My favorite part of every term is Geology (Ge) 136. Ge 136 is a field trip based class open any undergraduate or graduate students at the institute. Each student in the class chooses a topic, writes a brief report, and then presents on it in the field. Mostly members of the Geological and Planetary Sciences (GPS, another classic Caltech pun) enroll, meaning the class is always filled with people ready to answer any questions about colorful rocks, weird extremophile microbes native to the region, or even the planets and stars we can see at night (most trips are in regions with low light pollution so the Milky Way is generally visible).
It’s always been on my bucket list to jump out of a plane. I’ve gone hiking and submitted mountains before, but I’ve always wanted to go higher and see more. So, last weekend, when one of my friends asked around for an adventurous few to go skydiving with him, I put my hand up and decided to go.
I have some big news! About a month ago, I adopted a kitty named Clementine as an emotional support cat. She’s currently about 7 months year old, and she’s one of my best friends.
I hope everyone is having an amazing holiday break. This time of year is always a great break from all of the hullabaloo of Caltech. As engaging as classes and extracurriculars are, being able to lounge around at home (and see snow!) is always great.Specifically, celebrating holidays with my family is always fun. My mom is Jewish and my dad is Catholic, so we celebrate both Chanukah and Christmas.
Hi all! Sorry for the radio silence, but my term has been super busy! One of the main reasons is due to the Committee on Undergraduate Caltech Housing, or the COUCH as it is affectionately known as. Its goal is to help analyze the potential options for the residential system for Bechtel, our new campus residence opening in Fall 2018, while analyzing the broader residential life system as a whole. Through this committee, I’ve had a lot of great opportunities including interacting with many members of administration, students, and alumni. However, one of the coolest things was meeting the Board of Trustees.
We woke up while the sky was still filled with the Milky Way on day 3 of our backpack (which was super awesome!! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many stars!!). We threw on hiking shoes, grabbed a quick granola bar to eat, and were on our way. The hike began with headlamps since it was so dark! We had to reach Static Peak to see the eclipse by 11:30, so we decided to go into “crush mode.” Each of us worked super hard, and we ended up moving pretty fast along, until we reached the snowbanks. Here, we had to take it slow since we were walking over icy terrain. Luckily, by this time, the sun came up so we didn’t need our headlamps, but we were all slipping and sliding despite perfect vision. I still have battle scars on my knee from falling over the ice! Luckily, we made it to the top of Static Peak early since we made such good time in the morning. We saw the eclipse (please read about it in one of my previous posts), and then we climbed down the mountain. At that point, we were all super hungry from hours of uphill, so we stopped for lunch. To our left was a beautiful, lake-filled valley straight out of a painting. I couldn’t have asked for a better lunch spot! We then decided to press on, as we had 9 miles of downhill left (we did a total of 13 that day).
We woke up pretty early for the second day of our hike: around 6:45 AM and cooked up a quick hot breakfast of oatmeal. Soon, we were on our way.
The eclipse was amazing, but it wasn’t the only thing I got to do at Grand Teton National Park. We also planned a 3 day backpacking trip. We went 28.1 miles over three days and gained over 5,000 feet in elevation. We started at the bottom of Death Canyon, climbed up the cannon walls, hiked over alpine terrain to a set of beautiful basin lakes, and then pushed on to summit Static Peak for the eclipse (more about that in my last post), and hiked back down to our rental van.
This past Monday I spent a day with one of my good friends, Pablo the turtle. He is one of my red ear sliders (yes the same breed of turtle that lives in the Caltech turtle pond, no not stolen from Caltech). When I got him from the SPCA, he seemed all right, but had a few welts on his shell. However, I decided to get him checked out just in case.
As all of you know, the eclipse was a huge deal at Caltech! Not only are we a school with an amazing astronomy department, but we also are a school of nerdy people who are fascinated by nature. We want to capture them in our memory so we can analyze and decode their beauty. An eclipse is the perfect combination of science and wonder.
Over the weekend, my boyfriend, a couple friends, and I decided to try one of the newest food fads: the sushirito. For those of you who don’t know, a sushirito is a hybrid between sushi and a burrito. It’s the size of a burrito, but is made out of the traditional sushi ingredients.
After a fun, food-filled day, I was ready for the bridal shower, which promised more fun and food! My first cousin, my aunt’s son, is getting married, and I am a bridesmaid. Although I was a flower girl years ago, I’ve never been a bridesmaid before, so I’m super psyched. The wedding is on December 9th, just a day after term ends, which at most schools would be a problem. However, since most of Caltech’s finals are take-home, I can take them basically any time I want before they’re due. I know if I manage my time correctly, I’ll be able to get them all done early, making it easier for me to be ready for the wedding.
One thing I love about Caltech summers is the free time. While learning during the year is also great, classes, extracurriculars, and research leave very little time to take a vacation (though there is plenty of free time to fill with hanging out with friends and small day trips).
One of my good friends loves peppers. He keeps every variety on his deck, from sweet Banana Peppers to spicy Ghost Pepper. He has more on there than any grocery store selection. The other day, he handed me one of his smallest breeds to try– the Thai ornamental pepper. It looks very cute and innocent on the outside. It’s red and about the size of my thumbnail. It has a cute little green stem at the top, making it look almost like an oblong strawberry.
Although I’m working in a geology lab, the Kirschvink Paleomagnetics Laboratory, I am primarily running electroencephalogram (EEG) experiments. An EEG is an easy way to non-invasively measure brainwaves. In a previous post, I showed you all a picture of me in the cap, which contains 64 different electrodes and tons of wires. We have caps in all different sizes here, allowing us to run virtually any subject who is willing and able. Along with EEGs, Caltech is also home to MRIs, TMSs and other advanced neuroscience equipment– it’s really awesome to be in a place where as an undergraduate, I can work with cutting-edge technology!
As I mentioned in my last post, after leaving Pomona, my boyfriend and I got to do something really relieving: play with a bunch of cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, and turtles at the Pasadena Humane Society and SPCA (PHS)! The PHS is located only about 5 minutes away from campus, give or take, and completely free of cost. It’s open both Saturday and Sunday, so it’s a great place to spend a couple of hours during the weekend.
Turtles are one of my favorite animals. In second grade, I spent a good portion of the year studying sea turtles. When I visited St. Martin over spring break of my Senior year in high school, I went snorkeling and kayaking with the local turtle population. I adopted a few turtles from the Pasadena SPCA, hoping to give them a good, safe home with me. So, when I see turtles in need, I always want to be there to help.
This weekend my boyfriend and I went on a trip to Pomona, which is about 30 minutes away from Caltech. We left with the intent of picking up an animal from someone on Craigslist, but ended up doing something a little bit different, and in my opinion, a little bit more fun! We headed out fairly early (for Techers) on Saturday (11:30 AM) to avoid traffic. I know I ranted about this before, but in LA, a little bit of traffic can add quite literally hours to even a short trip. Trust me, it’s worth the sacrifice in sleep to get an early start! We ended up stopping at a drink shop, Zero X, this cute little coffee shop rated to have the best drinks in California. I ended up getting a strawberry horchata. Coming from New York, I never had horchata until I came to California, and I am in love. The creamy, cinnamon-y, rice-y drink hits the spot on hot summer days. The strawberry, though I did not think it would combine with cinnamon, only made the concoction even better. I also had some “milk and cereal”: milk flavored ice cream with Special K cereal.
Every month, Pasadena Community College (PCC), Caltech’s neighbor, has a flea market. There, you can find everything from arts and crafts supplies to old California license plates to summer dresses.