<p>The day started with the annoying buzz of my alarm clock awaking me from my deep slumber. Clumsily, I search for the off button and let out a groan of disapproval. The red numbers glow brightly: 6:00AM. The time teases me. As I contemplate getting up, a minute passes: 6:01AM.</p>
<p>I sit up in my bed and internally say Its far too early to be awake. But I get up and welcome in the new day. Today is unlike any other day. Today is orientation day at UCLA!</p>
<p>The time is now 7:30AM and Im on my way to the campus. The drive is about 15 miles on the 405. If youve been on the 405 youll know that there is traffic on that freeway. I hope today is a special day with no traffic. Sadly, my wish doesnt come true and I slow down to a crawl. Thankfully the traffic jam doesnt last long and I arrive at UCLA around 8:00AM.</p>
<p>5 minutes later and $9 poorer (parking) I make my way to Royce hall where I pick up my orientation package which consists of a catalog, a UCLA bag and other miscellaneous items. Starving, I head to the food table and grab a donut and a cup of orange juice.</p>
<p>The time is now 8:50AM and I have been in line for about 40 minutes, waiting for my UCLA ID card. My turn finally comes and I sit in a chair by the corner, look into the camera and await the flash. A few minutes later I became the owner of a UCLA ID. Sweet.</p>
<p>The time is now 9:15AM and I am sitting in a lecture hall with hundreds of seats. It is quite hot. At the front of the hall were many UCLA staff members (faculty, student employees, etc) who each spoke to us. Topics covered included what it means to be a bruin, transitioning to UCLA and course planning & campus resources.</p>
<p>At 11:00AM we are freed from captivity and head down the stairs where our Orientation Counselors (OC) are waiting for us. After a few minutes, our group of seven is complete. Our OC goes over a ton of info with us for about an hour.</p>
<p>At 12:00PM, the time many have been waiting, we head over to grab some lunch. In case youre wondering, which I know youre not, I had a ham sub and Sprite.</p>
<p>At 1:30PM we all met with our departments counselor. She was happy to see us all, and amazingly, she remembered all our names. Very cool. She went over a bunch of info and was very helpful and nice. Im glad shes going to be there for us when we need her.</p>
<p>After this, we all hung around for a while until we had to meet our OC again for a one on one meeting lasting about 15-20 minutes. We then headed to Covel Commons to grab some dinner. I went with pizza and pasta with a glass of lemonade.</p>
<p>We talked for a while and then headed to our OCs room for a Power Point presentation and some more random info. When the clock struck 8:00PM we were able to sign into URSA to sign up for classes.</p>
<p>After this was done we said our goodbyes and parted ways. The day was finally over. I didnt mind the length of the day. I was just tired and ready to go home to relax.</p>
<p>Overall I was glad I decided to attend orientation. I learned some valuable information, got a degree progress update and most importantly, I met my future classmates. We all got along quite well and look forward to seeing them again come Fall quarter.</p>