Kim D. '09
Mar 21 2010
Are people on the East Coast friendly?
Posted in: Best of the Blogs, Miscellaneous
When I applied to MIT, I didn't consider whether the people of Boston would be as friendly as the people of Wisconsin. I probably wouldn't have given it a second (or first) thought, except for a conversation I had with my school librarian. She asked me what I would be doing the next year, and I told her about MIT. Unlike most people I had told, her reaction wasn't just to congratulate me. She said "... but... aren't people on the East Coast a bit... unfriendly?"
Now, to be fair, I still can't answer that question entirely. Most MIT students don't leave campus much. There are so many awesome people to meet and activities to try (and so much work to do) at MIT that I haven't spent a whole lot of time in Boston. That's actually point number 1: This isn't a very important question to answer, because MIT is the community you will spend most of your time in, and it is plenty friendly.
As for Boston though, it might help to share a few anecdotes to give you a picture of what the city... read the post »
Mar 7 2010
MIT Quidditch: The Best Thing EVER?
Posted in: Best of the Blogs, Life & Culture
Today. I. Joined. Quidditch.
The awesomeness is still sinking in. This afternoon was the first warm, sunny, beautiful day we've had here for a while. I bike year-round, but today was the first time since fall that I went on a bike ride for fun, instead of just to get to class. After exploring the Minuteman trail (including a statue of Uncle Sam; did you know that the original Uncle Sam was born near Boston?) I headed to MIT's campus to take some pictures of MIT"s newest sport. I started out as an observer, but soon got caught up in the magic and was flying (er, running) around a soccer field on a broom.
Today's practice was mostly about getting used to moving on the broom and handling the ball with just one hand (since the other holds on to the broom). We used a volleyball as our quaffle. We haven't practiced with them yet, but we have dodgeballs for bludgers. We also have a cross country running who has volunteered to dress in gold and play the snitch. The snitch is allowed... read the post »
Feb 10 2010
Where do Trees Come From?
Posted in: Miscellaneous
In my continuing quest to obtain a teaching certificate through MIT's excellent STEP program, I am taking two teaching courses this semester. 11.125 focuses more on theory and 11.131 focuses on practical issues. For instance, 11.125 is more likely to talk about whether the tests you write for students are formative or summative, and 11.129 is more likely to talk about how to keep students from cheating on them.
Yesterday in 11.125, we talked a little bit about trees. As you know, they grow from seeds, much like this one.
Photo courtesy of publicdomainpictures.net
And of course if you wait a few years they get quite large...
Photo courtesy of sherhorosko.wordpress.com
So, the question we were asked in class is, where does that huge increase in mass come from?
I want to hear your answers and reasoning in the comments... just think about it; no Wikipedia!
I also want your input on something else for 11.125. I need to sit in on some class at MIT as an impartial observer and... read the post »
Nov 25 2009
MIT Women’s Soccer
Posted in: Best of the Blogs, Life & Culture
When I came to MIT I joined the marching band. We played at all sorts of sporting events, some of which I had never seen before. I saw lacrosse, water polo and crew competitions for the first time. I joined the intramural pistol team and came to appreciate the huge variety of sporting opportunities available at MIT for students at many levels of mastery. But given that I didn't even know what the rules were for a lot of the sports I was watching (i.e. water polo), it was hard to know how good MIT's varsity teams really are. I just found out.
This year, MIT's Women's Soccer team won their conference, NEWMAC! NEWMAC is a conference including Babson, Clark, Smith, Wellesley, Wheaton, Mount Holyoke, WPI, and of course MIT. After winning their conference, the MIT team went to the NCAA Championship tournament for the first time in program history. They were knocked out of the tournament by Rowan University. This week, I met with two players from this year's Championship team to... read the post »
Nov 22 2009
Don’t Read This if you Already Go to MIT
Posted in: Miscellaneous
The shadow of my plane, surrounded by rainbows
Lately, life seems to be going my way.
Case in point number 1: As I was returning to Boston recently, we flew through a cloud-bank and I was able to take the crazy picture above. Now, I know that it was really a trick having to do with optics and the water droplets in the cloud and the angle of the sun and whatnot. Nonetheless, what are the odds?
Case in point number 2: I was running late for class on Thursday. I parked my bike, quickly locked it, and jogged toward the South door of the building. Then I saw my professor heading for the same door! He was farther away than I was, and hadn't seen me yet. If I kept going, I would beat him to class but he would see me walking in just before him (and obviously late.) So I circled to the North side of the building and made it to the room before he did, undetected. If I had been 10 seconds later, if he'd looked up, or if there hadn't been another entrance, all would have been lost.
Case in... read the post »