By Prairie Park

September 24, 2009 seemed like a normal first day of school: students were filled with anticipation and excitement for the school year. Even while I walked along Ring Road at 9:30 a.m.(a.k.a. "the crack of dawn" for many college students), there was an array of tables set up to snatch any and every student’s attention. As I wandered through the seemingly never-ending rows of fraternity and club members inviting me to their Welcome Week events, I thought to myself, “Ah, the sweet smell of cardstock in the morning.”

However, as I walked through the less crowded paths to my morning class, I heard small clusters of groups here and there discussing the walkout that was scheduled to take place. Students were deciding whether or not they would attend the rally at noon.

When I got to class, more of my classmates were talking about the walkout. Glad to eavesdrop, I heard one student explaining the effects of the budget cuts and why the walkout was so important. In another conversation, I heard a student talking about how his class was canceled because of the walkout. The professor had written them an email saying, “No class today. UCI under siege.” Even my professor decided to make his opening statement for the year about the positive aspects of the walkout and went on to explain to us why he had decided to continue on with class as scheduled rather than participate in the walkout for the whole day.

When I ended class and made my way to the flagpoles for the rally, I could hear the chants of the walkout participants from afar -- “Workers, students must unite!” Drawing nearer, I saw that an ever-growing whirlpool of bodies and signs blocked the whole stretch of Ring Road between the Administration Building and the Social Sciences. Students were forced to either wait until the march ended or to go down into Aldrich Park and around the commotion.

Once it hit noon, the marchers settled down for the rally and I made my way toward the outskirts of the crowd -- wanting not only to be part of the audience but also observe the passersby and their reactions to the rally. I was pleased to see the walkout piqued the interest of many more students and professors than is usual for UCI. The steps by the flagpole were packed and there were rows of people standing up top, craning their necks to not only hear, but see the keynote speakers relay their sentiments about the budget cuts and their effects. However, as person after person went on about the short and long-term problems that UC President Mark Yudoff is creating with his antics, I noticed that out of the whole of UCI, there was only a small percentage of the school in this comparatively large crowd. My heart sank a little to see all of my schoolmates that were passing by with huffs of complaints about the sections blocked off by rally participants and the students who did not even give a second glance our way. The apathy of my fellow students cast a large shadow on my initially excited outlook.

September 25, 2009 : I woke up this morning and checked websites and newspapers to see if the rallies across UC campuses had made the headlines. As dejected as I was yesterday, my spirits were raised as I saw the thousands of students and professors that participated in the rallies elsewhere. People all over the UCs making a difference just by their presence. It made me realize that although UCI may not have seemed like a huge participant in the walkouts, for us the walkout rally was a huge feat. Never before had I seen so many attend a rally at the flagpoles. Never before had I run into so many professors at a sole activity. Each person there for their individual reasons, but united for the same cause.

Prairie Park, UCI English student, 4th year.