A Word to My Mentor — Caltech Magazine

During Undergraduate Research Week in April, the Student-Faculty Programs (SFP) office invited students to stop by a table outside Hameetman Center and take a moment to send a thank-you note to mentors who made a positive difference in their undergraduate research experience. The Gratitude Tabling event was a great example of the power of mentorship at Caltech, says SFP program coordinator Vincent Ton.

“The Student-Faculty Programs office is charged with overseeing much of the undergraduate research taking place at Caltech,” Ton says. “We do this through numerous programs, most notably the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) program. This year, SURF is ringing in 45 years! To recognize this milestone while also celebrating Undergraduate Research Week, we organized this event for students to say thank you to the mentors and co-mentors whom they have worked with in the past or look forward to working with this upcoming summer. And these aren’t just for show either; our office looked up people’s mail codes and sent these out!”

Here are a few examples of cards from the event.

—Kim Miller, Laboratory Manager, Lamb Surface Process Group, to Maria Schmeer, Geology Graduate Student; SURF ’21 Alum who did SURF as an undergraduate from Washington University in St. Louis.

—Perry Samimy (Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate; SURF Alum ’21 + ’22) à Guillaume Blanquart (Professor of Mechanical Engineering)

—Sarah Kabboul (Materials Science Undergraduate; SURF Alum ’21 + ’22) à Madeline Meier (Chemistry Graduate Student, Lewis Lab)

—Virginia “Ginny” Canestraight (Chemical Engineering Undergraduate; SURF Alum ‘21) à Nick Watkins (Chemistry Graduate Student, Peters Lab)