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The Best Photos of 2023
A student walks through a field of brilliant yellow wildflowers.
Written By Gabby Ferreira | Photos by Joe Johnston, Dylan Head and Andy Sherar

As 2023 draws to a close, it's a good time to reflect on the kind of year it's been at Cal Poly. From taking care of baby goats to conducting marine research, to thesis presentations and dance performances and everything in between, our students, faculty and staff have worked hard to learn, experience, research and have fun.

The Cal Poly News staff went through our photo archives to choose the images we felt best represented each month of the year. See them all below.

January

Student dancers wear two piece outfits to rehearse a number for the Orchesis Dance Company.

Student dancers rehearse for the 53rd Annual Orchesis Dance Company concert, "Falling Forward."

February

Students and goats, including newborn kids, gather in a grassy field with Bishop Peak in the background.

Students in the ASCI 290 Goat Enterprise course take care of newborn goats during winter quarter.

March

Journalism student Zoe Boyd sits behind the DJ booth at KCPR, hosting her radio show.

Journalism student Zoe Boyd hosts her show, “The Zoetrope,” on KCPR.

April

A student walks through a field of yellow flowers on the Carrizo Plain. In the background, mountains are painted with splashes of yellow and purple wildflowers.

Biological sciences student Caitlin Robertson walks through a field of brilliant yellow wildflowers at the Carrizo Plain during an excursion with her Field Botany class. 

May

Students gather in a darkened room to see an exhibit put on by 5th-year architecture students.

Fifth-year architecture thesis students in professor Doug Jackson’s class present their exhibition, "Fixation."

June

Students in green graduation robes stand at the commencement ceremony and look up smiling while green and gold streamers fly around.

Students smile during the College of Liberal Arts commencement ceremony when green and gold streamers are released.

July

A student wearing a blue plaid shirt smiles as he uses gardening clippers to harvest seeds from a plant with purple flowers growing in a sand dune.

Environmental management and protection student Josh Florez harvests seeds from a crisp monardella plant at the Oceano Dunes. Over the summer, Florez was part of a team of Cal Poly students working with California State Parks to restore vegetation on the dunes.

August

Three students balance themselves on a boat as they prepare to send equipment into the waters off California's Central Coast.

Marine science students Sophie Short and Adelle Wilkin work with professor Maddie Schroth-Glanz to deploy audio equipment into the water. They are part of an interdisciplinary team aiming to contribute to large-scale marine mammal monitoring along California's Central Coast.

September

Students look up at a fireworks display above Spanos Stadium. The student in the foreground, whose back is to the camera, is wearing a green shirt that says The Mustang Way across the top.

Students watch the fireworks display during the Big Fall Welcome at Spanos Stadium, which kicks off the Week of Welcome.

October

A student dances during a hip hop masterclass hosted by the Theater and Dance Department

A student dances during a hip-hop masterclass hosted by the Theatre and Dance Department.

November

A student places a candle on an ofrenda, or altar, in UU plaza.

A student places a candle on an ofrenda, or altar, in UU Plaza during Cal Poly's Día de los Muertos celebration.

December

Two students stack handmade bricks on top of each other during an event on Dexter Lawn.

Students in the ARCH 241 Architectural Technology Fundamentals class display their custom-designed and handmade bricks. With the support of WRNS Architects in San Francisco, the class traveled to Pacific Clay in Lake Elsinore to make the bricks, which were shipped to Cal Poly after they were fired.

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