PASADENA, Calif. – Former Troubadour Kristin Anderson just completed her sophomore season at Caltech in Pasadena, Calif. She led the team in rebounding for the second consecutive season, grabbing six boards per game and scoring 6.6 points per contest. The Beavers had a tough season (1-24) but Anderson played in all 25 games and started 21 contests on the season.

Check out the Q&A with Kristin provided by the Caltech Sports Information Office.

Getting to Know Caltech’s Kristin Anderson…

1. If time travel were possible, would you travel into the future or into the past?

 If I could do it for an unspecified time, I would probably chose the future so I could see how our civilization has advanced or how it had destroyed itself. Otherwise, I would probably like to travel back in time to World War II, because I have always been a fan of learning about it.

2.     If you could invite three people to dinner, with one being from before you were born and the other two being any point past, present or future, who would you invite?

I would definitely invite Tina Fey because she’s hilarious, but the other two are tougher. Other than her, I would have to invite my favorite rulers of Spain, who are featured in my favorite calendar: Queen Isacowbella and King Herdinand, who sponsored Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Western hemisphere.

3. If you could try out any job for a day, what would you like to try?

Being Morgan Freeman would be pretty cool, but alternatives would be working at Google, being a scuba dive instructor, or being a pilot. Some of those might be more interesting for more than just a day, though.

4.     If you could learn one random skill, what would you learn?

I would learn to write with my left hand in order to make it more useful.

5.     Describe yourself as a flavor

Chocolate chip cookie dough because that’s my favorite ice cream and it is filled with chocolate and cookie chunks of goodness.

6.     What animal would you be?

I would be a dog because dogs are my favorite. Well-kept dogs have fantastic lives since all they have to do is eat, sleep, eat more, sleep more, be petted, and be played with. It would be a happy life to be a well-kept dog.

7.     What hidden talents do you have?

I recently discovered that I can touch my tongue to my nose. A friend showed me that she could so it and I tried it to show her I couldn’t, but then I did!

8.     Are you Wind, Earth, fire or water?

Fire because it represents plasma, which is the least common of the four fundamental states. Also fire because it can change color depending on what is burning.

9.     Always on time or always late?

I’m generally on time because I believe being on time shows responsibility and is very important in other people’s perception of you. Additionally, being late for some events sometimes frightens be because I feel as if I’ve missed the most important part of the event even if I have not.

10. Other than basketball, what is the most exciting sport for you to watch?

Of the sports in the Olympics, I have always most enjoyed watching women’s gymnastics. When I was a little kid, I did gymnastics, so I have always been fascinated by expert gymnasts in how they are able to manipulate their bodies in order to perform specific moves. I also really like watching swimming in the Olympics because almost every race is so close that it is always exciting.

11. If you were burying a time capsule that would not be discovered for at least 100 years, what three items would you put in it to tell the future what your life was like?

I would put a pile with books and homework because that is what Caltech is. I would then put my computer because they would either have no idea how to use it or they would complain about how slow it was. Lastly, I would add a freeze-dried charbroiled chicken sandwich with no pickles from Chick-fil-A.

12. What do you think the greatest contribution to science has been in your lifetime?

The completion of the human genome project is probably the greatest contribution to science in my lifetime because it provides new avenues for advances in medicine and biotechnology.

13. What accomplishment in your life are you most proud of ?

One of the accomplishments that I am most proud of was winning a Roseville area sculpture contest in the third grade because before and after that experience, I had and have never exhibited any artistic ability.

14. What is your guilty pleasure that most people would be surprised to know you enjoyed?

I like to go dress shopping, and I know this may be shocking to a lot of people, but one of my guilty pleasures is going to Chick-fil-A. Actually, I don’t really think I feel guilty about going to Chick-fil-A at all, so never mind about that.

15.  Why did you pick the major you are studying? 

I chose chemical engineering because a particular track of the chemical engineering option uniquely combines chemistry and biology, which I have always particularly enjoyed. Additionally, it is, in general a very versatile major in that I could switch to almost any engineering major. Some chemical engineers also do really cool work like working to end certain diseases and attempting to stop the effects of acid rain.

16. What is your favorite part about being on this team? 

My favorite part of being on the team is essentially being part of such a tight-knit group which has similar goals. We all have the desire to play basketball together and win together. Additionally, we always have a really good time together, whether we are on the court or whether we are doing other activities like going to get froyo, playing cards against humanity, or just hanging out.  Lastly, I really like being on the team because they are always ok with listening to my stories, no matter how bad the stories truly are.