Chris S. '11
Apr 4 2013
With Apologies to Dr. Seuss
Posted in: Information, Life & Culture
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
(flickr: thenerdsangle)
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
(flickr: Dan4th)
You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
(www.newenglandliving.org)
And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.
It's opener there
in the wide open air.
(google MIT D-lab and MIT MISTI!)
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening... read the post »
Jun 1 2012
Three Guys, Six Degrees
Posted in: Life & Culture
QUOTE: “I think MIT is the closest thing to Hogwarts on this planet...you’re taking all of these kids from around the country and the world...they’re all a little bit off-the-charts in one way or another. And you’re bringing them all together and they’re having this tremendous shared experience. It’s a magical shared experience.”
-Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, 2012 commencement speaker (in one week!)
---
Some of you might wonder what I'm still doing here. It's true, what am I doing here?.
I can't believe it's been one year already. In this intervening year, I evolved into a multiple choice test-taking machine, and already forgot what a pset looks like (don't panic - take it from a reliable source that there is a life without psets :P). I also interviewed ten prospective MIT '16s, and drafted ten passionate interview reports. It's fun, and keeps me connected to that crazy Institvte up north. (I still remember writing this blog! time really flies - i'm still getting over... read the post »
Aug 30 2011
Life After MIT
Posted in: Miscellaneous
So I have (somewhat) settled into my life post-grad.
This is, however, NOT my last blog. That is coming, and (I promise!) it will be still MIT-relevant.
Once things stop becoming MIT-relevant, then I'll stop blogging. Which will be a sad day.
----
So I'm now living in THE NYC, on THE UES (or the Upper East Side, for you unenlightened folks). Theoretically, I live in East Harlem, since we have the East Harlem zip code (10029), but we are zoned in the same Congressional district as the wealthy Upper East Side (NY 14th). This made me finally realize what "gerrymandering" means*. (okay, I also wanted to live in the most Democratic Congressional district in the nation according to the Cook PVI index, which is NY 15th (Harlem and Washington Heights) and NY 16th (Bronx) :P)
* Seriously though, check out the Manhattan Congressional zoning map - the traditional boundary between East Harlem and the Upper East Side is East 96th St., but see how the district lines shift sharply... read the post »
Aug 25 2011
So You Wanna Be a Doctor?
Posted in: Academics & Research
I'll give you snippets of three actual conversations first.
I.
I was chatting with this guy at one of my med school interviews -
HIM: "So where do you go to school?"
ME: "Oh, I go to school in Boston."
HIM: "Do you go to Harvard?"
ME: "No!"
HIM: "MIT?"
ME: "Yes..."
HIM: "Funny how Harvard and MIT kids always tell people that 'they go to school in Boston.'"
I never thought about it, but if you must press me for a reason, I do feel like sometimes saying "oh, yeah, I go to MIT" sounds rather pretentious, so I've unconsciously continually opted to say Boston, rather than MIT directly.
It's almost like that with being Premed at MIT.
II.
For some reason, people HATE admitting that they are premed at MIT - consider the following exchange:
HIM: "So what course are you?"
YOU: "Uh...7. (or 9, or 10B)"
HIM: "What do you want to do after you graduate?"
YOU: "Uh...go to med school...."
HIM: "Oh, you're a premed?"
YOU: "Yeahhhh....."
This happens all the... read the post »
Aug 4 2011
Ratification: The Story of the US Constitution
Posted in: Academics & Research
If you are at all following the news, you'll know that the US Congress just raised the debt ceiling, after a protracted deeply partisan debate.
Just like every political debate, the "Constitutionality" of adjusting the debt limit was brought up by various legislators. Sen. Schumer (D-NY) suggested using the 14th Amendment to the Constitution as a legal requirement for the government to continue paying its financial obligations. In response, Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) dismissed the idea as "crazy talk."
So how does this document, well over 200 years old, continue to shape US politics?
Professor Pauline Maier, a history professor at MIT, published this book last year. I wrote about the book when it came out last year.
Since then, Prof. Maier's book had gone on to win:
- "10 Best Books of the Year" (Wall Street Journal)
- "100 Notable Books of the Year" (New York Times)
- George Washington Book Prize ($50,000)
It is also available prominently at major booksellers like the... read the post »