Mars

Thriving in STEM through community support

Learn how Caltech student Mars Arechavala earned a full-ride scholarship through QuestBridge and became a mechanical engineering major who now helps others.

From a young age, Mars Arechavala ‘26 loved rockets. Their parents often drove the family to the Kennedy Space Center, an hour or two away from their Florida home.

"We would go and see the rocket launches, and that was really fun," they enthused. "I'd watch a lot of videos about different types of rockets, and I learned a lot about them."

Mars' interest in aerospace engineering led them to learn about the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a leader in robotic space exploration, and its connection to Caltech, which manages the laboratory. So when they began to consider where to apply for college, they put Caltech at the top of the list despite being unsure about their chances of admission.

"I come from a very underfunded, under-resourced school," Mars said. "I thought, ‘There's no way I'm going to get in.'"

With encouragement from their family, Mars applied to Caltech through the QuestBridge program, which provides low-income students a full four-year scholarship to colleges after a matching process. They went through the application process and put Caltech as their number one option, and on December 1, they learned Caltech accepted them as a mechanical engineering major.

Accessing Support to Succeed in Caltech

Elated by the admission decision, Mars was also nervous. Their high school had no robotics courses or advanced STEM classes that other Caltech students had accessed.

"My school had up to AP Calculus BC, and I thought that was advanced," they said. "But it wasn't until I got in that I realized people were doing multivariable calculus, linear algebra, etc."

Fortunately, Caltech offers incoming students an opportunity to come to campus the summer before their first semester through the First-Year Success Research Institute (FSRI). This program provides academic enrichment to help students transition to life at Caltech.

"I'd never done research in my life. I was like, ‘What is research?'" they recalled, laughing. "So I was really lucky to have that experience, and I also got a math class to help me with the first year of Caltech math."

But more than anything, FSRI offered Mars a sense of belonging.

"It was a great resource for my friends and me because it's explicitly made for students who come from similar backgrounds to me, so I got to make a whole group of friends of people I have a lot in common with," they explained. "FSRI has probably been one of my favorite parts about being here."

With all this support, Mars made it through their core curriculum courses, which included First Year Mathematics and First Year Physics. Then, during their sophomore year, they began their mechanical engineering classes, which they admitted were challenging.

"It's very difficult but very interesting and applicable to what I'll be doing at some point in my life," they said. "For example, when I did research with FSRI, I didn't understand all the science behind my project. But last term, I started learning the science behind what I was doing, so it all came together, and I'm excited to learn more."

Applying Mechanical Engineering to Research Opportunities

As their knowledge grew, Mars joined a mechanical engineering and environmental science research project through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program. They joined a team creating technology to help power plants capture carbon.

"I made little spheres that could withstand high temperatures and absorb carbon dioxide," they explained. "Then when they're done absorbing, they can release the carbon dioxide in a different form that we can sequester, and it doesn't have to go directly into the atmosphere."

In this hands-on project, they used a KitchenAid Mixer and an air fryer to create different combinations of materials to test.

"Every day, we'd go in and say, ‘What formulas are we making today?'" they explained. "Then we mix it, and it kind of looks like Play-Doh. Then we put it into an extruder and then a spheroidizer. And if it made it to the drier, we would see if it would burn. It was really fun."

A Mechanical Engineering Future Grounded in Giving Back and Looking Up

As they continue to learn at Caltech, Mars also contributes to the supportive environment that helped them thrive as a student. They are the social director at the campus' QuestBridge chapter, which provides resources for fellow students from low-income backgrounds and under-resourced schools.

"We organize two or three events per term, like financial aid workshops, and social events, like an ice cream social," they explained. "All the new QuestBridge students come and realize there's a community."

Mars is constantly amazed by how far they've come during their two years at Caltech through its resources and supportive environment. From mastering advanced mathematics concepts to participating in research projects, they have grown by leaps and bounds. Looking ahead, Mars plans to add an aerospace minor and find opportunities to pursue their passion for space.

"I want to work at JPL sometime during my undergrad years, and I do hope to go into the industry and work at an aerospace company and on rockets," they said.