Blogs

culture

Feeding America(PI)

Every year, Venerable frosh hold a party during third term. Since the workforce is purely frosh, it’s much less ambitious/involved than Venerable interhouse. This year’s theme was America. Each category of the party was headed by one or two frosh — some of my friends put together 4 hours of music, some toiled away at constructing a mini White House, and others painted wallboards with flags and eagles. Chloe and I signed up to be in charge of food, so we had brainstorming sessions on quick and easy red, white, and blue recipes over the months before frosh party. When we learned of our limited budget, we cut down our plans (fresh berries are not cost-effective) and headed to Costco.

By Gloria May 15, 2015

clubs

Page Beach Trip

This past weekend, Page House rented a place in Carlsbad, CA (near San Diego) for two nights. The house was amazing! It had three stories, several TVs, a private movie theater, and it was right across from the beach.

By Kalyn May 13, 2015

culture

Beach trippppppp

Hellooooo Carlsbad!

By Emily May 13, 2015

academics

Running Away From Midterms (towards Old Pas, and more coffee)

Ohhhhh myyyy goddddddd I’m so caffeinated.

By Emily May 8, 2015

research

Grading Woes, CAPSLOCK EDITION

My last post on the delights and despairs of my graded work had an assortment of first and early second term examples. Halfway into third term, I bring you the latest installment.

By Gloria May 8, 2015

clubs

Welcome, Class of 2019!

Freshman year has passed by so quickly — I repeatedly find myself surprised that events happened at my high school already. One of those milestone events was May 1. Last year, I was pretty set on attending Caltech after Early Action decisions, but for many people, the college decision struggle was real.

By Gloria May 4, 2015

culture

Alley 3 Does Second Dinner

Two Tuesdays ago, to celebrate “the third week of the third term and us being the third alley both in number and alley rankings,” Alley 3 drove to Denny’s for Jim’s UCC office hours. It was our first major food outing since walking to The Counter first term, and once again, the promise of free food garnered a staggering 11 members of Alley 3 (past and present and then some), all of whom somehow squished into 2 cars. My neighbors Gregory and Julian weren’t too pleased with their seating arrangement:

By Gloria May 1, 2015

research

DnD, Things I've Cooked, Things I've Eaten FINAL

Hey everyone!

By Emily April 30, 2015

research

Weekend Food Adventures!

(Everything is an adventure.) Too often do I stay in the house during weekends and eat BCD tofu starter packs or C-store udon (both amazing options, believe me). I try to switch it up — tofu soup for lunch, udon for dinner on Saturday, then the opposite the next day. It’s mundane, but it’s decently good, and it sustains me amidst rehearsals, events, and homework. And it also makes anything out of the ordinary pretty exciting. Over the past year, occasionally, upperclassmen have taken us out to eat over the weekend — ramen, tofu soup, boba…

By Gloria April 29, 2015

clubs

Dhamaka

At the beginning of the year, we had club fair. Excited first term frosh as I was, I went around signing up for all of the clubs (there was a lot of free food…). I must have put my email down for at least 15 clubs, from Chemistry Club to French Club to literally every single dance group. I even signed up for Dhamaka, a Bollywood dance group, because they were super friendly at club fair. I was bracing myself for an influx of promotional emails, and was planning to try the different dance groups out before committing to anything. But from the beginning, Dhamaka stood out as the most well-organized of all of the groups. Right at the organizational meeting (mango lassi and samosas!), fearless captain Meera had everyone sign up on a spreadsheet, listing their contact information and dance experience. The dance rosters were sent out soon after, and then the rehearsals began.

By Gloria April 24, 2015

local

My favorite places in Pasadena

My last blog post included a solicitation for your places to visit in Europe (near the UK), and I figured that I should, in turn, give you guys a list of my favorite places in Pasadena, near campus! The following is a list of coffee shops, restaurants, and miscellaneous other establishments that I love to visit if I have the time. This term, I’ve ended up at at least one of these places every week, but in previous terms I’ve had too much work to venture into the outside world too often. It varies! But I’ve started combining things that I already do (reading a novel for my humanities class or an article for my BEM/Ec class) with trips off campus and my favorite local treats, which has turned into a major stress-reliever. Anyway, here goes!

By Emily April 23, 2015

culture

Harvard International Consulting Competition

Last weekend, I flew to Boston with my teammate Phillip for the Harvard International Consulting Competition. Phillip and I are members of the Caltech Consulting Group. The competition consisted of presenting a case study presentation (the topic was Airbnb entering the business travel market) to a panel of judges, and there were also a number of workshops and networking events.

By Kalyn April 23, 2015

clubs

Action-Packed Weekend!

So as promised in the last post (though at this point much belated as usual), I promised I would talk a little bit about the Microsoft College Puzzle Challenge that we attended last weekend. So here we go.The Microsoft College Puzzle Challenge is exactly what it sounds like, apuzzle challenge. We went in with four computer science majors (my three apartment-mates and me) expecting to have a programming competition, but instead we stood bamboozled by logic puzzles that eluded our collective understanding; the questions would be something like a picture followed by a question mark, with many other pictures beneath it from which we must answer the question. The answers were submitted through an online webpage. This was rather unfortunate but it was still very fun to laugh at each other while struggling through a task clearly not made for us. The CPC lasts all day, with puzzles first released at 10 and further ones released incrementally throughout the course of the day until the deadline for total submission comes around at 7.

By Yubo April 21, 2015

culture

Alley 3 Does Venerable Greens

I was not a very active prefrosh, so I went to very few of the house events during Prefrosh Weekend and Rotation. My participation in Venerable Greens, a mini golf course that goes through all of the alleys in the house, consisted of me walking over mini golf course obstacles on the way to my host’s room on Friday night. Two days before Prefrosh Weekend this year, I was talking to some UCCs about rescheduling Venerable Greens, and I learned that in Alley 3, frosh are responsible for setting up Venerable Greens.

By Gloria April 18, 2015

research

New Classes, New Hangouts, and Prefrosh Weekend

Hey everyone!

By Emily April 17, 2015

culture

n+2ing our room

Many rooms have couches or huge beanbags or other extra sleeping areas. We have the floor. Despite this limitation, my roommate and I both signed up to host prefrosh for Prefrosh Weekend. Last week, when we were confirmed to have prefrosh, we started planning. Chloe had a big blanket that we laid out on the floor, and we tried sleeping there with our sleeping bags one night:

By Gloria April 16, 2015

academics

Spring Break Food Tour!

What did I do this spring break? Eat… Here’s the rundown.

By Gloria April 14, 2015

global

The Official Make Food and Eat it Class

This is how cooking class went last term. Every Tuesday night, I and my fellow Rudd frosh, Tim, would walk over to Tom Mannion’s house at 6:30 p.m. Our group would sit around, listen to Tom teach a short lesson on the theme of the day, watch his demos, then go to work. We would fry chicken and cut tomatoes and whisk sauces. I would eat way too much and barely be able to walk on the way back, swearing not to eat so much next class. This would be repeated every week until the end of term.

By Gloria April 9, 2015

research

The Sweetest of Birthdays

This year, I celebrated my first birthday away from home. On top of that, it was the first day of spring term. Happy birthday to me! But thanks to friends and family, it was one of the best ones yet.

By Gloria April 8, 2015

research

ME 72 Swimming Robot Competition!

At the end of last term, the ME 72 (mechanical engineering project class) had their final projects due. The project, spanning first and second term, was to build an amphibious robot that could play a water-based game against another team of robots. I took a ton of pictures of the competition, which was held at Millikan pond in front of the library. Hundreds of elementary school kids from Pasadena showed up to watch! And a couple of news crews. I guess “Caltech robots” generates a lot of interest :P

By Emily April 6, 2015

research

The Pipettes

One day, I was having breakfast in Fleming dining hall during rotation. A girl I had talked to once before came up to me and asked, “Hey, wanna start an all-girls a cappella group?” And so the Pipettes began.

By Gloria April 3, 2015

culture

Moments of Joy, Part II

Continued…

By Anita March 28, 2015

research

Squirrels of Caltech

You hear a lot about the people around campus - professors, grad students, postdocs,administrators, staff, and, of course, the notorious undergrads.However, on your average day strolling around Caltech, it isn't the people who jumpout at you so much as it is the squirrels. Because, on occasion, they literally dojump out at you from the bushes.Yes, we have a lively bunch of frisky and surprisingly unafraid squirrels at Caltech,and they deserve some mention as an integral and adorable aspect of our community.

By March 26, 2015

culture

Winter at Caltech

I’m sure all of you must have heard about the harsh winter that Southern California experienced. Luckily, I had my truly terrible phone camera on hand to capture the “truly terrible” weather we witnessed this “winter”.

By March 25, 2015

local

Noms

I usually don’t review places and things I don’t like (although those sorts of reviews would probably be more useful to readers). This review is no exception. I liked this place so much that I wanted to share it with all of you! (: Weekends at Caltech just offer so much time to explore the yummy experience that is Pasadena, LA, and San Gabriel, to name a few. Even though Caltech started offering open kitchen from 10 am - 2 pm on weekends, I have still managed to find ways to taste my way through my surroundings.

By Jenny March 20, 2015

research

Ch4ever

There’s a lab class that most chem majors at Caltech have to take: Ch4. Nicknames include CH4ever–this is the most popular–and, more recently, Ch4rrible. That’s my favorite, because it’s a little ironic. I do like the class quite a lot, but it can be a lot of work.

By Anita March 20, 2015

culture

Spun Sugar and Wings

Soon after Venerable Interhouse was Avery Interhouse! This year, Avery’s theme was “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show,” so basically, everything was pink. Pink cotton candy, pink runway, pink wallboards, pink balloons, pink dance floor, pink streamers…pink no longer looks like a real word. As a member of Avery, I received all of the emails, from the theme surveys, to the runway ideas, to the pleas to help with construction, art, and food. In less than a month, Avery pulled together a really impressive party! Avery is known for having great food at their Interhouse, and this year was no different. There was of course the cotton candy, expertly manned by John:

By Gloria March 17, 2015

culture

Chicago

A much delayed blog post is better than none! You might remember two weeks ago I flew out to Chicago for a George W. Housner Fund-supported excursion to a concert given by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. So let me relate that much-awaited tale.

By Yubo March 16, 2015

research

Yes, Please.

I’ve been feeling pretty stressed about all of the work I have during finals week. A couple of final projects, two exams in hard classes, and two problem sets. Last week I realized that I’ve been spending a lot of time worrying about my stressors (which are coming in two weeks, and which I can’t do anything about now) and not enough time practicing what I preach on this blog. It was time for some serious self care. So I picked up a book, because reading helps relax me, and I completely devoured it.

By Emily March 14, 2015

culture

Manners and Multicourse Meals

This past Friday, I was planning to attend Avery formal dinner. It turned out that the infamous Manners 101 dinner was scheduled for the same night, and since the chances of being randomly selected for such a popular event were slim, I entered the lottery. Unlike my course lotteries (sob), I was actually selected for this one. During cooking class on Thursday night, many of us were recruited to help out with the dinner. There was prep, cooking, plating, and waiting to be done in this large operation. Since I was going to participate in the dinner, I went and helped out from 5:30-6:30. I picked thyme (with three of us, it took a good half an hour to get a cup’s worth) and cut butter pats. As I went to get changed into business attire, I saw the impressive plating endeavor begin with the tomato tartare:

By Gloria March 13, 2015

clubs

Everyone say cheese!

So I’ve already discussed once about Faculty in Residence hosting a meal, but the regular MVP of student activities is Tom Mannion, whose official title is “Senior Director, Student Activities and Programs” but is more colloquially recognized as the “chair of student happiness.” Why he is so called comes as no surprise to any Techer, who has almost certainly regularly attended Mannion events. This particular instance was a cheese tasting hosted by the great man, and I’m here to tell you exactly how it started and how it went down.

By Yubo March 13, 2015

research

Formally Stuffed

It’s been a very busy couple of weekends. I talked about Manners 101 dinner last weekend, but that was just brushing the surface! Manners dinner was Friday evening, followed by several hours of nighttime a cappella practice, trailed by another four hours of a cappella practice on Saturday and Venerable Interhouse Saturday night, Bollywood dance practice Sunday morning, a cappella mic check in the afternoon, and capped off with the a cappella concert Sunday evening. I thought this weekend would be a little more relaxing, but things popped up…

By Gloria March 12, 2015

research

End of Term Update

The last two weeks of term are a whirlwind. So many assignments, finals stress looming, and to top it off, I once again need to get rid of all of my extra DBal. What a life.

By Emily March 12, 2015

research

Stargazing in the Physics Lab

I promised that I would post again if I got a cool physics lab, and it turns out I really liked this most recent one, and not only because it wasn’t much work (in case I haven’t mentioned it before, this class lets you choose the labs you do, so it is important to choose wisely, and this is one wise choice!) but also because it showcased some spectacular effects. Below is my poor phone’s attempt at taking a picture in a dark room of the observation

By Yubo March 11, 2015

research

Science Olympiad

I spent seven years of my life competing in Science Olympiad. And by competing in, I mean studying 500 hours a year for (ok, less in middle school). The organization hosts regional, state, and national competitions that involve students competing in pairs in 23 events, each spanning completely different fields of science or engineering. Being a part of this organization taught me so many things about myself, not to mention years and years of extracurricular science. I can truly say that Science Olympiad was the reason I came to Caltech, but I’ll get into that later.I learned leadership skills, organizational skills, study habits, how to read academic journals, how to read an anatomy textbook in French class but look like you’re doing busywork, etc. I got the chance to study anatomy, protein biochemistry, epidemiology, organic chemistry, forensic science, and genetics between the ages of 14 and 17. Biology classes in freshman year of college are so easy to follow when you’ve already read about all of the topics! My interest in proteins through Science Olympiad led me to the two research labs I have worked in, as well as to my SURF grant last summer. I made lifelong friends (guaranteed for anyone who participates in an activity that takes up a lot of your time and all of your love) and I am still dating my senior-year co-captain (romantic relationships not guaranteed).

By Emily March 11, 2015

culture

A Celebration of Tortillas

For those who live in the houses (which includes all of the frosh), waited house dinners are provided on weekdays. Once a term, every house has formal dinner, where we eat and dress fancy. And every so often, we receive an email heralding the approach of a board dinner, planned by Caltech Dining Services, and open to all students on board. Our first board dinner was last term, baseball themed, where we ate traditional baseball stadium cuisine and lounged on picnic blankets with inflatable baseball bats. Early this term, there was “Ditch Your New Year’s Resolutions” board dinner, filled with decadent foods left and right. This past week, we had a board dinner in honor of National Tortilla Chip Day. As usual, I entered Chandler a couple of minutes before the starting time (5 p.m.). I was glad I did, because I got to see this beast pristine and untouched:

By Gloria March 11, 2015

research

Hot(pot) Traditions

Back at home, my friend and I organize hotpots about four times a year, and we’ve optimized our shopping strategy. The local Chinese market opens at 10 a.m., cash only (two facts we learned the hard way, multiple times), so we go at 10 and whip through our shopping list: fish balls, shrimp balls, beef balls, beef, vermicelli noodles, fish tofu, tofu, straw mushrooms, napa cabbage, soup base, and, most importantly, lychee jellies. We’ve modified the list over the years based on consumption observations – spinach and regular mushrooms were rejected, as were fish balls with meat inside, while fish tofu and kamaboko became staples. We spend about $40 every time, and can feed up to 8 people, with minimal leftovers. We even sold one of our hotpots for over $100 at the senior auction. Here’s the fish product spread from the last hotpot we organized:

By Gloria February 26, 2015

research

Stay in my room? Neigh.

Before coming to Caltech, I was trying to find out what kind of athletic facilities they had, so I followed some links and ended up at the Caltech Y. I was a bit confused when I couldn’t find anything about Les Mills workouts on the Y website – just service projects and outings. As it turns out, the Caltech Y isn’t quite the same as my local YMCA. The Y’s goal is to “enrich student lives” and worldviews through community engagement, activism, teamwork, and leadership.

By Gloria February 25, 2015

culture

Lurvely Surprises

Lurve is in the air! It’s Valentine’s Day, just in time for the three-day weekend. Throughout the week, the girls and guys of the houses have been plotting Valentine’s Day surprises. The Venerable girls took over the house library and kitchens last night, with signs like these gracing the doors to discourage potential intruders:

By Gloria February 20, 2015

global

Kip Thorne on Interstellar

Kip Thorne, the scientific advisor for blockbuster hitInterstellar, gave a talk at Caltech a week and a half ago (sorry, I got really under water with work) about the process of making the movie. It was actually a super cool talk that showed us how a physicist can come up with a movie concept and bring it to life, and it also showed how from a physicist’s dream a movie takes on a life.

By Yubo February 19, 2015

research

Winter Career Fair!

Half of Caltech dressed up all fancy this morning. It was a sight to see. Besides one friend of mine, who threw on a blazer over a t-shirt and jeans to go pick up some free t-shirts, most people I saw out and about this morning were dressed in business professional clothing to attend the Winter Career Fair. The Winter version of the career fair is aimed more towards companies hiring full time employees than summer interns, and it is smaller than the Fall fair. I visited mainly to take pictures to show you guys, and to talk to a few companies I may be interested in working for in the future. Specifically, I talked to Palantir and Goldman Sachs, two companies hiring CS majors to work on projects that I’m not likely to get experience in at any other company. Broadening the types of projects I can apply my CS skills to is definitely a good goal of internships, especially when you’re not sure in what field you’d like to work eventually.

By Emily February 18, 2015

research

Huntington Gardens

My to do list on Sunday**:

By Jenny February 18, 2015

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