MIT Admissions

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Anna H. '14

May 13 2012

Urinetown

Posted in: Miscellaneous, Life & Culture

At the end of January (our Independent Activities Period) I made a promise to the rational, logic-based region of my brain: a promise that I would never, ever, perform in a musical during the semester. 

Rational Part Of Brain: "You got your fix during IAP, in Hack Punt Tool! AND it was a musical that MIT students wrote. No musical will ever be more fun than that. Also, you can't sing, so you won't get a big part anyway. You got a decent part in Hack Punt Tool because it was about MIT students and you are, for whatever reason, really good at acting like an MIT student."
Me: "But what about going to college and trying new things? Also, Hack Punt Tool was REALLY fun, and even though I can't sing to save my life, I enjoy it."
Rational Part Of Brain: "You like sleep way too much for a during-the-semester musical to be fun."
Me: "Yeah, you're right. I won't audition."

Auditions for the Spring musical rolled around in February - the Musical Theatre Guild was putting on "Urinetown... read the post »

Discussion

Mar 25 2012

Classes, musicals, teaching, research, sports, and wisdom tooth surgery.

Posted in: Miscellaneous, Academics & Research, Life & Culture, Majors & Minors

Disclaimer: I'm sorry if this post is a little incoherent. Narcotics do funny things to your brain.

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On Friday, I got all four of my wisdom teeth taken out. Five minutes before the surgery, I lay in the dentist chair and looked at the window, trying to concentrate on something other than the IV sticking into my arm. I noticed a particularly lovely cherry blossom tree. Two squirrels. 

One oral surgeon. He whooshed into the room with a cheery "hello!", pulling on a pair of gloves. He looked bizarrely like the father of one of my best friends from High School, which freaked me out a bit. "How are you doing?"

Well, I thought, it's the first day of my spring break, I have an IV sticking out of my arm, I will soon be able to eat nothing but baby food, and I have more work to do between now and next Sunday than I have ever had in one week, ever. 

"Great!" I replied, flashing him my toothiest smile (to communicate HEY! I HAVE NICE TEETH. DON'T MESS THEM UP.) With... read the post »

Discussion

Mar 10 2012

FIRST Robotics and Alumna-hood

Posted in: Miscellaneous, Prepare for MIT

The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an annual Robotics challenge for High School students. I won't describe the program itself in too much detail, since Chris and Natnael did it justice here and here, but it's worth mentioning that I was on a FIRST team for all four years of High School. It was a huge part of my life.

I initially joined FIRST because my eighth grade science teacher - who I honestly believe is the reason I am now at MIT - encouraged me to. From what I remember, there were about ten students on the team that season; we traveled to New York for the regional, and raised travel funds by making presentations to companies. I tagged along and watched, wide-eyed, as the upperclassmen in our sponsorship group boldly asked panels of businesspeople for money. For the three years to follow, I was on that sponsorship team: we wrote presentations and delivered them to companies and my school's Board of Trustees. I realize now that knowing how to explain why one's cause is... read the post »

Comments (15)

Mar 3 2012

Watching Birdwatchers

Posted in: Miscellaneous, Life & Culture

<NEWSFLASH>

I woke up Thursday morning, realized it was March 1, dove off my bed, and flung my laptop open. Gmail couldn't load fast enough. There it was: The E-mail I'd Been Waiting For.

"I am pleased to offer you an appointment to The NRAO Summer Student Research Assistantship Program at the NRAO site in Charlottesville, Virginia. Your research topic will be "Pulsars"...Please confirm acceptance of this offer by 5:00 PM (ET) on Thursday, March 8, 2012."

I confirmed acceptance a lot sooner than that, and spent all of Thursday grinning like a crazy person. 

The NRAO is the National Radio Astronomy Observatory; they have a student internship program that I've been dying to do since forever. I applied last year, but didn't get in - which makes this doubly sweet. I'll be there for 10-12 weeks, hanging out with astronomers and scientists and studying pulsars. PULSARS!!! I can't wait.

</NEWSFLASH>

Twisted as this sounds, the reason I haven't posted in forever is because I... read the post »

Comments (8)

Jan 24 2012

Let’s do a puzzle.

Posted in: Miscellaneous, Life & Culture

You're sitting in your living room, one eye on an Agatha Christie novel and one eye on the TV, which is showing the latest episode of Sherlock (you have trained your oculomotor nerves for this purpose.) It's boring, because you've already solved both mysteries and are tired of watching Monsieur Poirot and Mr. Holmes bumble about. Suddenly, you realize that there is one puzzle in the universe you have not solved: what did Anna H. '14, the MIT blogger, spend the weekend of Jan 13-15 doing? 

Your instinct is to do what you ALWAYS do when you have a question about her MIT life (right? right?) - e-mail her! You're in the mood for a more challenging/illegal way of doing things, though, so you get one of your minions to steal her computer. First stop: gmail calendar, obviously. You get to the site, and but the blinding array of colors with which she color-codes everything makes it impossible to extract any useful information. You give up, and decide to look at her browser history... read the post »

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