Okay folks, now it's my turn to write my little note about this past summer. Also, it has been a while since I last posted something and I think it's about time I should post something....anyways back on topic...
At UCI there is this little thing called the Student Parent Orientation Program also known as SPOP. Not SPOP Program, just SPOP. Actually I take that back, SPOP is not little at all. It's big in every way imaginable. It lasts an entire summer. It consists of 140 staffers. It is a program that inspired thousands of freshmen. It is a program that changed the lives of many including staffers. It is something so beautiful you can't describe it. SPOP is something that changed MY LIFE.
My first experience with SPOP was when I came through the program as a freshman last year. I'm not going to lie, it was the best freaking experience of my life. It was such an amazing environment and everyone was so accepting there. I didn't at all have to worry about my personal image and reputation. SPOP provided me a fresh start. A clean slate and the opportunity to be able to express myself and not be judged. My staffers (Lilly Luong, J-Chou, Larry Chu, Chris Gayomali, Erin Rector, and Donald Romain) were just amazing people and were my first impressions of college. I cannot find another word other than amazing to describe those people. They really help me break out of my shell and helped me to love this awesome school as much as they do and to be able to approach UCI with an open mind. After SPOP, I wanted to be staffer just like my staffers.
Fast forward a couple of months and I'm a SPOP staffer. Training has been an amazing experience and I learned a lot from those sessions but I learned the most from my other staffers. The Coords have done such an amazing job of selecting an amazing group of people that I can't even fathom what SPOP would be like without these people. Each and everyone them are amazing people and I have learned so much from each one of them. I enjoyed every moment I spent with all the staffers...all the heart-to-hearts, all the spoptics, the .5's, SpArrowhead, SpVegas, the support, the friendships, the freaking random chanting at 5 in the morning in Vegas, EVERYTHING! I can't explain in words how freaking amazing this program is and how much it means to me. I feel like I really grown a lot from this experience and it is something that I will never, ever forget. After spending an amazing couple of months with this program, I began to see everything in a much different light. All my problems suddenly became miniscule things, I began to appreciate all the little things in life, and most importantly i felt much more comfortable being myself.
SPOP is an amazing thing. Again trying to explain how amazing SPOP in words wouldn't do justice. It is amazing to see how a 140 crazy, amazing, and beautiful people can come together and make a simple program like SPOP a life changing experience. It is simply awesome. I don't think I have ever encountered something like SPOP where it has impacted a 140 lives and more. I have never experienced anything like SPOP. So what makes it so different? Is it the open, welcoming environment? Is it the diversity among the staffers? Is it high-on-life personality that is in every staffer? Is it the contagious laughs and smiles? What is it that makes SPOP stand out from everything else? That is one question that I will never fully be able to answer.
Perhaps one of the most satisfying thing about SPOP is when one of the spoppers pulls you aside and says thank you. Whenever I hear stories of how the other staffers inspired the other spoppers or became the spoppers role-model/hero, I can't just help but smile. Being able to inspire those kids and just help provide an open-welcoming environment has been such a blessing and I don't regret throwing away my entire summer for this program. I love this program and everything it does.
Although Gold year may have ended, I feel like the experience we gained from SPOP is enduring and will stick with us for a long time. Yes, there might be no other experiences as amazing as this one but I'm still young and I have an entire life still to fill with positive memories. This experience has changed me in every positive way possible and I am thankful for that. I remember someone telling me that once a staffer, always a staffer.
"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand, but in what direction we are moving." - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
