Rule #76

"Never make excuses. Your friends don't need them and your foes won't believe them."
— John Wooden

As funny as Wedding Crashers Rule #76 is, it is incredibly valid. As are the wonderful words of John Wooden.

Strive to only take actions that you would be proud of, that your friends and family would be proud of; but if you mess up don't make excuses. Take responsibility for the things you've done. If you made a mistake, admit it, learn from it, and move forward.

Dance Til Your Feet Ache and Your Eyes Want To Close

UCLA's Dance Marathon was this weekend. This was my second year participating in this awesome event that raises money and awareness for Pediatric Aids. On Saturday morning I entered Ackerman Grand Ballroom with the intention to dance and stay on my feet for a full 26 hours. 700+ dancers all stood up together at 11am, and we did not sit down again until 1pm on Sunday. The event was even more amazing than the first time I did it. Standing on your feet and staying awake for that long is incredibly difficult, painful, tiring, and INSPIRING. I had a wonderful time with all of my friends. And when I got home I went to sleep for 16 hours =)

As a whole, all those participating in Dance Marathon raised $410,530.68. Team Alpha Delta Pi, with our 50+ registered dancers raised $13,079.21! We were the number two fund raising team of the entire event! We more than doubled what we raised last year as a team, which is absolutely amazing!

Sitting down before dancing for 26 hours

Two of the AMAZING kids who spoke of behalf of one of the organizations DM benefits. Both of the boys have HIV and they spoke so beautifully about their lives and how things like DM make it better. It was fun to see them having such a great time.

The senior dancers and our moralers who came and hung out with us from 12am-3am

The three seniors right before POWER HOUR (the final hour)

$410,530.68. The total amount raised this year by UCLA Dance Marathon-ers. The most in UCLA's 10 years of putting on Dance Marathon!

I Watch Too Much YouTube

It's official... I'm obsessed. I don't care so much for the viral videos of people injuring themselves, or cats playing pianos (although the whistling puppy is quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen).

On the contrary, I am one of the only people I know that legitimately subscribes to vloggers (video bloggers for my less internet savvy friends). Phillip DeFranco, Toby Turner, Tyler Oakley, Dan Brown, iJustine, and Catrific are just some of the names of vloggers that I watch constantly. I check YouTube for new updates from these people almost as often as I check facebook. I am fascinated by the fact that many of them are making a career out of making (sometimes incredibly simple) videos about their life. I wonder how they got in to it, what made them gain such huge followings, and how the heck the are lucky enough to get such a cool "job".
My attempts to get friends to understand and enjoy these videos with me has never been particularly successful. And yet, there is a massive community of people out there that watch these people talk about random stuff on a regular basis. Here's an example of a typical Toby Turner vlog, he just happens to be my most recent favorite. Enjoy. Bless your face (if you don't get that watch the video).

Valentine's Day in Fourth Grade

Remember when you were in elementary school and everyone had to give valentines to the entire class? I would sit there the night before (I was a procrastinator even in fourth grade) with my little class roster and store-bought pack of-whatever TV show I loved at the time- Valentine's Day cards picking out which were the best-giving those to my friends- and which ones were lame-giving those to the kids I didn't like. I always wondered what all the little boys in my class thought of having to do that... Even for me it felt like a silly task (although I always liked decorating the paper bag that my valentines went in).

Meh... For today I will simply make an effort to celebrate those around me whom I adore and not worry about everything else. Happy Valentine's Day!

Inspiration

Lately I have been far too obsessed with reading tons of different Tumblr blogs, but I didn't feel like that was the right place for me to start actually, legitimately blogging. My friend Emily, an Alpha Delta Pi leadership consultant has created a fabulous blog that I enjoy reading quite frequently (http://emilysnowden.blogspot.com/), as such I've decided to follow her lead and create my own.

With my senior year rapidly coming to a close, and my future closing in on me I've noticed myself and my priorities beginning to change. College is and has been a wonderful experience; I've had (too much) fun, met fabulous friends, and gotten an education from one of the top schools in the country. I've struggled, grown, matured, and succeeded. And now, I am ready to move on to a new city (maybe multiple cities) and a new challenge.

My recent interviews for the job I want (more than anything) after graduation, have forced me to reflect on the many things I've done throughout my four years here at UCLA. I've examined my successes and failures, questioned my actions and emerged from it all with such a confidence in myself and a readiness to take on whatever my next step may be.

All of that, and all the people I've met who've helped me become the person that I am now are my inspiration. With the future somewhat unknown, there are times when I feel that I might as well just flip a coin... Heads-Carolina, Tails-California.