Summer at Caltech is a very interesting time. Although Caltech is on a quarter system, we only have three quarters per year, each ten weeks long. The fourth quarter is the summer quarter and is about 14 weeks long. Caltech makes a point of not teaching any classes (except for…

Hello! I know I haven't written in a long time. This past Term at Caltech has been very absorbing and now that it's over, I can say that it seems to have been worth the dedication! For those of you to whom I'm new, my name is Nina Budaeva. I…

Hello! First I want to apologize for not posting for such a while. This Term has been very colorful and therefore busy and you'll soon see why. At Caltech, I often find myself starting a week and thinking that this will be the toughest and craziest week of Term. I…

It's been a while since my last post so I'll fill you in on what happened before giving you a preview of what is yet to come! We're all on edge, waiting for a win to break that tremendous losing streak! As for dance, just like last year I'm participating…

Hello! First, let me reintroduce myself. I am Nina Budaeva, a Caltech Sophomore majoring in Physics and a Page House member. I am from Berkeley, California but was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. I started blogging a year ago and went through summer up to this school year. Now I'm…

Since the next big thing after the start of preseason is the start of classes, I shall fulfill my promise now and talk about a few things that Prefrosh should expect when they get here. First and foremost, Prefrosh, don't bring a lot of things with you on your first…

Some of you may be wondering what it's like to be in Pasadena while being a Techer. It's true that during the year we are quite busy with work and don't go off campus much during the week. Actually, this depends on each individual person as some people manage to…

I hope you're all enjoying your summer! Incoming Prefrosh, I remember that my Prefrosh summer was amazing! However, I'm not at all implying that my Techer summer is any less amazing. I promised last time that I'd talk a bit about by SURF project. I'm in an Experimental Physics condensed…

So, summer has officially kicked in! I haven't written a post in a while but I was settling in, taking a break, and, well, there are fantastic new bloggers who are writing about their exciting summers too! Anyways, although I haven't written anything about summer yet, it doesn't mean that…

It finally happened: the school year ended! It came really fast but it sure happened! Last Friday was the end of Finals Week for all non-seniors (because the Seniors finished their work the week before) and that same day was also the Graduation Ceremony. I stayed for part of the…

Today is the last day of classes! However, that doesn't mean that work is over. I am done with sets but all of next week we'll have Final Exams. I am sorry for not writing a new post for a while but I was really busy with school lately and…

I've been thinking about the past few weeks and although they seemed rather peaceful I've realized that actually many things have happened and many more are about to happen. Midterms are over and there are only a few weeks left until not only the end of the year but also…

The Tango. I took a few tango classes from this lady earlier in the year. By the way, Caltech offers great ballroom classes on campus every week! Gorgonzola crusted rib eye steak with balsamic demi.glace, rosemary scented mashed potatoes, and asparagus or Seared salmon roulade with gremolata accompanied by caramelized…

This is one of my favorite places on campus. You might recognize this spot from the opening credits of "Legally Blonde". The Caltech campus was used as an institute of fashion design! Our campus is often used in TV shows two. We've had filming crews show up throughout the year…

Each house is subdivided into alleys. An alley is roughly one hallway and houses a UCC (upperclassman counselor). These UCC's are like parents - especially for Frosh - for the inhabitants of their alley. At least in my house (Page House), one of the UCCs' responsibilities is to organize an…

During dinner we had live music and later that night more houses hosted more events. Blacker Hovse had a Quidditch game and Page House (my house) had Midnight Wieners (actually at 10pm). There were many things going on that day but you could tell that Prefrosh Weekend was coming to…

A year ago I was having the best time of my life yet! In all those senior questionnaires asking about my best High School experience, I always gave two replies: getting the early decision acceptance letter from Caltech and going to Caltech's Prefrosh Weekend. This time, I'm on the other…

Yesterday (Thursday) was the official beginning of Prefrosh Weekend! In the past few weeks we have been seeing more and more Prefrosh wandering around campus but on Thursday several hundred of them swarmed in to check out Caltech - their prospective home for the next few years. I believe that…