Mary Ciecek Ciecek was an assistant
photo editor in 1999-2000.
I often wonder how many other people feel as lucky as I do to
have been able to go to UCLA. If you haven’t realized how
great of an opportunity it is to be here, take a moment away from
classes and books because you will never find an answer there. You
can learn and read at any school. What makes UCLA so special are
the experiences you have here.
Most of my opportunities have come while taking pictures for the
Daily Bruin. Where else could I have stepped onto the field at the
Rose Bowl and looked up at 80,000 Bruin fans? And where else would
I have been when those same Bruin fans dug deep down, when they
knew it counted most, to make the sound on the floor of Pauley
Pavilion deafening? I wouldn’t have traveled to Stanford to
see anyone but the Bruins upset the number one basketball team in
the nation at a point when winning was everything.
Sports photography has truly defined my time at UCLA. Watching
the fans from the field or the floor has helped me realize why I
love being a Bruin. For the span of a game, everyone forgets what
group they belong to, what cause they are fighting for, what
classes they are taking, and we just enjoy being what we all are:
Bruins. When it all comes down to it, I hope the common thing about
us all is that blue and gold runs through our veins. Differences
will always exist between us, but I hope that we can respect the
experience we shared here in Westwood and just be Bruins.
So many people have contributed to my experience at UCLA and I
would like to thank a few. To the women of Gamma Phi Beta, thank
you for making my last year here amazing. Forever in IIKE. To JB,
for eight years you have always been the one friend I come back to,
thank you for always being there. To Grandma, without your support,
I would have never gotten to spend these last four, wonderful years
here. To my mom, everything I have done here has been so much
better because I was able to share it with you.
My opportunities and experiences here are ones I know I never
would have gotten anywhere else. I am entering a time in my life
when my future has never been more uncertain, but I do know one
thing. Having been a Bruin, I’ve never been more prepared
than I am now to take that unknown step.