The archetype is familiar: The solitary physicist, deep in thought, paces beside a chalkboard peppered with symbols and equations. The astronomer, perched alone at the edge of the night, peers into a telescope aimed at a distant galaxy, searching into the abyss of the cosmos.

Correction: The original version of this article’s illustration misspelled James Engel’s name.
This post was updated June 15 at 7:44 a.m.
A single mom from Idaho, a realtor from Palmdale, California, and a local Los Angeles alumnus all have one thing in common – they are avid followers of the UCLA Parents Facebook page.