It's pretty hard to live in Boston and not get swept away by Red Sox fever. You have an excuse if you're like Brandon '11, who's from Colorado, but other than that your only other refuge is that you don't like watching 230-lb guys (who can also throw a ball at 99 mph) Irish step dancing in their underwear. Who isn't a fan of that?
Seeing as I fall into neither of these categories, I put off of grading 5.112 problem sets (which I was using to put off doing my own problem sets) and do a little jigging of my own. Things were pretty crazy around here last night, especially for my friends living in the fraternities (most MIT fraternities and sororities are directly in Boston, in Kenmore Square) - and so I bring you these epic pictures of the riots fresh from Corey '10's camera, outside of his fraternity and home, Chi Phi (thanks Corey!):
As Evan wrote, we had our own Burton-Conner-wide celebration last Sunday when the Red Sox beat the Indians. My floor, Burton 1, was just about the run up the stairs to celebrate with Burton 3rd when Burton 3rd burst through the door, at which point we all piled into the elevator and proceeded to cheer on every floor of the Burton side, followed by every floor of the Conner side (Burton-Conner used to be separate dorms, Burton and Conner, but were joined together and now peacefully co-exist as one happy hyphenated family).
So I'm excited by the Red Sox, especially the Red Sox winning the World Series. I'm also really excited about a lot of other things, too, like peanut m&m's, the release of Leopard, dancing to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now", and organic chemistry. (Did you see that transition? How smooth am I?) There's this scary stereotype about organic chemistry being crazy difficult, which I definitely get. 5.12 (Organic Chemistry I) and 5.13 (Organic Chemistry II) may be my favorite classes I've taken at MIT thus far, but that doesn't mean they were easy - I've had my fair share of frustration along the way, including more late nights than I'm comfortable with studying the stereochemistry of Diels-Alder reactions. (And then I've woken up after these late nights drooling all over page 485, so whatever I tell you here, remember that even if organic chemistry can be fun, it's not always pretty.)
A big part of orgo is trying to synthesize molecules using a smaller molecule and basic chemical reagents, which I sometimes have trouble visualizing. So why do I like it so much, even when I'm not very good at it? I was trying to explain this, if somewhat incoherently, to Matt earlier today, so let's see if I can do a little bit better here: organic chemistry is like a puzzle. It's like one of those logic puzzles where you're trying to figure out who likes red trucks, and they give you all those rules like Lisa hates the color red, and David is scared of heights but only on Wednesdays - except you've got to remember all the rules, like you need to know beforehand that Lisa hates the color red. And you have to know it's because Lisa is really allergic to ketchup. So you can only let Lisa have.. trucks without ketchup.
That was even more incoherent than when I was trying to explain it out loud, but you can take a couple things away from that (ironically) barely logical paragraph. One: college essays are just as open as blog entries to writing about whatever quirky hobbies make you happy, and why. So if you're having trouble getting started, just start writing down what motivates you. Maybe you want to be the driving force behind the new age of space travel because of that one time you saw Mir when you were little. Maybe you really like sitting under trees and getting hit in the face by leaves, or maybe you like synthesizing molecules. (I like both.) The hardest part is beginning, so feel free to be as incoherent as you like, and don't lose too much sleep over the fact that the deadlines are starting to pop up. (Save that for when you take organic chemistry.)
Two: I was you like two seconds ago. I still don't know what I'm doing with my life - I'm barely starting to figure out what I enjoy. So don't think that just because I'm going into my second year here, I've got it all figured out. I'll be the first to admit that I definitely don't.
I'm definitely REALLY excited about this last thing, though - and I promise this is THE VERY LAST TIME I will ever mention that blogging scholarship ever again. With your AMAZING number of votes, I won 3rd! You guys were so incredible, and I'm so stoked to have your support. I feel pretty badly about that last post, and for that whole month of spam I've put you guys through - for that, I apologize. But I'm still open to questions and possible blog topics, so propose away. Until then, get excited! Three days until November!
Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)
go Red Sox
Posted by: Phillip Z. on October 29, 2007
Posted by: Kes on October 29, 2007
I stayed at MIT during the summer with 17 other girls at a summer camp. After coming back from swimming, we all crowded in( not a good idea) and were stuck in a nice humid elevator for about an hour.
Also, Congrats on your 3rd Place!
Posted by: Rose17 on October 29, 2007
We Hate Plastic. . .AND THE YANKEES!
Posted by: Snively on October 29, 2007
Posted by: Solstice on October 29, 2007
Posted by: Sam on October 29, 2007
Posted by: Arkajit on October 29, 2007
Posted by: 0 on October 29, 2007
Posted by: Corey on October 29, 2007
Why is December so far away?
Posted by: Raina on October 29, 2007
Posted by: Anonymous on October 29, 2007
Posted by: 0 on October 29, 2007
Posted by: Anonymous again on October 29, 2007
Posted by: your freshman admirer on October 29, 2007
Posted by: not anisha ben or allin on October 29, 2007
Posted by: real freshman admirer on October 29, 2007
Posted by: jkim fans on October 30, 2007
Until next year, of course, when you enter again. You ARE competing again next year, yes?...
Posted by: SMC on October 30, 2007
THE SOX SWEPT THE SERIES!!!
(Sorry, I get the random urge to shout that. No one can escape getting sucked in.)
Yeah, I know that school's only supposed to get harder, and I know next year will be tough - but somehow, I think it'll be a lot better, too. I won't have to take classes I don't like (I'm not a physics person), and I'll have more established friendships and such. I don't know, even if the classes freshmen year are easier, I think the other years are going to be better.
I love your writing style, by the way. Just the crazy examples (fearing heights on Wednesdays? ketchup trucks?) alone make it awesome.
I also like the essay-being-a-blog thing. Both of my essays were very blog-like... and that's better, isn't it? It shows more of an applicant's personality.
Everyone should follow Jkim's advice ^.^
Posted by: Hunter '11 on October 30, 2007
Posted by: Jess on October 30, 2007
Posted by: alu on October 30, 2007
Posted by: alu on October 30, 2007
I got a 570 in critical reading nut a 108 out of 120 in teofl ibt...being a non native english speaker MIT gave me 2 options i.e. of either the toefl n satII's or the satI n satII...as i have done well in toefl but not in sat I...do i need to retake the sat??
Posted by: 0 on October 30, 2007
Btw, I got 800 of maths
P.S. Jess, good work with the 3rd place
Posted by: Sanja on October 30, 2007
And thanks for carrying Danni's skating bag last Saturday, Jess. She had the best skating session of her life.
Posted by: A parent on October 30, 2007
*hums Jeopardy theme song*
Oh, what was the point of my comment? Congrats on the blogging title! But why wouldn't it be worth all the trouble to do again next year? Paperwork?
Posted by: 0 on October 30, 2007
Posted by: 0 on October 30, 2007
@Anon - I'm a current MIT freshman, and I did not get 2200+. I don't really know other people's scores, but I'm guessing a lot of people are the same way. There are statistics out there if you want to look at them (don't), but blogging about SAT scores would give the impression MIT DOESN'T want to give - SATs are NOT the end all, be all of admissions here. Try to get 700ish, but put most of your energy into the other parts of your app - the passions, the fun, the dedication - that's what's going to get you into MIT.
Posted by: Hunter '11 on October 30, 2007
Posted by: Snively on October 30, 2007
thanks a lot and congratulations ! ! !
Posted by: 0 on October 31, 2007
I hit the "s" button. It's 1130 here but im wired. My heart is pounding obscene beats in my ears. Sleep is not going to come easily...
Anyway, ya. Grats on 3rd Jess, hope to meet you (and vote for you)next year! :D
cheers
Posted by: iHitSubMIT on October 31, 2007
Posted by: Sanja on October 31, 2007
Granted, I lost sleep over this last year when I got the scores back.
Posted by: Hank R. on October 31, 2007
on a different note...
ooooh EA apps due in 12 hours 25 minutes! Good luck everyone! Click on my name for my own EA experience...
Posted by: Elizabeth '11 on October 31, 2007
Posted by: Hunter '11 on October 31, 2007
I, on the other hand, took the SAT three times and didn't improve much at all. My overall score went up 70pts but that was it (and the last set of scores wasn't in time for EA admission). I also never studied for SATs, but whatever floats your boat.
Posted by: Hunter '11 on October 31, 2007
Posted by: milena '11 on October 31, 2007
Posted by: milena '11 on October 31, 2007
Ok, so I see the pattern of everyone who's already at MIT commenting on how SATs don't mean anything, while everyone applying is freaking out. Although I do love patterns (that reminds me of an xkcd comic...you know the one with that messenger convo that their lines were all the same length?), anyways, I think I’ll break the trend
And, much more importantly, GOOD LUCK to all EA applicants! How does it feel to be (hopefully) finally done the application? Now you just have to RELAX and wait till December, fun times.
Posted by: Star on October 31, 2007
I think the goal of all this score posting is to prove exactly that, Milena. Scores aren't everything, meaning low-ish scores won't sink you.
And scores may not play a big role, but they do play an important role, meaning you should shoot for a 700, but admissions won't think any better of you if you've got a 780 instead of 720.
Posted by: Snively on October 31, 2007
Posted by: 0 on October 31, 2007
Posted by: Taylor on October 31, 2007
That's what I did. The stanford app was due 6 days after the EA decision from MIT and I didn't plan on starting it until EA decisions came out. Yay for efficiency and time management, we're hardcore.
Posted by: Snively on October 31, 2007
Posted by: Star on November 1, 2007
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