Today, I want to talk about a figure that we too often take for granted: coaches, instructors, guides who surround us and who, in one way or another, transform our lives. They are like sculptors who, with patience and dedication, shape the clay that we are, smoothing the edges with the chisel and helping us find a shape that we often cannot see on our own. And yet, we never thank them enough.
Connecting three philosophers that created a specific school of thought in Magna Grecia. The Mediterranean sun hung low over the horizon, casting long shadows across the olive groves…
On April 12, 2025, members of the Caltech community gathered for the annual “Make a Difference Day” event organized by the Caltech Y. This article explores one volunteer team’s day at Friends in Deed, a local nonprofit food pantry in Pasadena, highlighting their community impact and personal growth through service.
There is a question pulsing quietly beneath the surface of every lab bench, every line of code, every equation scribbled onto a whiteboard: Why are we doing this? Is it for discovery, for prestige, for the betterment of humanity—or something more elusive? At Caltech, we pride ourselves on pushing the boundaries of what is knowable, and we do, no one says the opposite. We decode the stars, manipulate the quantum, edit genes and simulate the brain. But in a world full of complexity, speed, and ambition, can knowledge make us wise? Can science teach us how to live well?
If Democritus were alive today, he’d fit right in at Caltech—probably wandering around campus, laughing at his own jokes, and asking if he could borrow a supercomputer “just to check something.”
I have discovered that, deep down, each of us secretly cultivates the desire to be elsewhere. It’s as if, despite all the sacrifices made to get to one of the most prestigious universities in the world, we suddenly discover that complete satisfaction is an illusion.
We are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Jenijoy La Belle, a trailblazing administrative leader, devoted professor, and outspoken advocate for academic integrity and the rights of women. Along a career trajectory marked by keen intelligence, unyielding resolve, and passion for literature, La Belle was the first woman to be hired as a faculty member at Caltech. The indelible contributions she has made to Shakespeare, William Blake, Theodore Roethke, and 17th-century poetry remain attached to scholarship in literature.
We don’t talk about it. We don’t want to admit it. But racism is still here, still present, and each one of us feels its weight in some way. How can we still believe that a person’s worth can be defined by the color of their skin or where they were born? How many times have I heard, “Oh, you’re Italian? So, the mafia? Pizza? You don’t do much, do you?” Stereotypes. Labels. Concepts created decades ago that somehow still manage to stick. It’s in my bones, this feeling of being judged, of being categorized. I don’t have darker skin, but I was born Italian. I don’t deny it. I embrace it. And yet, I feel the sting of assumptions, of remarks that make me feel misplaced in a world that should have moved past this nonsense already.
If Plato was the dreamer with his head above the clouds, Aristotle is the realist with his hands in the soil. He’s the philosopher of practicality; the one who took the abstract musings of his teacher, Plato, and said, “Alright, but how does it really work?”
If you’ve recently heard students humming show tunes, hyping up hockey games, or debating the best rides at Knott’s Berry Farm, you’ve probably stumbled upon the buzz surrounding Caltech’s Off-Campus Programming Series… I recently had the chance to chat with Steven Metzmaker, Assistant Director of Residential & Student Experience, who has been orchestrating these off-campus escapades.
