Imagine: the caramelized aroma you smell when entering the door, the delicious treats you see on display, the barista calling out an order. There you are, at a coffee shop, what a blissful moment. It is definitely for Lana as going to coffee shops with friends is a form of self-care for her after long stressful weeks of schoolwork and club duties (I relate to this but it's boba for me).
Who is Lana you ask? Lana Nguyen is a second-year undergraduate student at UCI.
She came to attend UCI after loving the school’s atmosphere and Irvine’s vast urban city. Family proximity was also a big plus for Lana as she has family living in Orange County. She also has family support on campus as four of her cousins also attend the school!
“Knowing that I would have family down here and then one of my cousins gave me a tour of the campus, and I just really saw myself down here.”
Focusing on Lana’s school life, she is a psychological science major with a minor in education and hearing speech sciences. She is also a board member of UCI’s Circle K, a community service, leadership, and fellowship club. She is also a part of the Vietnamese Student Association’s dance team, TRANCE. You can tell how actively involved she is within her UCI community. For a closer perspective, a typical school day for Lana would be waking up at around 7 AM to get ready for her morning classes, commuting about 25 minutes to UCI. After her morning classes, she would either study on campus or at a coffee shop, waiting for her afternoon classes. Not only does Lana study during these gaps, but she also prepares for her Circle K meetings or service events. In certain evenings Lana has dance practice with TRANCE, where she is currently learning a dance to the song Ca Phe by Min. When practice is over, she spends time with her friends or littles that are part of her CKI group. After all of that, Lana drives back home, does her nightly routine, some schoolwork, and sleeps at around 3 AM.
“And then the cycle repeats. I'm kinda sleep deprived, but that's pretty much I guess a day of my life.”
Knowing how busy her life can be sometimes, Lana admits to not prioritizing her own mental health at times. There have been moments where she has felt overwhelmed, causing her to experience burnout, with her body physically giving up on her. Nonetheless, she recuperates by taking care of her body, such as sleeping more, in order for her body to return to its normal Lana self again. Spending time with her social support is also a form of self-care for her. Lana becomes rejuvenated when trying out different coffee shops with friends as it is an oasis from all of her stressful school responsibilities. Being from Northern California, she is still on the search in finding her favorite coffee shop in Irvine. Although she has to return to her schoolwork at one point, she recommends studying with a friend for an extra boost of motivation. With spending time with her friends, both productively and for enjoyment, Lana is able to balance both her academic and personal life without overexerting herself as much.
“I guess I incorporated it by just trying to fit it into my schedule. Even though I am very busy. Once in a while, I try doing something fun with people.”
Overall, she emphasizes how important one’s own wellbeing is and how it should be talked about more. She expresses how mental health encapsulates not only taking care of one’s physical health through exercise and eating well but doing things that makes one happy and taking breaks when needed.
What continues to keep Lana motivated is having goals of a specific thing she wants to do, later maintaining those objectives in her mind. With this positive motivation, Lana is determined to achieve her goals, especially her career ones. After becoming fascinated with psychology and her enjoyment of working with kids, Lana wanted to become a child therapist, which is why she majored in psychological science and minored in education. However, after meeting with a speech language pathologist during the summer, she wanted to become a children’s speech pathologist, adding the hearing and speech science minor.
“As I mentioned before, I really just want to make a difference in children's lives, whether that's being a therapist or a speech language pathologist. I want to be a positive influence on children's lives.”
Focusing on herself, Lana’s personal goals are towards her mental health. She wishes to further improve on her wellbeing in the future, mainly learning how to say no to specific things and cease in being a people pleaser. She also echoes this piece of personal wellbeing to her fellow UCI community as it is critically important to put one’s mental health first. Her final piece of advice, however, is assurance to the UCI community. Even if certain things are not working out, such as receiving a bad grade and feeling that it is the end of the world, it will work out in the end, as one always finds the path that is destined for them.
Important advice given by a psychological science major, that everyone, even if you are not an undergrad, should consider. Interviewing Lana was a delight as I was able to listen about her passion of becoming a children’s speech pathologist and how committed she is to her extracurriculars, truly an admirable undergrad of the School of Social Ecology.
