
Mytime ucla free#
Melissa: I, along with the other ambassadors, wanted to make sure that all the visiting Amgen Scholars had a good time and got to explore Los Angeles during their free time. Melissa, what did you most want to impress upon Hannah as a local host? I enjoyed getting to know each of them over the summer. I met many interesting people and I got to experience life somewhere different, which was exciting. Melissa, along with the other students I met through the program, were all extremely nice. Southern California is gorgeous and the weather was phenomenal. Hannah: UCLA was definitely very different from Texas A&M, but I really enjoyed my time in Westwood.

Hannah, how did you find UCLA compared to Texas A&M, and how did having Melissa as a buddy change your experience? – and it was really nice hearing about her experiences and learning more about her. Melissa: I definitely would have to say the same about Hannah! We shared a lot of the same passions, but also came from different backgrounds – where we grew up, field of research, etc. She is passionate about research and bettering the lives of others! Hannah: Melissa is extremely sweet and was very easy to talk to when we first met in person last June. I don't know how exactly the pairing worked, but the idea was mainly to extend a warm welcome and ease their transition to Los Angeles.ĭid you find you had a lot in common with your buddy? Patty Phelps, UCLA’s Amgen Scholars Program directors, during which they revealed to us three buddies that we were to reach out to before the summer and answer any questions they may have had. Melissa: The five Amgen students from UCLA (they called us the “ambassadors”) had a meeting with Dr. Her contacting me definitely eased any uneasiness I might have had about moving to Los Angeles for the summer and made me more excited to begin the program. Hannah: The UCLA Amgen Scholars buddy system is a way for current UCLA students to partner with some of the incoming Amgen Scholars before we beginning summer research. Melissa was paired as my buddy, so she contacted me a month or so before I came to Los Angeles for the summer to welcome me to the program and let me know that she could answer any questions for me that I might have.

How did the UCLA buddy system work for you? We chatted with Hannah and Melissa to learn more about their experience and what they have been up to since their Amgen Scholars summer in 2016. The goal is to acclimate new students to the campus, helping them navigate their new environment. A unique part of the institution’s cohort experience, the UCLA buddy system pairs students who attend UCLA with visiting students during the Amgen Scholars Program. Hannah and Melissa were paired together as part of the UCLA buddy system. Their pairing has led to a lifelong friendship and is a defining characteristic of the Amgen Scholars Program for many participants. But the summer before her senior year, Hannah would go to UCLA for her Amgen Scholars research, meeting up with resident-expert Melissa.


Hannah Pearce was born and raised in Houston, also staying in her home state for college, at Texas A&M to pursue bioengineering. Melissa Song was born in China but moved to California when she was 5 years old and stayed in the area for college at UCLA to pursue neuroscience. Buddies for Life: Easing the Transition to UCLA
