(June 14, 2007) — Most seniors can sympathize with this situation: you applied to a variety of colleges and universities with high hopes in at least one of them, but when March rolled around the results were rather disappointing. Getting rejected from your dream school may have put you down, but like the majority of seniors, after visiting your option(s) over spring break it was love at first sight. Such was the case for senior Joshua Pineda. After peeling open that letter from UCLA and reading the first line—”We regret to inform you that…”—he thought it was all over. Unfortunately, Pineda’s experience was an all-too-common after school affair for Clark seniors throughout the last week of March. All hope was not lost, however. Pineda went on to be accepted at UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, CSUN, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. “After fully considering my options, the choice was really between UCI and UCSB,” Pineda said. The Clark counselors always stress one point: visit the campuses that you are considering! Pineda took this advice by visiting UCI (his former fourth choice) around spring break. “Overall, the campus was pretty clean and the dorms I visited were great—really new,” Pineda said. “I liked the atmosphere a lot. I don’t know, maybe it was that ‘Orange County vibe’ or something.” While visiting the campus, Pineda had an idea that UCI was his choice, but the trip sealed the deal. Although still envious of accepted UCLA students, Pineda knows that he will enjoy his choice after hearing stories and recommendations from current UCI sophomores and juniors. With his short-term plans finally set, Pineda is certainly hopeful of the future. “I may transfer out after two years—possibly to UCLA—but there’s also a possibility that I’ll be graduating from UCI. I just don’t know yet,” Pineda said.