college life updates part 2

Hiiii! Happy summer! This is a post on some of the highlights from the second half of my spring semester at Scripps. Feel free to check it out if you’d like :)

5C Running Club

Running club was an absolute blast this semester. From meeting multiple times throughout the week, to our club dinners which ran late, to racing the Orange County half marathon/marathon, this semester has been truly amazing! Something I’m especially happy about is that the club has become the closest it’s ever been before. Outside of our four official club meetings per week, we’ve done several game nights, late night fast food runs to Norms and Canes, movie nights, karaoke night, bowling night, and spontaneous dance parties in each others dorm rooms. I was talking to a running club member who said that “It’s rare to find a community that’s made up of so many good people, but running club is one of them.” And it’s true. The people are what make this community so great.

Running club has been one of my favorite parts of the semester, and of college, for that matter. Whether we’re running through the pouring rain together, debating what the word “melon” means (it’s cantaloupe and honey dew, it’s not watermelon), laughing about inside jokes, or chatting past midnight, I’ve enjoyed every moment. I’m grateful to the running club for giving me a sense of belonging on campus, and I can’t wait for many more memories (and runs up Mills Avenue) to come.

I also wanted to say that I’m super grateful for my amazing co-leaders, Katia, Manu, and Vivian. Without each of them, the club would not be as strong as it is. I’m grateful, not only to have them as co-leaders, but also as friends.

I can’t wait for what this next year has in store!

First Love Christian Fellowship

first love is another community that I’m very grateful to be a part of. This semester, I joined the fellowship’s main leadership team, which was probably one of the best decisions that I could’ve made during my time at college. It has plugged me into a wonderful community of people who are looking to follow Jesus and grow in their faith, just like me.

This past semester, I was a co-leader of a first love small group, which is basically a small group of people that you “do life” with. My co-leaders were Viv, Tonya, and Lauren. I genuinely enjoyed co-leading a small group with them because they were my friends, and they were also people I could learn from. The people in our small group were also just amazing human beings (shoutout to Claire, Paloma, Jasmine, Baron, and Betsy…much love for you all!) Some memorable times with the group included getting fro-yo at 21 choices and discussing what each of our “spirit fruits” were (people thought I was a peach), playing night-tennis together at the Pomona tennis courts, cracking up while watching How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and playing basketball together (thank you for carrying, Lauren). God blessed me with such an amazing small group to be part of this semester, and I’m grateful for all of the friendships that formed!

Spring Break

I spent the first half of spring break in the bay are and the second half of spring break with my mom, sister, and two cousins, Erin and Adrienne, in Tucson, Arizona. It was so nice to spend some quality time with my cousins, who I hadn’t seen in years due to the pandemic. We spent a lot of time lounging in the sun while drinking fruit smoothies and munching on chocolate covered bananas. We also took exercise and dance classes together, so now I sort of know how to line dance. Adrienne and Erin are like two big sisters to me, and I was really grateful to finally be able to spend some quality time with them.

Note: If you see a hog/pig looking animal in one of the photos below, it’s a javelina (a.k.a. the cutest animal of the desert)!

Easter Sunday

first love had its very own Easter Service for the first time this past spring! It went wonderfully. The service was smooth, the talk was great (shoutout to Shy), the worship was on point, and most of all, it was a space where people could come together to celebrate Easter and meet new people. I’m proud of our leadership team for helping make this event happen.

Micaela’s visit at Scripps

In April, my friend Micaela came to visit me at Scripps! It ended up being one of my favorite weekends of college. I loved spending time with Micaela and sharing a part of my life that she hadn’t seen yet (me at college!) I took her to the Scripps dining hall, gave her a tour of the campus, and showed her around the dorms. We also took the train to L.A. Union Station (which we had to sprint to catch…poor planning on my part whoops!) and went to Griffith Observatory. The coolest parts of the observatory were the panoramic views of L.A. and the planetarium show which made you feel like you were lying out in the open, gazing up at the spectacular, starry night sky. After the observatory, we went to Little Tokyo and slurped down some delicious ramen. One of our favorite parts of the day was taking the train back to Claremont while chatting and listening to our favorite: Taylor Swift.

a folklore-esque photoshoot

Question: How can you walk through the Scripps College campus without it becoming a photoshoot? Answer: You can’t.

Thanks for all the photos Micaela! ❤️

Senior Appreciation Dinner

In April, the running club had a senior appreciation dinner where we celebrated the seniors who were graduating. I have a special connection with the class of 2023 because they’re the class that I entered college with, and they’re also the original members of running club. I remember those early days of running club where there were only a handful of us. Vivian and Katia, both seniors who just graduated, were two of the people who helped me start running club. Sidney was one of my original running buddies who always pushed me during our workouts, and Isabella has always been our club cheerleader from day one. We also had a bunch of seniors who joined the club in the past couple years, including Andrew, Lucas, Kate, Katie, Sophie, and Kyu. I’m going to miss their presence so much next year. I’m glad we got an opportunity to recognize and appreciate each of the seniors during our dinner celebration. They all helped make running club the community that it is!

Orange County Half Marathon/Marathon

5C Running Club raced in the Orange County Half Marathon and Marathon on May 7th, 2023!! We had 17 half marathon runners and 5 marathon runners who raced, and it was a lot of people’s first half marathon/marathon ever.

The morning started at 4:20am when we met in a parking lot to head over to Newport Beach. I was glad that everyone actually showed up, even if we were only half conscious.

When we got to the race around 6:05am, we rushed over to the starting line because the race was already about to start! Before we knew it, we were running. There were thousands of people racing alongside us, which brought an energy that everyone could feel. The race course took us through downtown Newport Beach, toward the ocean, along the coastline, and through lush neighborhood streets. As we ran along the coast, we could see the glistening blue ocean to our left and massive beach houses to our right. It reminded me a lot of San Diego. It was one of the most beautiful runs I’ve ever done before. There’s also something about running early in the morning that’s so serene—everything is quiet and peaceful, and you get to take in the world before it wakes up.

I felt strong throughout the whole race—I even found myself enjoying it. As I passed mile 10, I still felt like I had a good amount of energy left, which greatly contrasts how I felt during the first half marathon I raced back in 2019. I think that running all those hills in Claremont really prepared me for the course. The hills in the race didn’t look so big after running up 2.7-mile long hills in Claremont.

At the last mile, I heard my parents yell “Maya!” and I saw them waving at me. They came to cheer me and the running club on, which meant a lot to me. Seeing them there reminded me of my cross country days in high school. During races, my dad used to say “power boost!” whenever I ran passed him, and my mom used to chase after me just so that she could see me finish. I’m grateful to have parents who have cheered me on from day one.

About half a mile from the end of the race, I could see the finish line in the distance. I started to pick up my pace, and as I was running down the finishing shoot, I heard some more people cheer my name. I turned and saw 4 people from the running club, Justin, Ryan, Camille, and Sam, cheering for me! It was so great to see them, and that gave me one last good push to the finish. Finishing felt like such an accomplishment. I smiled up at the sky, thanked God, and then I chugged a couple bottles of water.

I ended up running the half marathon in 1 hour and 51 minutes (8:31 minutes/mile), which exceeded my expectations of running it in over 2 hours. I was happy to see an improvement compared to the last half I ran in 2019. Right now, I feel motivated to keep running longer distances…maybe even a marathon is in the horizon 👀 (Erika, Sophie, Ellie, Manu, and Andrew have inspired me).

After crossing the finish and catching my breath, I joined my teammates who were cheering. They all congratulated me and gave me high fives. We cheered on the rest of the half marathon and marathon runners, which ended up being one of my favorite parts of the day. I enjoyed seeing my friends finish and then giving them sweaty hugs afterwards.

Once everyone finished, we took some pictures together and then a group of us headed to Corona Del Mar State Beach. It was the perfect day for the beach. The sun was out, the sand was warm, and the water was a bright glistening blue. We set up camp and gobbled down a bunch of Subway sandwiches while hanging out and debriefing about the race. It was a perfect way to unwind.

I’ll always remember this day with the running club. It was one of the best days of college for me because I got to share a sense of accomplishment with my friends and family. And I’m proud of all the work and planning we did as running club leaders to make this day happen. It was a great way to end an incredible semester.

My friends graduated!

I’ll miss my friends who graduated so much next year, but I’m grateful for all the memories we’ve shared during college together. I’m excited for what’s to come for each one of them!! One more year of college, and then I’ll be joining you all 😉

Some more pictures :)