Academics
Real Stories
Location, Location, Location
- Name:
- Dipesh Bhattarai (Class of 2005)
- Major:
- Physics
- Involvement at Whittier:
-
Physics Club; research assistant for Dr. Glenn Piner analyzing radio telescope data to determine the behavior of quasars; team member on groundbreaking discovery of astral matter traveling 99.9% the speed of light; team presenter at annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
"I remember my first Star Party," says Dipesh Bhattarai, a native of Kathmandu, Nepal, referring to the Physics Club's annual, overnight sojourn to explore the universe above.
"We drove to Joshua Tree National Park and set up our campsite, complete with tents, a fire for a barbecue—and telescopes to view the night sky. That night, we were able to view the Rings of Saturn, and the moons of Jupiter, and other solar system and extra-solar system bodies. This was the first time I had ever seen the skies through a powerful telescope, and it was incredible."
Whittier has an unbeatable location in Southern California. It's just a short distance to the mountains, the beaches, the hiking trails of Puente Hills, several minor lakes, and the Mojave Desert—which means that our natural and physical science majors have an abundance of resources and ecological systems to sample and study nearby.
But our position at the crossroads of Los Angeles and Orange Counties also means that our theatre majors have the region's leading film and television studios and performing arts centers nearby; our music majors have the record industry and world-class concert venues nearby; our athletes and kinesiology majors have the Dodgers, Lakers, Galaxy, and Ducks nearby; and our business majors are literally situated in the front row of the fifth-largest producing economy in the world. And in all these fields, across each of these industries, Whittier College has become a critical source for filling internship, employment, and research opportunities.
While at Whittier, our students won't necessarily need to leave campus, but with the potential for so many cultural, professional, and off-the-beaten path experiences at their fingertips, we strongly encourage them to do so. And to paraphrase our governor, we know "they'll be back."
