CMC Parent Newsletter
Winter 2023

In this issue:

Family Weekend 2023: Picture Yourself at CMC!

Finding an Internship: Advice From Parent to Parent

Procrastinate Much? | (¡Leer en español!)

CMC Spotlight with Ran Libeskind-Hadas

Connect with CMC: Be Part of the Community Online and In Person

Jumpstart CMCers and Their Futures!

Parent Network Board Meeting Minutes

Family Weekend 2023: Picture Yourself at CMC!

By Melanie J. Malinowski P'27, Ph.D.

Get a glimpse of your student’s life at Claremont McKenna College by attending an action- packed weekend. Family Weekend is devoted to welcoming parents and families back to campus. There will be time to listen to panel discussions, watch sporting events, and enjoy activities together. Best of all, this is a time for CMC families to get to know one another!

If you plan on attending any part of the weekend, please be sure to register here.

Here is a glimpse of just a few of the programs planned:

Saturday, February 18

• 10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Town Hall Meeting and Q&A with President Hiram Chodosh
• 1:45 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. An overview of the study abroad and student exchange program

Sunday, February 19

• 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Learn about the importance of networking for our students.
• 11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Gain information about the Student Investment Fund.
• 1:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Help your student athlete to get the most out of their experience.

Monday, February 20

• Attend a CMC Class: This an opportunity to attend and actual CMC class! Don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz! Be sure to check the list of available classes when you check-in.

There will also be opportunities to bond over food truck lunches, sporting events, and fun events like trivia night.

Although Family Weekend is a wonderful time to spend with your student, we suggest that you check with them regarding their study schedule and general availability. Students may be available only for part of the weekend.

For a full schedule of programs please click here.

Please note that the schedule continues to evolve. A final schedule will be handed out at check-in. See you there!

Finding an Internship: Advice From Parent to Parent

By Jay Cohen P'23

A search for an internship can seem like the work of an additional course for a semester. Between the research, informational interviews, filling out applications, sending resumes, and thank you notes, the time commitment needed to secure a summer internship is considerable. However, the effort can be well worth the time as a good internship is a great learning experience and an effective way to fill out a resume that tells a compelling story to potential employers. Finding and obtaining the right internship, however, can be a challenge, especially for first-years and sophomores given that there are fewer organized internship programs for these students.

Having worked on Wall Street for 30 years and advised a number of students on their internship searches, I thought it would be helpful to share some tips that you can pass along to those who are still in the midst of their efforts to secure a summer position. Here are my key suggestions for landing an internship:

• Start with the Soll Center. The staff at the Soll Center are well-versed in internship opportunities and it is always useful to have another set of eyes look over a resume or sample cover letter. In addition, students should do some practice interviews before the real ones. Your student can get ideas for internships by seeing what past students have done during their summers.
• Mine the alumni network. CMC alumni are among the best networking tools you will find. When sending a resume to any company, students should check to see if there is a CMC alum at the organization to get insights into the opportunity. One of the benefits of attending a relatively small college is a tight knit alumni network that should be more responsive than graduates of a large university. Students can also sign up for Engage.CMC, which is a platform that serves as an alumni directory. Here, students can search within fields they find interesting, connect with alumni directly, and search for jobs and internships.
• Follow up is important. Believe it or not, CMC alumni and a friend’s mother who works at McKinsey are not solely focused on advancing a student’s internship journey. They have lives of their own are typically busy people. Accordingly, expect some of your student’s outreach to be ignored initially and that some of the promises made to get back to them with information will not be fulfilled. Students will need to follow up. They should do so in a respectful manner but stay persistent in their efforts.
• Do as many informational interviews as possible. One great way of learning about a career path is to speak directly to someone involved in the type of job a student is considering. They will have to do some research ahead of time but can learn a great deal from a practitioner. Most people like to talk about themselves and students can learn about different career trajectories. One good question to end with: “Can you suggest other people to connect with?” If a student speaks with 10 people and they each offer multiple other names, their network will grow exponentially. Remember, the bigger the net, the greater a chance you will catch a fish.
• Understand that a summer internship does not have to be perfect. For example, if a student has their heart set on investment banking, their summer internship in their first year does not have to be with Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley. Any company with the word “capital” or “investment” in its title might be just fine, especially if it gives the student a chance to learn about capital markets.
• Come up with an original idea for an internship. While large companies typically have fairly rigid hiring processes, small companies and organizations can be far more flexible. If there is a particular skill a student has, they can approach a small, local company and offer to work for them for the summer. Students should be specific with what they can do for them and what they want to get out of an internship. The growth of working remotely opens up even more opportunities as students can easily do work for located in any state in the country.

Procrastinate Much?

By Marisol Rivera Thurman P'24

Do you ever struggle with procrastination? Getting a project started? According to Daniela Corona ’23 and Stuart McCallum ’25, both Romero Success Coaches at CMC, “task initiation” is one of the most common struggles for college students. The CMC Success Coaches help students develop skills and motivation to overcome this inertia.

According to Daniela, she often gets students reaching out for help saying “I have no idea how I am going to get everything done on time.” She will work with them developing a time management plan, and will even help with accountability if they ask for it. Often, she sees that the lack of motivation is due to lack of purpose. “Students over-commit, taking advantage of everything CMC has to offer, and yet taking on classes and activities that are not their passion. It takes a while to find a purpose, and we help them figure out these priorities.”

Stuart is on the CMS Basketball team and trains four to five hours a day. As a result, he has had to develop excellent time management and focus skills. Interestingly, he considers his challenging sports schedule a help, saying “it gives a good rhythm to the day.” He observes that CMC students struggle with the sudden lack of structure that college life offers, and highly recommends students create structure by using their planner and google calendars to schedule blocks of time for all activities “They should map out times, even for eating, sleeping and exercise, and be very specific as to what they will do.” (Stuart showed his impressive color-coded Google calendar.)

The Romero Success Coaches provide a gold mine of resources, support, and information, and every CMC student should consider using their services to sharpen their skills and maximize this special time in their lives…fun included! Follow this link to learn more and make sure to forward it to your student! Personally, I found that their suggestions are helpful even for those of us who left college life many years ago. Some of my favorites are:

• Make sure your life is balanced with work and pleasure. Learn to prioritize the things that are your passion and important to you, and be proactive fitting them into your schedule.
• Create structure in your life. Try to find a rhythm to your days and use planners and google calendars or Notion to create time blocks. When you find a routine that works, stick to it. The Dean of Students office gives out academic planners, two-week planners, and semester-at-a-glance calendars that are very helpful.
• Learn to divide work into manageable steps. If you need help sticking to a plan, ask for help from Romero coaches, professors or peers. Daniela wisely suggests making office hours appointments as it will motivate you to get work done, as you would not want to show up empty-handed in front of a professor.

Accessing Romero Success Coaches is easy. Remind your student to drop in or schedule an appointment online!

Cuando es díficil empezar proyectos

By Marisol Rivera Thurman P'24

¿Alguna vez ha luchado con la procrastinación? ¿Se le hace difícil empezar un proyecto? Según Daniela Corona ’23 y Stuart McCallum ’25, ambos Romero Success Coaches (entrenadores de éxito para estudiantes) en CMC, la “iniciación de tareas” es una de las luchas más comunes para los estudiantes universitarios. Los Romero Success Coaches ayudan a los estudiantes a desarrollar habilidades y motivación para superar esta inercia.

Según Daniela, regularmente recibe solicitudes de estudiantes que busquen ayuda. Ellos le dicen: “No tengo idea de cómo encontrare el tiempo para terminar todos mis deberes.” Ella trabaja con ellos en el desarrollo de un plan de administración del tiempo e incluso les ayuda a mantener el plan. Ella ve que la falta de motivación se debe a la falta de propósito. “Los estudiantes se comprometen demasiado, aprovechan todo lo que CMC ofrece y, sin embargo, toman clases y actividades que no les apasiona. Estudiantes necesitan tomar el tiempo de encontrar su pasión, y nosotros estamos dispuestos para ayudarles.”

Stuart está en el equipo de baloncesto de Claremont-Mudd-Scripps y entrena de cuatro a cinco horas al día. Como resultado, ha tenido que desarrollar una excelente administración de su tiempo y habilidades de concentración. Aunque su programa deportive sea rigoroso, el piensa que “le da un buen ritmo al día”. Él observa que los estudiantes de CMC luchan con la falta de estructura que se enfrenta en la vida universitaria y recomienda que ellos formen una estructura usando su planificador y calendarios de Google. Estas aplicaciones pueden ayudar a los estudiantes programar bloques de tiempo para todas sus actividades, como ejercicio, cuando dormir, y también cuando comer. “Deben ser muy específicos en los que quieren hacer.” (Stuart mostró su calendario, el cual es impresionante, de Google codificado por colores).

Los Romero Success Coaches son una fuente de recursos, apoyo e información, y cada estudiante de CMC debe considerar usar sus servicios para mejorar sus habilidades estudiantiles y tener la oportunidad de divertirse. ¡Siga este enlace para obtener más información y asegúrese de reenviarlo a su estudiante! Personalmente, encontré que sus sugerencias son útiles incluso para aquellos de nosotros que no somos estudiantes. Algunos de mis favoritos son:

• Asegúrese de que tu vida esté equilibrada con el trabajo y la diversión. Aprenda a priorizar las cosas que son su pasión e importantes para usted, y sea proactivo ajustándolas a su agenda.
• Crear estructura en sus vidas. Trate de encontrar un ritmo para sus días y use calendarios de Google o Notion para crear bloques de tiempo. Cuando encuentre una rutina que funcione, manténgala. La oficina del Decano de Estudiantes entrega planificadores académicos, planificadores de dos semanas y calendarios de semestre de un vistazo los cuales son útiles para los estudiantes.
• Aprende a dividir el trabajo en pasos manejables. Si su estudiante necesita ayuda para cumplir con un plan, dígale que solicite ayuda a los profesores o Romero Success Coaches. Daniela le sugiere a los estudiantes que hagan citas con sus profesores, ya que los motivará a hacer el trabajo, porque ningún estudiante querrá presentarse con las manos vacías frente de un profesor.

Acceder a Romero Success Coaches es fácil. ¡Recuérdele a su estudiante solicite una cita en línea!

CMC Spotlight: Ran Libeskind-Hadas, Founding Chair of the Kravis Dept. of Integrated Sciences

By Dahlia Jabro P'26

We had an opportunity to talk with Professor Libeskind-Hadas about CMC. Read below to see how CMC is at the forefront of creating scientific literate students.

Q: Tell us a little about your background!

A: I grew up in Missoula, Montana. My dad was a math professor and my mom was a grad student. I met my wife while we were graduate students and we have two boys together. Both of our boys graduated from college this year. I attended Harvard as an undergraduate and majored in applied math. I then went to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for my master's and Ph.D. My area of research is computational biology which is using computer science techniques and ideas to help biologists solve problems. In 1993 we moved to Claremont, CA. I took a position with Harvey Mudd and my wife was accepted into a post-doctoral program at UCLA. Before coming to Claremont Mckenna College, I was at Harvey Mudd for 28 years in their computer science department.

Q: Can you share with us the College’s vision of the Kravis Department of Integrated Sciences and how it enhances the education of all our students?

A: Modern science is practiced differently than the way its taught. The field of science is evolving very quickly to respond to the challenges of society. Traditional undergrad science education reflects a traditional teaching model. I think there is an opportunity to turn the way science is taught and modernize teaching approaches by teaching science the way it is practiced. Science is traditionally taught through subjects such as physics, biology, neuroscience, chemistry, etc. However, this is not the way science is practiced and most people cross these artificial barriers when working in these disciplines. We want to teach science holistically. We are focusing on three themes which are human health, the brain, and the planet. We are going to have scientists at CMC that organize around those challenges and are there to help students to solve these pressing problems in society. Science is also becoming increasingly computational and data science oriented. Computational methods are very powerful and scientists use computational methods in science but this is not taught in undergraduate. We are changing this so they are taught computation methods from the very first course. In addition, CMC is extremely strong in social sciences and humanities. Our students have those strong interests. We want to build a science program that is tightly coupled with our CMC strengths. This means for example looking at ethics and science, entrepreneurship and science, and policy related to science. We are leveraging CMC’s core strengths.

Q: What do you want the CMC community to know about the integrated science department?

A: Scientific knowledge is huge. No scientist understands or knows all of science. We at CMC are not training students to know everything there is about science. Instead, we want our students to be confident lifelong learners. We'll prepare them with meta-skills to include learning science content, how to read a scientific paper, how to communicate science to the public, and how to evaluate scientific work. Science is an inherently skeptical enterprise; teaching the tools of being skeptical, careful, and thoughtful are tools we want our students to carry for the rest of their lives.

Q: What advice would you give to a CMC student that is interested in sciences but still wants to pursue a liberal arts degree?

A: This is a great place to do it. Our science department is going to couple naturally with the liberal arts. Our science program will be particularly well connected to humanities and social sciences. CMC offers institutional support for students that want to pursue multiple interests and dual/double majors. We are super high touch. One of the most important things to getting trained in sciences is a hands-on experience while being mentored by faculty members - I think that is an area we are unrivaled.

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: I love teaching! It is so much fun interacting with bright and curious enthusiastic students-that is the makeup of CMC students. I like envisioning a program and being able to think outside of the box. I like building the best program we can build and getting the support of trustees. CMC tolerates risk and wants to try new things. I love thinking about science with that level of support.

Q: How would you want CMC students to remember or describe their years here?

A: I would want them to look back fondly at their experience. CMC does a great job to cultivate and nurture the whole person. The academics are rigorous but not so much that the student cannot have a social life and pursue other interests. I want our science dept to contribute to that experience. I want them to feel like I learned a whole amount and left CMC with confidence in my abilities and ability to continue learning and navigate a continuously changing world. And that they forged lifelong relationships.

Connect with CMC: Be Part of the Community Online and In Person

The CMC community is worldwide and far reaching. Here is how you can stay connected and stay up-to-date:

Parent and Family Facebook Group:
This group is for parents and guardians of students that aims to provide a parent-to-parent resource where family members of the CMC community can share ideas, experiences, and find helpful information. To join the group, please visit the Claremont McKenna College Parents and Families page.

CMC Alumni and Families Instagram
The Alumni and Families Instagram page allows our community to discover the latest news, exciting upcoming events, on campus and around the world, alumni and parent speakers, live event updates, and more. To follow, visit the CMC Alumni and Families Instagram here.

Chapter Events
Parents and families are invited to join chapter events! With 19 chapters all over the world, including Europe and Asia, there will be options for everyone. The chapters program provides alumni, parents, students, and friends with opportunities to network, attend lectures given by faculty members, participate in service projects that benefit local communities, and attend a variety of social activities. While different in many respects, all activities share the common goal of bringing the community together to help them maintain a life-long CMC connection. For information on upcoming programs in your area, visit the programs page here.

Join Us at Family Weekend and Help Students Jumpstart Their Futures!

During Family Weekend here at CMC, the Parent Network Career Development Committee will host an exciting event in conjunction with the Soll Center for Student Opportunity. The Jumpstart Your Future: Student/Parent Networking Event will take place on Saturday, February 18 from 1:30 – 2:45 p.m. at Gann Quadrangle, Kravis Center. We would love for you to mark your calendar and attend!

This is a casual and fun event where you have the opportunity to share your experience, wisdom, and advice about career options with our CMC students. Students are advised to come with their questions and curiosities, ready to jump into one-on-one or small group conversations.

This marks the 9th year that our committee has sponsored an event during Family Weekend! We very much hope you will be a part of it. In addition, we hope your student will join you and bring their friends!