Explore Connections

Are you already thinking about your career options, but unsure where to start? Are you hoping to find a community of students at the same stage of career exploration that you are? Are you hoping to learn more about career pathways and hear from recent alumni? Then this College of Letters and Science seminar is a perfect fit for you. (1.5 unit P/NP)

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If you love K-Pop or just want to learn more, join us in community to discuss our favorite groups, culture, activism, and more. We'll sprinkle a little bit of everything from K-Pop history to recent music releases. We'll examine some of the political and social dynamics of K-Pop culture and its implications, and we might even learn dances, decorate photocard holders, and do some photocard trading. All first year freshmen and transfers are welcome!

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The UC Davis Underground Scholars Program (USP) is a program for students who have been directly impacted by the criminal punishment system, including formerly incarcerated people or those with incarcerated family members. 

This FYAC is a group for new USP students and allies to create a supportive network of friends and mentors, providing help to navigate the transition to UC Davis. Our goal is to provide a welcoming and inclusive community. Together we'll engage in the following topics:
 

• Inside carceral facilities: demographics and statistics
• Approaching College with a Growth Mindset
• Reversing the School to Prison Pipeline
• Trauma informed responses
• Credible messaging
• Cultural responsiveness and awareness
• Kings quest: understanding the journey from incarceration to college

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You’re probably planning to graduate from college—but then what? How do you go about landing your dream career? Your time at UC Davis is the perfect opportunity to start planning for your future and building your career readiness. Join this Aggie Connection to explore your natural talents and interests, and learn how they can guide you toward a career that’s the right fit for you. We’ll also cover practical tips and tricks for crafting strong resumes, mastering interview skills, and navigating the job search process—so you’ll be ready to land your first job after college. All first-year transfer students are welcome! Whether you already have a clear career goal in mind or are still exploring your options, this inclusive experience will help you envision what your future could look like. Light refreshments will be provided on a first come first served bases! 

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Interested in a healthcare career in the future, but unsure of which one? We will cover what you can do throughout your time at UC Davis and beyond to explore health professions and be a successful pre-health student! This class will provide an overview of multiple health professions, including career options, pre-reqs, gaining experiences, applying for programs, and more. 

Course Goals and Learning Outcomes

Through this course, students will:

• Explore their interests in healthcare
• Learn what they can focus on in each year of their time at UC Davis and after graduation as a pre-health student
• Learn about common pre-health myths, health professional school pre-reqs, gaining experiences, building relationships with faculty, and more

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This Connection is an opportunity to take an hour out of your week to relax and de-stress by doing fun and EASY crafts. Throughout the quarter you will explore different craft forms from scrapbooking to painting to creating a mood board. The specific crafts will be determined at the start of the quarter through participant feedback. By joining this Connection you will learn how to use crafting as a form of self-care, you will find community, and gain crafting experience. This Connection is open to all people of all crafting levels. Beginners, experts, and non-experienced crafters are all welcome!

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Explore South Asian festivals, rituals, and everyday cultural practices through discussion, reflections, and mini activities.

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Become the engineer you imagined yourself to be! Build your social capital in engineering by finding your circle of friends, mentors, and allies in this first-year aggie connection. We will help you create a sense of belonging as a woman engineer while learning about and finding potential solutions to challenges facing women engineers along the way. Join our weekly study nights and work on your science and engineering courses together! We hope this Aggie Connection experience will help you become a better and more confident woman engineer.

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We live in an interconnected world. New students come to UC Davis with many types of global experiences already. You may be from an immigrant family, from a diverse community, multilingual, or an international student. It doesn't matter what your background is, what your major is, or what your career goals are, we ALL need skills and knowledge to successfully operate in a global world. 

Study abroad is one way to experience global learning, but there's so much more that UC Davis has to offer. We have programs for students to go abroad, virtual opportunities, and even things to do right here on campus. Research, internships, community engagement, intercultural workshops, leadership and mentorship programs, and the Global Studies minor are just some of the opportunities you can get involved with. Come learn about scholarships and available funding, free or low-cost programs, and programs you can even get paid for participating in. There are so many global learning opportunities, it's time to get informed now so you can make amazing choices about your involvement for the rest of your time at UC Davis and beyond.

The goal of this 1-credit seminar is to orient students early on to what global learning is and all of the resources the Global Learning Hub has to offer. We will also explore and develop some of the key global and intercultural skills necessary for a global workforce. The skills and knowledge in this course will help prepare you not only for your time at UC Davis, but also for your post-graduation life in our interconnected world.

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This group is for students who want to rethink the way we interact with our closets, create a culture rooted in re-use and repair, and build a more sustainable and intentional relationship with fashion. Mending our clothing is more than a practical skill. It is a meaningful response to the growing challenges of overconsumption, fast fashion, and environmental strain. By repairing what we already own, we slow down the cycle of waste, reconnect with the value of our belongings, and participate in a small but powerful form of activism. ALL skill levels welcome 

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Are you interested in working with animals or becoming a veterinarian? Join our Pre-Vet FYAC to learn more about the pathway to veterinary school. You will learn about veterinary school requirements, experiences and resources available to you at UCD. There will be a combination of guest speakers and discussions to provide insight into different veterinary careers and how you can go about pursuing them.

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Coming to college can be hard, especially with so much changing around you! Are you finishing up your first quarter at UC Davis and feeling like there's room for improvement? This connection is centered on strategies for doing more thriving and embracing who we are personally, academically, and in community with others. We'll incorporate themes around personal development, including goal setting, time management, financial management, mental wellness and stress reduction, job searching, and physical well-being (nutrition/sleep/exercise). 

We’ll discuss and implement actionable steps for moving forward into a new year with an expanded toolkit for whole-person wellness. Each meeting will include a brief overview of that session's topic and interactive group discussions. Come prepared to have fun, learn from one another, and set yourself up for reduced stress and greater success your second quarter at UC Davis. 

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Join us for a creative and supportive space where art meets learning! In this First-Year Aggie Connection, we’ll explore Zentangle-inspired drawing as a tool for mindfulness, focus, and stress relief—while building essential academic recovery skills. Each week, you’ll learn practical strategies for time management, study habits, and test preparation, paired with relaxing tangle patterns that reinforce the theme. No art experience needed—just curiosity and a pen!

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Are you interested in beginning the process of finding a research position at UC Davis? Don’t know where or how to start? Did you know that you DO NOT need research experience to engage in research at UC Davis? This First-Year Aggie Connection will focus on preparing and walking you through each step of the research search process. Looking for research opportunities can take significant time and effort and we are committed to helping you through this journey. Join us for guidance through each step of the research search process with the goal of securing a research position for you to engage in. ALL MAJORS ARE WELCOME.

Topics to be covered included (1) identifying research areas of interest, (2) identifying faculty members, labs and/or other opportunities that match your areas of interest, (3) developing a resume and cover letter for the specific positions you are interested in, (4) emailing faculty members to set up interviews, (5) mock interviews and so much more!

This interactive First-Year Aggie Connection is hosted in partnership with the Undergraduate Research Center, we hope you will join us!

Transfer