Adventures on the Metro
culture

Adventures on the Metro

With my parents residing an hour’s drive from Caltech, I’m able to get home more frequently than most Techers. However, for my parents to pick me up and drop me off from campus, they have to take two two-hour round trips, which makes it a bit of an inconvenience if I’m only going home for the weekend, and gas gets expensive too. As a result, I’ve figured out how to take the LA Metro and Metrolinkfrom Pasadena via Union Station to Irvine, which is a much shorter drive for my parents. This last weekend I needed to get home for two birthday parties, but I also wanted to avoiding missing several days of work, so I used public transit. Figured you guys might be interested in what my experience was like, so here’s the play by play of my trip on Friday.

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First week
research

First week

I am pretty excited to say that I have finished my first week here at CERN. I spent most of this week filling out paperwork, attending meetings and trying to write my code (emphasis on the “trying”). CERN uses a programming language called ROOT which is based somewhat off of C++ and was created for physicists. As everyone here is quick to proclaim, nobody knows how to use ROOT. It’s somewhat of a challenge seeing that only particle physicists use it and every time you google anything about it you only find websites about gardening, but that’s what we’re here for. So basically my job this week has been to find meetings to attend to learn more about ECAL, understand ROOT and start writing the code for my calibration.

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Welcoming New Friends, Saying Goodbye to Old Ones
research

Welcoming New Friends, Saying Goodbye to Old Ones

I’ve already told you about theInvasion of the Summer Students. Well, with the help of our RA’s we threw a welcome bbq for them on Sunday.

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Home to the Beach
global

Home to the Beach

Most people who move to Caltech are excited about how they’re moving so close to the ocean. I was lucky enough to grow up two blocks from the ocean, and now I spend most of the year deprived of it. Now that it’s summer, however, we have time for regular beach trips, and I know just the place to take all of my Caltech friends…

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One year down!
research

One year down!

Why hello there prefrosh; welcome to my little niche of what we call the Caltech Blogs! Please, take a seat!! Or a couch, or a bean bag, or even the floor if you wish!

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Invasion of the Summer Students
research

Invasion of the Summer Students

I blog to you today from my desk in lab as I wait for a centrifuge to become available. I, and many of the other bloggers, have been busy for the last several days and are now just settling into our summer jobs. Here’s what you missed: complete chaos. Shortly after commencement, all students leaving campus for the summer had to move out of their rooms and put anything they were not taking with them into storage. All students staying on campus for the summer had to move into their summer room assignment. Of course, if you’re moving into a new room, first someone else has to move out of it, and that person might have to wait for someone to move out of their new room, etc. This results in everyone moving all of their belongings into the hallway, like this: All of my worldly possessions, minus my keyboard, guitar, and pet snake’s terrarium.Now, I was lucky enough to be the only person piling stuff in this hallway. Some of our hallways were practically floor to ceiling with stuff. It’s kind of frustrating, but there’s just no other way to do it in a college dorm, and it could be a lot worse. Caltech is probably one of the only places where I could leave my keyboard, guitar, macbook,wallet, ipod, phone, etc. chilling in the hallway for hours without worrying about someone walking by and stealing any of it. The honor code: it works, and it is awesome.

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We'll Always Have Caltech
academics

We'll Always Have Caltech

Finals week has come to a close, not with a bang, but not with a whimper either. It was closer to a “meh,” really. Regardless, its time to wrap up third term and the year, and what better way than graduation?

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Bi1
research

Bi1

Hi everyone!

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This is what it's all about!!
research

This is what it's all about!!

Hi guys! :) I just had a short post I wanted to share with you all. So in my Ay1 class (it’s called The Evolving Universe) we had a final project. The project was this: “The objective of these projects is to explore the scientific creative process. First identify an interesting scientific question or hypothesis (related to astronomy), and then reason out how to evaluate it. We do not want the students to do web searches or background reading searching for established answers to the question – instead it would be good to reason out how you would analyze it if there were no prior analysis.” THIS PROJECT. WAS AWESOME.

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Breakdancing in San Diego!
culture

Breakdancing in San Diego!

Hi everyone!! Adventures off-campus, plus a night of dancing? Yes please! This last Friday, I took a trip to San Diego with some friends and my boyfriend Paul to see another one of my friends, Ian, compete in a breakdancing battle. (Interestingly enough, it seems like dancing in SD is a thing with Techers… check out Teo’s blog about ithere) Before we got there, we stopped by Coldstone for some noms. Paul got an obnoxious amount of ice cream!! The picture doesn’t really do it justice.

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Pump Iron
research

Pump Iron

Tempting, random Internet comic, a tempting strategy indeed.

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DITCH DAY is... Tomorrow?
research

DITCH DAY is... Tomorrow?

Hi everybody!

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Infinity minus infinity is.... zero?
culture

Infinity minus infinity is.... zero?

Hey Guys! So a couple days ago, a friend of ours, my roommate and I were sitting in our room and somehow the concept of inifity came up. Being students of science, we had to explore an idea. My roommate doesn’t really believe in the concept of different sizes of inifinity, at least from an application in the real world stand point, which makes sense since he thinks about things more practically than theoretically.

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Grande Mocha Espresso Macchiato What Is This I Don't Even --
research

Grande Mocha Espresso Macchiato What Is This I Don't Even --

So, midterms are over, been through a few straight hours of class, and I did not get too much sleep last night (refer to previous post). I’m going to try and get through this without any coffee.

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The Caltech Nuances
research

The Caltech Nuances

Question from a prefrosh: **What do you do for fun? How can Caltech be such a happy place? **Boring answer: I engage myself in various activities around campus, from music groups to house events. I also make sure I sleep well and Not boring answer: As an admissions blogger, I have gotten myself into appreciating subtle nuances from everyday life or from my past. Every single one of the quotations of the day (yes, I am generally grammatically incorrect) is from listening to everything around me and appreciating the humor. Also, I take pictures to capture whatever is going on around me (as you can see from my blogs), and I really appreciate the 500 photos I take per term.

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Difficult Decisions
global

Difficult Decisions

Happy National Astronomy Day friends! :) (Actually it was last Saturday…) Since it is a day to celebrate space and the cosmos (<3 <3 <3), I want to share with you guys a little bit about my tricky decision between majoring in Astrophysics and majoring in Planetary Science. I know not everyone is interested in these majors, but often at Tech you’ll find yourself stuck between two equally amazing choices. This is kind of how I worked my way through that choice.

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Step Back and Here Comes the Nighttime
research

Step Back and Here Comes the Nighttime

Morning! Or night. Or whatever. Late nights are weird.

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Counting Down the Minutes Until 3 PM
research

Counting Down the Minutes Until 3 PM

** Why hello there! Welcome to my humble abode. Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Srinivasa “Aditya” Bhattaru, and I shall be your host for this evening/afternoon/morning/whenever you decide to peruse this blog.

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Neutral Milk Hotel
clubs

Neutral Milk Hotel

“What’s that? Isn’t milk slightly basic?” It’s okay if you’ve never heard of them. Neutral Milk Hotel is a band from the late 90’s most famous for their album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, an eccentric indie-folk-rock album inspired by Anne Frank. The songs are composed of a conglomerate of trumpets, acoustic guitars, accordions, and nasally voices. Sounds strange, right? Shortly after its release, the frontman, Jeff Mangum, disappeared from the public eye, ceasing to produce new music or perform.

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Tea Party! (?)
culture

Tea Party! (?)

Hi all you caffeinated kiddos out there! I guess redecorating your room is the new big thing! My friend Raj recently redid his, complete with couch, table, and rug. It’s a really nice place to hang out and chill, or work on physics, or occasionally get together to have tea! Before you call it a tea party, I’ll have you know that it is a gathering of companions who enjoy intellectual conversation and sharing caffeinated beverages…. okayyy fine it’s a tea party. But minus the frills and pretty dresses (much to my dismay).

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Back in Action PART 1
research

Back in Action PART 1

It has been a while since I posted anything up to the blogs, but I promise I have enough to make up 2 (3…4?) blogs.

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Caltech in the Dark
culture

Caltech in the Dark

I have somewhat of an interest in photography–though I am no pro, when I see something cool, I take a picture of it. Twice in my entire time at Caltech, the evening weather made for some gorgeous shots. Take a look and tell me what you think! Evening in Page House, early in my freshman year:

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A Recap of PFW
culture

A Recap of PFW

Hi everybody!! So as you all know, these past two days were Prefrosh Weekend! This is where all the admitted students come to stay for a couple days and learn about how AWESOME Caltech is :) Each House holds a lot of special events. For example, Ricketts hosted an open mic night, and Blacker had “deconstruction,” which is where everybody takes sledgehammers to things. Venerable made a mini-golf course out of the entire house!

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Turtles? TURTLES!
culture

Turtles? TURTLES!

I’m Bhavana, Prefrosh from sunny Folsom, California. To be honest, I was expecting Caltech to be much smaller, and, well, more nerdy. What I found was an amazingly friendly campus, with amazing programs and institutions and people and opportunities. It’s only my first day here, but already I can see myself going here! The turtle pond was cute- and my little brother now REALLY wants me to go here, so I can get him a turtle from the pond :) (I can’t, but I’m not going to tell him that just yet). As an artist and dancer and lover of all things science, I fee perfectly at home here and have met other awesome prefrosh and current students…my future college buddies? Probably! Go beavers!!!!!!

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There’s some hope!
research

There’s some hope!

I’m Anne. I’m a Prefrosh from Calabasas, California. Prefrosh weekend has increased my chance of going to Caltech by 20%. The campus the really pretty, especially the turtle pond.

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So, what’s next?
culture

So, what’s next?

Hey everyone! I am Pratheek, and I am from South Florida. I flew into Caltech today for PFW and I was excited to seem some familiar faces as well as all the other prefrosh. The campus looks beautiful, and it’s very small and homely. I got to listen in some of the departmental roundtables such as the Physics and Computer Science ones. I enjoyed speaking with some of the current students as well as the faculty! I look forward to seeing what tomorrow has in store!

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Breaking In
culture

Breaking In

I’m Kayane, a Prefrosh from Irvine, California. I’m enjoying my Prefrosh experience so much, and I look forward to all the fun and great activities coming up tonight! I’m living in the moment for the next two days, away from the worries of school and academics! So far I’ve visited two classes, absorbing as much as I can from a new environment. I’ve made many new friends, some of whom I’ll see at Caltech in the fall. Enjoy! :)

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Adventures Galore!
culture

Adventures Galore!

HI. My name is Joanne Lynn. I am from Troy High School in Fullerton, CA (GO WARRIORS!). I like food. I like Caltech too. :) PFW so far has been a blast (even though it’s been a bit windy and cold). Talking to everyone from different places makes up for all the glum weather; Caltech people are seriously the coolest, most intelligent, most informed collection of interesting people you’ll ever meet. Looking forward to food in 30 minutes or so, and definitely lots of SOCAL ADVENTURES in store for tomorrow.

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SURFing in Sunny California!!
research

SURFing in Sunny California!!

Hi everybody! So today is the first day of spring quarter! Aaaand, in addition to classes starting up again, I just found out that I was awarded a SURF for this summer!! But before you go thinking about wetsuits and waves, let me clarify that SURF = Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. I’m sure all you prospective students have heard about all the AMAZING and abundant opportunities for research at Caltech. A SURF is just one way you can partake in this! It is a paid position in which you get to work with a prof and a mentor (usually a postdoc in the prof’s group) on a project that you’re interested in. *Disclaimer: your job (at least as a frosh) is not going to be THAT intense and world-changing–however, it’s a step in the right direction, and you get to get your foot in the door of research!Basically here’s how it works: you have a subject you’re interested in. You find a nice professor who studies that kind of thing, and if they agree to take you on, you write a nice pretty proposal, and submit it! And it’s that simple, and hopefully if you do it right, you get accepted.

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Don't tell your friends your room combo...
culture

Don't tell your friends your room combo...

…BECAUSE OTHERWISE THEY SURPRISE YOU BY REDECORATING YOUR ROOM!!! Backstory: On Saturday the house cleaned all the random stuff out of our basement. Coincidentally, my roommate recently moved out, so my room was a little empty, since I have a very small amount of stuff. Anyway,I went home for the Easter weekend, and came back to find….

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The Caltech Dance Show!
culture

The Caltech Dance Show!

Hello wonderful friends and readers! Last night was the annual **Caltech Dance Show**!! I wasn’t a part of it, but a lot of my friends were and it was so fun to watch. The various dances ranged from Bollywood and bellydance and ballroom to contemporary and Russian ballet–and even Beyonce’s famous “single ladies” dance, complete with leotards and all!!

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Dancing with the San Diegans
clubs

Dancing with the San Diegans

I am on the Ballroom Dance team here at Caltech, and a few weekends ago, we went to a competition at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). The comp was to take place on Saturday, and instead of leaving around 5:00 am Saturday morning in order to arrive on time, a group of us left on Friday night so we could get a decent sleep before the competition. The four of us took a truck down and I got stuck sitting in that awkward space between the truck bed and the front seats. It was oh so wonderfully comfortable sitting in a seat made for someone half my size.

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OPI, Island Paradise
culture

OPI, Island Paradise

It turns out that the work load here is pretty tough, and I must apologize for not necessarily posting exactly at the time events happen. I do have a lot to talk about though, and since I have a 13-hr flight back to the States (from Korea during spring break- there’ll be a post about that later perhaps), I figure I can write a few on the plane ride.

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Hey there!
culture

Hey there!

Hey guys, let me start with a little introduction. My name is Muneeb and I'm a frosh looking to major in mechanical engineering and business, economics and management, or BEM. I am also an international student, originally from Pakistan but I've lived in Singapore, Malaysia and, most recently, Saudi Arabia. As you can imagine, this makes it somewhat harder to answer the question 'where are you from?', so that's probably one you want to skip when we meet in person. Besides the usual math and science, I am very interested in business and economics, hence the major, and I also enjoy playing squash and travelling.

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Happy Feet = Happy Brain!
culture

Happy Feet = Happy Brain!

Hello again wonderful prospective students, prefrosh, and fellow Techers! As it’s Spring Break, I’ve been making a lot of new goals and getting excited for this upcoming third term. One thing I really want to focus on–outside of schoolwork–is dance! Caltech has a “dance troupe” which offers classes (some are free, some are around $5) which range from ballet to hip hop to bellydance. The ones I want to work on most are ballet and contemporary. The creativity in movement really helps when the creativity in my brain is at a standstill on some physics problem. Another awesome thing besides dance that Caltech offers is YOGA!! <3You can take it for PE credit, or just for fun. There’s a just-for-fun class at 7:30AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays that I have a love/hate relationship with. I love it because it’s refreshing and energizes me to start my day… but the hate part comes with waking up so early!! But it’s worth it in the end. :) Caltech offers a wide range of really fun physical activities, which are a great break from all that mind-exercising we do 24/7. There’s aerobics and dance classes that you can take whenever you want (meaning they’re not like, graded classes on your transcript), or you can join a sport. If you have no prior experience with it, that’s fine! Most Caltech sports are very welcoming of everybody. During first quarter, I took track and field as my PE class, which was really chill but also a good way to get out in the sunshine. And on that note, I think it’s cool that we’re required to take three terms of PE for core. Without something sort of forcing me to get outside and be active, I’d probably just sit at my laptop all day and work.

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A different kind of education
research

A different kind of education

First, some administrative business. I made the grave error of calling Kip Thorne “a friend of Prof. Hawking.” I need to add more detail. Let me say “colleague and long-time collaborator” along with “friend” to relieve my conscience.

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ASB Day 4
research

ASB Day 4

Today, we woke up at the crack of dawn for our final day of ASB in San Diego. We were excited for our shift to help rebuild a low-income family house in El Cajon with Habitat for Humanity.

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Food, glorious food!
research

Food, glorious food!

First, some administrative business. Caltech’s regular decisions have come out already. For those of you accepted, welcome to the Class of 2016! I look forward to meeting you at CIAD/PFF/PFW during April. If I have any advice for PFW, don’t forget shower shoes, a towel, a sleeping bag (albeit my roommate and I have an extra mattress, but that’s because we are that awesome), AND your parents (they will be well-informed at PFW). Undergrad admissions has some fun stuff planned out, so you should definitely make the effort to come to the admit events.

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ASB Day 3
local

ASB Day 3

Today, we drove inland to Lakeside, which is almost near the desert to do a riverbed cleanup with the Lakeside's River Park Conservancy. We meet Monica, one of the Conservancy's wild life biologists at the trail and some other regular volunteers. Apparently, this area used to belong to the natives before they were moved to reservations and they had planted many edible plants that still grow to this day. This trail is frequented by members of the community: joggers, walkers and horseback riders. Thus, it was important to clear the plants that have overgrown the trail to ensure the safety of all those that use this popular trail.

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ASB Day 2
global

ASB Day 2

Today was the second day of San Diego ASB trip. When we were wary of the rain but this morning, we drove to Spanish landing of the San Diego Bay, which is the beach we adopted with the organization *I love a Clean San Diego*. *Adopt-a-beach* is nation wide program but is run in San Diego by I love a Clean San Diego. I had contacted and worked with the organization's volunteer coordinator beforehand and registered online, picking Spanish Landing as our beach to adopt.

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A Right-Brainer Fitting in at Caltech
research

A Right-Brainer Fitting in at Caltech

Hi everybody!!

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First Day of ASB in San Diego
research

First Day of ASB in San Diego

Today was the first day of the our San Diego Alternative Spring break trip!We departed from Caltech super early at 7:30am in the morning to drive down to San Diego. We arrived to volunteer at the 23rd Annual Women's Resouce Fair at the San Diego Civic Center hosted by the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Programorganized annually by a Task Force made up of volunteers from the San Diego community. Even though the weather was gloomy and overcast, our spirits were high as we were eager to help out. We learned from Fair organizers that the fair provides a huge variety ofsocial, medical and legal services, as well as employment information and shelter referralsfor low-income, recovering, homeless and abusedwomen and their children. This wide spectrum of services is funded byLawyers Club of San Diego, the San Diego County Bar Association and the San Diego County Bar Foundation.

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Spotlight

My Trip to the Galapagos!
academics

My Trip to the Galapagos!

It’s been over three months since my trip to the Galapagos, and I am still thinking about it. For seven days, we all woke up at 5:30 am on the boat, ate breakfast together, and went out as the sun was rising on our morning hike to catch frigatebirds mating or iguanas spewing salt from their nostrils. Our days were spent snorkeling with turtles, sea lions, and schools of fish, and our nights were spent sitting on the bow of the ship, talking all together under the stars. It was truly a spring break I will never forget.

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Caltech Food Tour
culture

Caltech Food Tour

Caltech may be a small campus, but it has a large variety of food options. There are three main dining locations on campus — The Lee F. Browne Dining Hall, the Hameetman Center (which houses our beloved Red Door Cafe), and the Broad Café.

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Some Late-Night Stress-Saving Food Runs
academics

Some Late-Night Stress-Saving Food Runs

Midterms kept up its unrelenting attack on my sanity this week – at least a little bit. And how did I solve this? Two words.

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Quick Trip to the Beach
global local culture

Quick Trip to the Beach

Although there are a lot of smaller things, such as midterm smoothies and milkshakes (Blacker does something similar to this) and some larger things like Faculty Dessert Night, the soc team usually agrees that beach trip is the most work.

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