Another school year has come to a close, and thus it is time to bid farewell to another class of Psi seniors. From leadership positions and helping hands to new members to late night meetings and countless hours devoted to both band and Psi, these seniors have truly left a lasting impact on our organization. Though this year's unexpected ending meant many cherished traditions to honor these wonderful individuals were cancelled or postponed, we hope you will join us in celebrating their accomplishments here and welcoming them into the alumni community. Congratulations to the Class of 2020!  

Sofia Alemania
Future Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Instrument: Trombone 
Major, (Minor): Psychology (Classical Civilizations) 
Class: BY
Officer Position: Treasurer (2017-18) 
Plans after graduation: “I am currently in the process of interviewing with various jobs, mostly revolving around research. I hope to apply the wide spectrum of knowledge that I learned at UCLA to my future career and continuously learn and grow. ”
Looking forward as an alumna: “Giving back to the Psi chapter as a mentor and engaging with the UCLA band and all of its traditions from an alumni’s perspective.”  
Fun Fact/Favorite Memory: “Getting to perform for Michelle Obama’s College Signing Day will always be a memory I will treasure. Being a part of such an iconic marching band in a with such rich traditions and opportunities has been the honor of a lifetime.”

Casey Armstrong
Future Residence: Belmont, CA
Instrument: Trumpet 
Major: Physics 
Class: BY
Officer Position: Seargent-at-Arms (2019-20)
Staff Positions: Uniform Crew (2017-18); Uniform Crew Head (2018-2020)   
Plans after graduation: “I will continue doing research at UCLA for the EPSS department.”
Looking forward as an alumna: “Having more freedom to explore hobbies and other things I enjoy!​"
​Fun Fact/Favorite Memory: “​My favorite place to study on campus is the patio on the third floor of the Physics and Astronomy Building! I only found it during my second year at UCLA, but it’s really nice (although sometimes physics labs do experiments up there which is not fun)."

Matthew Chin
Future Residence: South San Fransico, CA
Instrument: Alto Sax 
Major: Materials Science and Engineering 
Class: BY
Plans after graduation: “I'm going to graduate school for a Masters degree.”
Looking forward as an alumnus: “Continuing to connect with my fam and watch them grow!"
​Fun Fact/Favorite Memory: “​The coolest club I participated in at UCLA was marching band :') I never imagined I would've spent all four years of my undergraduate experience immersed in marching band, but I'm so glad I did!"

Vito Emanuel
Future Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Instrument: Trumpet 
Majors: English, Political Science 
Class: BY
Officer Position: Brotherhood Relations Officer (2017-18)
Plans after graduation: “I'm planning to spend 1-2 gap years working for a nonprofit, then law school thereafter.”
Looking forward as an alumnus: “Being able to reconnect with new and old faces alike at degree and being part of a lifetime network of friends and bands-members."
​Fun Fact/Favorite Memory: “​Personally, it was writing for the Undergraduate Law Journal at UCLA! I had a really academically enriching experience and it was great to dip my toes in legal scholarship. A more fun activity was definitely writing news pieces and op-ed columns for the Daily Bruin. Knocking down professors' doors and holding administrators accountable was rewarding, and to feel like I was helping inform my community made it all the better. Of course, marching band was a constant highlight throughout my time at UCLA as well -- I have made enough friends here to last two lifetimes.​"

Eduardo Gordiano
Future Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Instrument: Trumpet 
Major: Mathematics for Teaching 
Class: BY
Plans after graduation: “I am finishing up my masters in Education and will be teaching high school math at Thomas Jefferson High.”
Looking forward as an alumnus: "Being able to branch out to other alumni and do more with my time!"
Fun Fact/Favorite Memory: “UCLATLAN, the UCLA's mariachi group, was one of my favorite groups that I was a part of! I hope those of Latinx culture or those who love the culture try out for it!"

Jade McVay
Future Residence: Rocklin, CA
Instrument: Feature Twirler
Major, (Minor): BioEngineering (BioInformatics)
Class: BY
Plans after graduation: “Going into industry! I hope to do something with software development or data analysis, especially in healthcare systems.”
Looking forward as an alumna: “I won't have the absurd amount of homework I do now, I'll get PAID, and I'll be making an actual impact in the world (hopefully)!"
Fun Fact/Favorite Memory: “I got a selfie with Sabrina Williams on BruinWalk my freshman year. ​"

On May 2, 2020, the Beta Psi class hosted its first fundraising event as New Actives! Originally intended to be a physical event on Bruinwalk, this super SWEET online event brought out the creativity and silliness in all participants.

During the first Kappa Kappa Psi Pie-in-the-Face Fundraiser, Chapter members, as well as their friends and family, had the opportunity to pay to pie other members in the face over Zoom! 

There were a few people who pied themselves, but most volunteers were pied by a parent, sibling, or roommate in their household, which made the experience funnier and more interactive! This prompted a lot more participants, and pretty soon, family members and friends were joining the call and paying the chapter’s Venmo to pie certain Psi members!

Not everyone had whipped cream lying around the house, so there were many creative alternatives involved! Brothers were getting pied with chocolate pudding, shaving cream, lotion, and mashed potatoes; some were even sprayed with hose water!

Band Director Kevin McKeown himself attended the Zoom call, and was pied multiple times by practically everyone in attendance.
Overall, it was a really fun and successful event for Chapter, and a great way for everyone to see each other again, despite quarantine!

As the ultimate finale, everyone on the call pied themselves one last time, at the exact same time!

​After completing candidate lessons, candidate projects, and interviews, the Beta Psi candidate class was looking forward to celebrating Third Degree and becoming active brothers on Saturday, April 11, 2020! But then, the unexpected happened with the COVID-19 pandemic, and soon enough, our Spring Quarter became remote… Oh no, would we be able to become actives this Quarter after everything we’ve been through?

​The answer was a resounding “Yes!” Although we wouldn’t be able to partake in Third Degree immediately, we would transition into active brothers on Saturday, April 18, 2020. So on that date, a graduation was planned by our amazing Vice President and “Guiding Spirit” Erica Vellanoweth with the help from her Membership Committee! At 5:00 PM, members of the Beta Psi Class as well as brothers of the Psi Chapter gathered over Zoom to welcome the Psi Chapter’s newest class of Actives! 

The program started as a joint celebration with PsiEK Vice Presidents Erica Vellanoweth and Kerianne Brennan commemorating how far Psi’s Beta Psi Class and EK’s Alpha Omega class have come in terms of lessons learned and meaningful bonds formed. Then, in a brief intermission, each organization separated to have their own unique and personalized recognition of their soon-to-be actives, after which, Erica continued to emcee Psi’s ceremony. The next speaker was myself, as I served as Beta Psi Class President, and I delivered a reminiscent reflection of our undeniable spirit of brotherhood, our 10 PM candidate lessons, and our inside jokes/memes made throughout the candidate process (highlights include: numerous amounts of 8 Claps, the Rasputin dance from Just Dance 2, and the beloved Cowboy Emoji). 

​Then, in arguably the most emotional and touching part of the graduation, each of our bigs presented a beautiful PowerPoint slide that included their favorite memory with us, a chosen superlative & patronus, and of course, favorite pictures of us! We were all incredibly touched by the kind words that our bigs had to say! Finally, after getting through all 29 slides, the final speech came from our Psi President Daniel Fernandez, and it was impactful as expected! To finish off our graduation, with Daniel’s strike of the gavel, Beta Psi was no longer a group of candidates, and we officially became your newest actives! As the graduation ended, some families gathered to keep the celebration going; one example being a few brothers of the Petrissage fam playing rounds of Skribbl.io and chatting over Zoom! What a fun & memorable evening/night it was!! 

Ultimately, we would like to thank everyone who supported us through our candidate process, especially our bigs, all the brothers in our lines/fams, all those who interviewed with us, and the alumni who were part of our inspirational alumni panel! We can’t wait to bring our service, music, and leadership to the brotherhood and continue building on the amazing foundation provided to us by every brother before us! Get ready to hear a lot from us over the next 3 years because we are full of energy, passion, creativity, and love to share with the Psi Chapter and everyone around us!  In the meantime though, stay safe and, as always, AEA! (Fun fact: we still have no idea what this means, and it will be revealed to us in “due time.” But honestly, “due time” can’t seem to come soon enough!)

On a Friday afternoon in the middle of May, I prepared myself, a newly inducted Active in Psi, to meet my assigned mentor through Psi’s Alumni Mentor Program. My mentor, Caitlin Thompson, was a member of Beta Rho and continued on into the field of Public Policy as an Anthropology major. Being a Political Science major myself, I really wanted to gain the perspective of someone who not only was working in the field I wanted to go into, but also was able to graduate from UCLA while balancing multiple responsibilities (something I’ve learned is hard enough to do on its own). 

Admittedly, I was a bit nervous at first, my natural timidness not helped by the fact that I was soon going to be doing a Zoom call with someone who was, until that moment, a complete stranger. Fortunately, my fears were alleviated as soon as I got the chance to actually talk to my mentor. We talked about our lives, our hobbies, and about how career paths and interests can change as you continue on through college. More than conversations strictly about careers in public policy, Caitlin gave me helpful tips about college life and the great advice to make sure that I take time for self-care, especially during these difficult times. 

​While it was definitely insightful to talk to my alumni mentor about career related topics, I felt especially happy that I was simply able to reach out to an alumnus that I had previously not known. I felt I was able to have a genuine conversation about my everyday activities and how I was dealing with college life, this being especially meaningful since this year turned out much different than I expected. I’m glad I had the opportunity to reach out to my mentor and I'm excited to be able to talk to alumni in the future!

When we first found out that Spring Quarter was going to be conducted entirely remotely in light of the pandemic, Andy Nguyen and I, as Psi and EK’s (PsiEK’s) Directors of Service, were at a loss for what to do about our 2020 Day of Music and Leadership we had been preparing for.

As a new tradition still in its early years, PsiEK’s Day of Music and Leadership (DoMaL) is a day-long event that focuses on inviting high school musicians from the LA area to UCLA to spend the day with Psi and EK learning about leadership, music, and self-development in a variety of workshops that Brothers and Sisters put together.

For the past few years, the highlight of the event has been the culminating Reading Band, in which all of the high school students, along with the Brothers and Sisters present, form a large sight-reading band conducted by graduate students or faculty from UCLA’s own Herb Alpert School of Music.

With the sudden transition to remote instruction and UCLA operating almost entirely remotely (campus shut down and all), preparations for just about all of PsiEK’s operations were suddenly riddled with ambiguity and uncertainty.

It took a lot of communication, collaboration, and trust, but little by little, we got the ball rolling on putting together a virtual DoMaL. Andy and I reconvened and agreed to do our best to make a virtual DoMaL happen. From there, we spoke at length regarding what the event would look like, reinstated the necessary committees, communicated with the workshop leaders, and so forth.

In the process, we realized that we would have to cut some parts that would typically be included in the in-person event - for example, trying to get dozens of people to sight-read and play music together, in time, over a Zoom call for a remote Reading Band.

Regardless, PsiEK still managed to put on a successful and worthwhile virtual DoMaL for high schoolers!
Mid-morning the day of the event, I booted up my Zoom to welcome dozens of high schoolers alongside Andy. After explaining how the event would operate remotely, the welcome meeting dispersed and I spent the day popping in and out of different Zoom calls, delighted to see the many workshops running smoothly with a vibrant and engaged audience of high schoolers.

Brothers and Sisters this year hosted workshops on woodwind techniques, brass methods, leadership in music, collaboration in leadership, public speaking, college applications, and more! I even hosted my own workshop on self-care in a quarantine and had a lovely conversation with a group of high school students and fellow Brothers and Sisters about what self-care looks like for us and how we can improve on caring for our best selves.

After all of the workshops, the virtual event ended with a laughter-filled Question and Answer session with a group of Brothers and Sisters for the high school students. We shared a lot of stories about music, college, and life with each other and had fun providing guidance to the high school musicians in the rest of their journeys as students, musicians, and people.

With immense gratitude, I am happy to say that PsiEK’s 2020 virtual DoMaL was a resounding success!

In the age of the quarantine, the brothers and sisters of PsiEK clamored for something exciting to do. With all of our classes online and everyone stuck at home, we had lost not only our motivation to study, but the heart-pounding stress of the fast-paced quarter system. We couldn’t take it anymore, and we could no longer ignore our innate, burning desire to walk the fine line between success and failure, winner and loser. Thus, the PsiEK Zoom Pokemon Showdown Tournament was born (and will now be narrated by an idiot who has no idea what I’m talking about in regards to virtual, pixelated, fictional, and borderline unethical animal fighting for our own entertainment). 

It began on Zoom, at some time on some day that I can’t remember because time has blurred into a mush of stagnancy and impending doom. There were 32 of us in total (and some spectators), thirsting for violence amongst physically impossible critters with funny names, who shoot into existence from small orbs colloquially known as “Dragon balls” (CITATION NEEDED)? I had no idea what I was doing, as I am uncultured, and had never played Pokemon before. I was nervous, and I would’ve been sweating had I not been so dehydrated from drinking way too many coffees each day out of sheer boredom. First, Tournament Master Ryan Lee began to explain the structure of the tournament: we would be playing double elimination with both a winners and losers bracket, we would be paired and split into Zoom breakout rooms to fight, and we would be battling on pokemonshowdown.com with random teams of Pokemon at our disposal. Next, the scholar known as Matt Chin informed inexperienced players such as myself that the key to victory was a Pokemon type chart, which would allow us to assess which evolutionary monstrosities would be most effective or most vulnerable in a given fight. I frantically googled one of these charts, and prayed to my ancestors for luck as the tournament began. 

My first match was against Natalie Wang, a new Psi active and fellow alto, who like me, also had no idea what to do. Our fight was slow and methodical, not because we were good, but because we were constantly referring to our Pokemon type charts to figure out what to do. I somehow managed to win this match, with the help of my unfairly powerful spooky ghost-looking thingy with psychic and d A rk powers. I felt powerful, perhaps too powerful, ravenous for the next fight. Next up, I was against a new sister, Elija Balanga, who utterly destroyed and demoralized me, with barely any effort. I was up against a true master, and with each of my Pokemon quickly going down, I felt helpless, like an infant trying and failing to grasp the concept of object permanence. After this defeat, I was reminded of my mortality, and approached the next battle with extreme caution. I only had one chance left to claim clout and victory in this tournament. Now in the loser’s bracket, I faced another new sister, Raghu Tekumalla, and somehow came out on top. I felt immortal once again, and like Hercules at the end of Hercules, I climbed out of the brink of defeat. I was surprised to see that my next opponent was Katie Osborn, a brother, and fellow relative of the esteemed Driftwood family. I sent out my first Pokemon to do battle, and BOOM, Katie blew it up. I sent another, and another, and another, until finally, Katie had easily and relentlessly decimated my forces. I cried without tears (again, I’m very dehydrated), finally accepting that I was now out of the tournament. I subsequently dropped out of school in shame, just weeks away from graduation (CITATION NEEDED). In the end, Elija ended up the champion of the tournament, demonstrating to all of us that he indeed is a cold-blooded killer who should not be trifled with, lest you want to experience crushing defeat and humiliation. All bow down to Elija, our new overlord, President and CEO of PsiEK. May he lead our Pokemon armies to victory in our war against [INSERT THREAT HERE]. 
Overall, 10/10 tournament, would do again.

On a serious note, Pokemon showdown is genuinely really fun to play with friends online. Check it out if you haven’t already (just have the Pokemon type chart ready)!