COSMOS Staff Interview: Andrea

By: Harshini Sanjay and Sharada Kittur

Andrea Nuno, an incoming third and final year undergraduate student double majoring in Environmental Science and Policy as well as Urban Studies is one of two RAs of Calmindon Hall, Floor 3. She attended Vista Murrieta High School located in Murrieta, California and is set to graduate from UC Irvine in the next academic year.

Q: Why did you join COSMOS as an RA? What do you enjoy about it? Are you an alum?

A: This is my first time doing COSMOS. I joined because, as an Environmental Science major, taking Professor Elizabeth Crooke’s biology class and hearing her advertise COSMOS as well as knowing friends who’ve done COSMOS before made me want to join. I get to interact with the youth, not that I’m old, but I thought it would be fun to talk to high schoolers and give them guidance. I’m a first generation college student, because my parents didn’t go to college and I would have loved to have a college student to talk to. Applying to college and college itself is scary. I just wanted to help out! Not an alum though.

Q: What are some struggles you went through in high school or college?

A: In high school, for me, it was balancing a lot of AP classes with extracurriculars. I was a big leadership student - I was a Student Senator, in NHS (National Honor Society), I started French Club and Discussion Club, I was a dancer, I did a lot in high school. You have to find that balance: you have to study, do these extracurriculars, but you also have to take care of yourself. I was kind of bad at it; I was stressed all the time. I’m not too much better at it in college but a step forward is a step forward. In college, as a first generation student, it’s kind of daunting to be alone. I can’t really ask my parents about what classes I need to take or tell them about something happening because they’re at the same stage as me. It’s been a bit difficult but UCI has a lot of resources, such as counselors, offices, and my own friends. 

Q: Why did you commit to UCI? Would you recommend it to other students?

A: When I was deciding where to go to college, I was choosing between UCI and UC Santa Barbara. I’m not really a party person – I’m more on the reserved side and UCI has a reputation for being a little more calmer. Our social life isn’t super crazy. UCI is also a lot closer to home; it’s an hour away from me while UCSB was three hours away. I thought the atmosphere at UCI would be better for me. I was also accepted at UCSB as a Financial Statistics major and I don’t like math. I thought Environmental Sciences would be more interesting for me. I would recommend UCI to other people but I also think it depends on what you’re looking for in your college experience - not everyone’s college life is the same. It’s so different for everyone - you cannot compare your experience to someone else’s, they’re like night and day. It’s what you want to get out of it but UCI is a great school and a very safe campus and the beach is only fifteen minutes away, too.

Q: What is your favorite part of UCI?

A: I really like the park. I love urban planning, the way cities and buildings are designed. I think it’s cool that we’re a circle - it’s very unique to us. I haven’t seen other college campuses structured the way we are. You never get lost – well, you could get lost, I’ve gotten lost a few times. But the park is beautiful and it’s this big circle. Fun fact is that all the trees in the park save UCI millions of dollars every year, because there’s something about the evapotranspiration that plants go through that cools down the atmosphere. UCI spends millions of dollars less on AC and cooling - it’s a cool asset! You can go there and have a picnic, too!

Q: What was the bts planning like for the program? What's it like currently, for the events and field trips?

A: In the weeks leading up to COSMOS, the RAs did training and we went over safety protocols, what to do in emergencies. But we also had three weeks to make all these decorations and choose our themes. For Annika, Sam, and I, we chose Ghibli. I was the influencer for that because I love Studio Ghibli and we just decorated at home for that. For activities, it was a little more on the week-to-week basis except for Casino Night (which is going to be really exciting). But the RAs sign up for activities that we wanted to do and as they get closer, we get into groups and have meetings to plan them out. 

Q: Why did you choose Ghibli for the theme?

A: What we tried to do was make them very character-based just because it helps us be more immersed when decorating. Someone wanted to do cities, like New York City would be a floor, but that would be very vague. You can either do very little for that or a lot, so we wanted to make sure every RA had an equal playing field for how much they could contribute. That’s how we decided to do movies and characters. We also thought it would be cute to separate the floor into three sections: the general area is Kiki’s Delivery Service, the women’s side is Totoro, and the men’s side is Ponyo. Because Studio Ghibli is such a big studio, we felt that we had a lot of variety with that - and who doesn’t love Totoro? He’s my favorite character, so I was biased.

Q: What are your future plans after college?

A: I want to get my master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning and I have to start looking into that more since I’m graduating after this year. I’ve been looking at UCI; I love the faculty for Urban Planning and the environment in general. I want to also get a job… and pay bills!

Q: If you could attend one cluster of your choice, which one would it be? If not, which one would you add?

A: I don’t know what cluster it is but the Sustainable Aviation one (insert Harshini’s surprised gasp and an exclamation of “that’s my cluster!”). It sounds so cool! I love aviation; my dad is a pilot so I’ve grown up around planes and flying. One of my earliest memories is of him taking myself and my two brothers to fly, so I love all things plane related. Also, sustainability has to do a lot with what I study. If I had to add one, I don’t know if this is really STEM related, but designing a sustainable city is something I think about a lot, especially regarding transportation. Something I get really upset about is car-centric places. First of all, traffic is so annoying; who wants to sit through that? But it’s also just horrible for the environment, with so much combustion and greenhouse gasses. I think it would be cool for COSMOS students to design their ideal cities. I’ve always thought about designing one on Minecraft; that would be fun! It’s not just thinking about reducing greenhouse gasses but also about how to interact with people to do so. 

Q: What's next for the program? What can we expect in the next two weeks?

A: We have a lot of bigger events going on; we have Karaoke Night and Casino Night coming up. Every RA works that one and it’s nice to dress up and take pictures with the friends you’ve made. Our last field trip is going to the Angel’s Game, which I’m excited about because I haven’t been to a baseball game before. It’s also a bittersweet experience because you’re going into your last two weeks here since you’re halfway through. Just enjoy the last two weeks we have and go to all of the activities that the very cool RAs have been planning… And your projects! You all get to present your very special projects too.

Q: Advice for high schoolers, COSMOS attendees, or students in general?

A: I’d say enjoy the moment and don’t stress yourself out too much. I think that if I looked back to myself as a high schooler, everything that troubled me back then didn’t matter in a few months or a year or so. I mean, things matter because they affect you in a way but everything turns out okay. For applying to college, even if you get rejected from your dream school, it’s okay. For example, I really wanted to go to UCLA – no hate to UCI – but I got waitlisted and it didn’t work out. But everything turned out fine here, because if I hadn’t come to UCI, I wouldn’t have discovered my major and I’m really happy with it. I would just say that everything passes. Take the time to process your feelings in the moment but don’t let it weigh you down too much.

Andrea is the epitome of positivity and hard work and displays how all struggles will pass with perseverance and belief in one’s self. We thank Andrea for her time and wish her all the very best for her upcoming graduation and future endeavors!