The Meander / About

Getting Involved on Campus

by Artemis Ailianou

I’m about to start my 4th year at Caltech in pursuit of a PhD in Chemical Engineering, and my 8th year in the United States in pursuit of knowledge. I ‘m a Greek-Cypriot. I grew up in Cyprus, spending almost all my summers in Greece. This last academic year I was the Chair of the Graduate Student Council and I would like to share some of my reflections on what it means to be an international student in the US and getting involved in student life.

I still remember my fist few days in the United States at almost eighteen. Coming from a small island, going to the University of Texas at Austin was a huge step, literally; the University had a population almost as big as my hometown! I remember how everything seemed so big and how fascinated I was with all the different kinds of people I met. However, before I even stepped my foot on American ground I had already decided to embrace diversity and really experience this new country.

My willingness to immerse myself in the American culture turned out to be extremely beneficial. Being away from your family, friends and loved ones is never easy; I never thought I would miss my parents so my much and yet I did. American friendships are different than Greek ones but I did my best to make friends and I succeeded, at least half the time. The guy who sat next to me in my freshman calculus class is still a very good friend; the girl from intro physics? I was one of her bridesmaids last summer! My numerical methods TA? Still a great mentor and friend. These people were the ones that helped me during tough times and were there to celebrate the good ones with me.

Embracing American culture also meant that I became more involved with the community. As I found out, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved, from professional societies, to athletic activities and clubs of all kinds. Being in a huge school (Chemical Engineering alone had 450 undergraduates!) I had the opportunity to join honor and professional societies (three in total) in engineering. This gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of people, make friends, volunteer, to mentor and be mentored. It gave me a sense of belonging and accomplishment. Being an active member and leader in those organizations made my undergraduate experience something I still remember fondly, despite the rough patches here and there. T

hree years ago I came to Caltech and I had to make new friends again, to get to know another city while being even farther away from my family. Before coming to Caltech I told myself that I would not get involved with anything and that I would only do work. I kept telling myself that it would be ok if I were miserable- because that’s how grad school is supposed to be, right? That lasted for about 2 weeks. I was very, very wrong about being able to do work all the time. I had to do something else other than science. I found that most successful classmates were the ones that found time to do something for fun. A couple of them run or did some other sport, others cooked or baked with friends.

I decided to take some dance classes. I had very limited experience in dancing but I always wanted to learn how to dance and since the beginner classes were (and still are) free, I said why not? It turned out that I really enjoyed it and it gave me an opportunity to meet people outside my options, exercise and recharge. I even found time in to participate in the annual Caltech Dance Show with the Swing dance team and the ballet club! Dancing kept me sane during that first difficult year.

I’m not saying that everyone should all start taking dance classes. However, if there’s an activity that you’ve always wanted to do but was not available before, go ahead and do it! Don’t hesitate because you’ve never done it before, we all have to start from somewhere.

My involvement led to becoming president of the Ballroom Dance Club for 2009-2010. The people I worked with are still good friends and a source of support. At the same time, I was also recruited to join the Graduate Student Council and followed the path of Secretary to Vice Chair to Chair to the GSC this last year. Now that I have stepped down from the position of Chair, I ‘m reflecting on my experiences over the last year and I’ve realize how much I’ve changed because of my leadership position. I have a learned a few things about how Caltech works, I met a lot of people, especially in administrators. I had a wonderful mentor, made friends (and got a lot of free food). I also grew as a person and learned what I can and what I can’t do.

Getting involved on campus will enrich your experience. Don’t limit yourself to the people from your Option. Caltech is a great place because of all the people that are here. Join a club, an ethnic or religious group, a sports team or the student government and make friends. My advice to everyone is to remember that we all need to take breaks, have some fun, exercise and sleep. Scientific studies have shown over and over again that regular sleep and physical activity enhance memory and academic performance. Just go ahead and do it!