Inverted Fountain

When I first started this site, I planned on writing the accounts of all my previous adventures and slowly move up to present day. However, my final months of undergrad were so time demanding that I haven't gotten the chance to tell those tales. Tomorrow morning I am flying to Europe to journey around as well as study history in Paris for my last college units. Thus, my previous travels will have to wait as I try to fill this dot-com "journal" with my new adventures.

In the mean time, I'll share a poem I wrote about the Inverted Fountain. The tradition is that all incoming freshman (and transfers) place their hand in the fountain to be "bruintized" as a UCLA Bruin. After that, students are not allowed to touch the water again until they graduate otherwise they will be cursed with bad luck and an extra quarter onto their time at the university. The fountain was shut off due to construction and I was afraid my graduating class would not have the chance to partake in this long tradition. I started a petition to garner support for halting construction during the week of graduation. It gained many supporters and the attention of local media which prompted the administration to listen to our request.

Today was the first day all year
That I've seen the Inverted Fountain running.
Sitting on the ledge,
Picturing myself reconnecting with it
In only nine days.
The sound of the water
Rushing over the stones
Being pulled to the center,
Blocks out the conversations
Of students walking by.
I am lost in my thoughts.
Four years ago,
I dipped my hand into the fountain
Not knowing how much
The initiation as a Bruin
Would shape me.
As I stare off into
The seemingly endless waterfall
And mentally prepare myself
For graduation,
I understand that
Our life is like this fountain.
It is as significant and limitless
As we choose to perceive it.

Congratulations UCLA Class of 2013