Caltech Home > Home > News > First-Year Parents and Families...
Search open search form

First-Year Parents and Families Attend Caltech Family Weekend

From February 24-26, Caltech welcomed over 70 families of first-year students to campus for Family Weekend, a three-day annual event that offers an in-person sampling of the undergraduate student experience.

On Saturday morning, the "Life at Caltech" panel featured six upper-level undergraduate students and moderator Kristin Weyman, associate dean of undergraduate students. Each student spoke about various aspects of their Caltech experience, including research, the residential house system, clubs, athletics, community outreach, the core curriculum, and more. To close out the panel, each student provided a piece of advice for parents. Fourth-year undergrad Jolly Patro shared: "My mom gave me the best piece of advice, and I would encourage you to pass this on to your student—don't get caught up striving for perfection or focusing only on results; take time to appreciate the journey as a whole during your time at Caltech."

A panel of students sit behind a table on stage.

On Saturday afternoon, parents and family members of first-year students enjoyed club displays, as well as a cooking demonstration and tasting from Caltech's Cooking Basics class.

A young man gestures to an electronic contraption on a table in front of four people listening to him
Second-year undergrad Ethan Barajas shares part of a project from the Caltech Racing club, which builds electric formula race cars.

Two groups of adults standing and talking to one another
Parents socialize at the club demonstration event during Family Weekend.

A student demonstrates how to shuck an oyster to two parents.
Fourth-year undergrad Aelin Hunt demonstrates oyster shucking as part of the Cooking Basics class demo.

Written by Julia Ehlert