Not every UC San Diego student can find community in a fraternity or an academic group like a math club.
With one of the university’s newest clubs, third-year public health major Olivia Angulo hopes to give students another option — one they can take into their dorm rooms.
At the beginning of UCSD’s spring quarter this year, Angulo launched Rooted @ UCSD to encourage her peers to embrace nature and find solace in tending to house plants.
“I think a lot of times when you’re in college, and even just in general right now with the world and current events, stuff can feel really overwhelming and heavy,” Angulo said.
“I feel like [with] plants, I’ve grown through them. And plants remind us that growth is still possible and if you kind of slow down and you care for something and have patience and intention, it’s possible to grow … even if it doesn’t feel like it.”
Rooted @ UCSD is a student-led club dedicated to spreading knowledge about house plants, holding group events and encouraging people to slow down amid the stresses of college life.
Angulo and fellow volunteers have been seeking funds and community engagement and have succeeded in both rather quickly.
More than 100 students recently signed an interest form and 50 people attended the group’s inaugural meeting May 9.
A sale fundraiser May 23 brought in $500 for materials and future events. Nearly every item — from donated plants and plant cuttings to magnets and baked goods — was sold.
“It’s been insane,” Angulo said. “I really thought the hard part would be getting people involved and getting people interested, but really the hard part has been the tedious UCSD stuff like registration and having to book a space 21 days in advance.”
Club volunteer Vir Rhyoo, a fourth-year biological anthropology student, met Angulo at a gardening event and saw fliers for her group. She realized Rooted @ UCSD was a good fit for her.
“I actually grew up in an area with a lot of farmland and a lot more outdoor space, and it’s become a significant source of comfort to just spend more time outside, which is increasingly difficult in the modernized world,” said Rhyoo, who previously lived in Bakersfield.
“In general, I’d say almost nobody in my generation connects with nature as much as they should, especially not when you have the daily stressors of college life,” Rhyoo continued. “And I do think this group has the potential to change that.”
Though she is graduating this year, Rhyoo said she intends to continue volunteering for the group.
Angulo said she is particularly excited about the club’s prospects for next fall. Some students who expressed interest in buying house plants were reluctant to do so as summer approached, she said, and 2025-26 will mark the club’s first full school year.
But Rooted @ UCSD still is holding events before this quarter ends. One was “Paint ‘n Pot” on May 30 and another is an activity Monday, June 2, in which students will learn to make hydroponic gardens out of a mason jar.
Future offerings will include plant care workshops, art-centric events, field trips and additional fundraisers.
To find out more, visit @rootedatucsd on Instagram. ♦
