food while the sun rose over the ocean across the street, dusting the sky a light pink color. They would be my companions for the next two days, people I hoped to share my top senior year…
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Creating a Happy City
Written for a class on happiness communication, I used Montgomery’s Happy City to explore the creation of a city with people in mind. An idyllic city should be the perfect environment to situate its residents with all the tools they need for a happy life. American cities as we know them are the case studies for books like Happy City with their “layers of imported traffic, noise, pollution, and road danger, [that] do not currently meet our needs for well-being much better than the sprawl” (Montgomery, 2014, p. 77). Cities are concrete, man-made, fabricated realities that do not serve everyone. Integrating collectivist values that benefit everyone, such as public spaces…
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A Last Minute Drive to San Carpoforo
There are very few reasons to say no to the spontaneity of adventure. I like to think I could be ready for anything with a 15 minute notice— less if it’s just a hike, walk, run, sunset outing or something of that sort. And sometimes the best trips are the last minute ones, the “I have friends going skiing, camping, [insert outdoorsy, adventurous activity], do you want to join?” ones. When I was asked if I wanted to camp on the beach near Big Sur, I was in. My adventure buddy and I drove north, stopping through Solvang, an adult theme-park-esque town (drinks included), Morro Bay, and trusty Trader Joe’s…
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The Friends I Made in Bologna
I could walk the streets of Bologna in my sleep. My route into the city from the little studio apartment I rented near Giardini Margherita is as familiar to me as my walk to elementary school. The park, the old city gate, two of my favorite gelaterias ever, Via Guerrazzi to walk to class, lots of oranges and browns and reds, Piazza Santo Stefano, and then the heart of the city: the Due Torri and Piazza Maggiore. Part of why Bologna is so special to me is because of the people I met there. It took time to find my people, but the ones that stuck with me— Julie, Lien,…
