Connie H. '15
Feb 9 2013
Nemo Found
Posted in: Miscellaneous, Life & Culture
The blizzard helped me and Liz run out of things to do incredibly quickly. On Friday we watched the first half hour of half a dozen movies before we realized we simply just needed to get outside of our room. We ventured outside behind Baker House, only to get knocked over by the blizzard into a snowbank while taking pictures under the yellow cast of the street lights.
Simply put, we had cabin fever.
I'm a California girl who hadn't seen much snow until coming to MIT. Nemo is by far the most amount of snow I've ever seen, and I've still been trying to figure out how to dress for a blizzard...
If you're from a warm place and you are a female and generally struggle with dressing yourself appropriately even though it's blizzarding -- I have the answer for you: fleece lined tights. They are incredibly comfortable and warm and dry instantly unlike jeans or the yoga pants Liz decided to wear into the snow. You can also wear whateve you want on top, like a sundress or... read the post »
Feb 4 2013
Techfair
Posted in: Miscellaneous, Life & Culture
Techfair is here! Held right before classes start in the Spring semester, Techfair is a student run career fair that showcases some of the biggest names in technology, student designers, innovators and entrepreneurs.
It's a day long ordeal, with the actual career fair running from 10am to 3pm and then the banquet and afterparty following in the upcoming hours. Techfair isn't just any career fair -- you dress for the job you want, which in most cases involves your favorite t-shirt and jeans, and you leave the paper resumes at home in favor of "dropping them" online at Umeqo.
I went with my friend and old roommate Anji after tucking in our salmonella...
and we were immediately greeted at the door by BarBot, "a drink mixing machine that can build a custom mixed drink with robotic efficiency and precision". Looks incredibly useful!
Right next to Barbot was Dropbox, one of MIT's favorite startups. Just ask Tim!
I was spotted with my camera and asked what I used to... read the post »
Jan 16 2013
Lace, Gourmet Candy and Dorothy
Posted in: Miscellaneous, Life & Culture
Congratulations, universe. You've managed to put me into another... unique situation that is mildly difficult to explain.
"Hey Connie, what are you doing this IAP?"
"Oh, you know. I'm working at a startup in San Francisco -- in SOMA, to be exact. Doing some design stuff."
"Oh, cool! What are you working on? What does your startup do?"
"We uh...
....
we're a next generation e-commerce startup. In stealth mode."
By October many of my friends and I started looking for an externship (a short internship) through the MIT Alumni Association facilitated program that matches students with job opportunities offered by MIT alumni. These positions cover everything from shadowing a doctor to working a brief stint at a finance giant in New York to doing research in Hong Kong. Naturally I gravitated towards positions that offered the opportunity to do design work. I finally decided to pursue a position at a fashion startup that boasted a fresh combination of technology and fashion... read the post »
Dec 26 2012
Holidays with the Huangs
Posted in: Miscellaneous
I've been home for almost a week now and I've done nothing but sleep gratuitous amounts and eat animals I wasn't aware still existed while lounging around in the most godawful turquoise bathrobe ever sold at Costco. (I refuse to wear anything else.) I've slowly been getting myself back to good health with the power of time, the love of my parents, and the mesquite goodness of Barbeque Lay's (okay, so maybe to mediocre health).
And I can't tell you how luxurious it is to wonder what I should be doing right now (nothing) or when I should stop doing something (whenever) or when I can go sleep or draw or watch 30 Rock or ponder (also whenever).
And finally being on break has let me catch up with some of my closest friends, make my eyebrows reasonably symmetric, watch Struck By Lightning while making my room look slightly less like a gulag...
and start working on my sister's wedding website...
(Yes, my sister's name is Bonnie. Yes, this makes me even more suspicious... read the post »
Dec 12 2012
Fifty Shades of Break
Posted in: Miscellaneous, Prepare for MIT, Life & Culture
It's that time of the year where everything winds down and you might have little control over how things turn out.
It's rough.
More and more towards the end of high school, my friends and I would religiously check the results of a semester, year, or life's worth of effort. It boiled down to a desperate attempt to see an online grade, a college decision, or how many likes our Facebook profile pictures were getting. At the end of it all, we were usually left with a mixed bag of news (it turns out I am incredibly unphotogenic).
Blurred for your own safety. (Just kidding, my boyfriend doesn't know how to use my camera.)
And although I had a lot of fun sitting with some of my closest friends around town at odd hours, it was hard for anyone to come out of that situation with purely good feelings.
I don't regret the fretting -- but if I had the chance to take all the time I spent fidgeting, being anxious, overloading servers and stress eating Doritos, I would've done something... read the post »