It feels a little strange seeing CPW from a host's perspective this year instead a prefrosh's: there's less of the aimless wandering, the obsessive map-scanning, and the free stuff-hoarding, but there's still plenty of the sleep loss, the mingling with prefrosh, and the unreserved excitement for being here, at MIT, with some of the most incredible people in world ‚ô•

I haven't quite made it to all the CPW events that have taken place so far, which is okay because I'm a host and not obligated to be crazy-successful at taking advantage of everything CPW has to offer :) Still, I've made it to some events - and they've been great.

First off - a hack showed up on Thursday! It's an upside down lounge installed on the MIT Media Lab arch:

Perfect start to CPW, yes? :)

This awesomeness continued through to the CPW Welcome later that night; I absolutely loved the Logarhythms' rendition of Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me," duly interrupted with an "Imma let you finish!" and a transition to Kanye West's "Heartless." It sort of made me wish I could sing =P If any of you prefrosh managed to record the performance, please share!!

At yesterday's Women's Leadership Brunch, I got a chance to speak with some of the female admits to the Class of 2014. Again, it felt odd to be among the ten or so student guest-speakers at the event, when I myself had been a prefrosh sitting in one of those seats just last year, listening as some of the most admirable young women described their accomplishments and activities. I had a constant sense of deja vu as some people asked me questions about whether or not MIT was too hard, whether it was frowned upon to not be an engineering major here, and whether it was impossible to balance extracurriculars with schoolwork; these were the same questions I had last year, except this time, I actually had a few answers!

Another event that took place yesterday was Meet the Bloggers! I'd been told that it would be mildly entertaining, somewhat scary, and hugely awkward. It turned out to be a lot of fun, and I was finally able to see the faces behind some of the blog comments/e-mails. It actually means a lot to know that so many people read these blogs and find them helpful :)

Right after Meet the Bloggers, I headed to the South Asian Culture Show and caught the second half of the program. Thanks to Sheta '14(?), I have a few pictures of my friends performing the freshman class dance:

C-Show was pretty incredible; but there's actually one thing that beats it: the most epic prom proposal ever, featuring the Great Dome:
(All photo credit to Eric Shmiedl)

CPW 2010 ‚ô•

Edit: Here's the video of the Logs' performance at the CPW Opening; all credit to Laura ('14?)

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

FIRST!! And that proposal is the sweetest thing! Just proves that there's romance in MIT too =)

Posted by: Banerjee on April 10, 2010

@Hamsika, can I ask you sth, how many students in MIT concentrate in Political Science, you know or heard? I know this is not the blog for this kind of question but as this is your most recent post , i thought you could answer me? my interviewer said 25 or so but reality is? 25 students.. low isnt it,, thanks in advance.
Reyyan

Posted by: '14waitlisted-applcnt on April 10, 2010

Great Post!!! I have to agree, that proposal was totally epic!!!!!!! I have to ask though; was the lounge hanging from the roof full size? You can't really tell by the picture! (Anywhere else, and I would think it was a model, but this IS MIT...)

Posted by: genius ('18) on April 10, 2010

@ '14waitlisted-applcnt - I'm actually not sure how many poli sci students we have; I tried looking it up, but I couldn't find it...

@ genius ('18) - yup, the lounge was full size! MIT ftw

Posted by: Hamsika '13 on April 10, 2010

That proposal is awesome!!
I just wonder how many girls named Emily there are in MIT XD

Posted by: Jochi Pochi on April 10, 2010

@hamsika, thanks. was a hard one i guess

Posted by: '14waitlisted-applcnt on April 11, 2010

This isn't related to the blog but i just want to know when i should sign up for MyMIT account. btw LOVE YOUR BLOG!XD

Posted by: Domi on April 11, 2010

HAMSIKA!!! I'm so happy I met you! I'm still your biggest fan! :D

Posted by: Matt Hung on April 11, 2010

^ LOLOLOLOLOL.

it's about time you post something.

Posted by: Jenny'13 on April 11, 2010

Thanks for the awesome blog Hamsika :D. And for including my banner! Glad people appreciate it, hehe. MIT is awesome Thanks for the awesome blog Hamsika :D. And for including my banner! Glad people appreciate it, hehe. MIT is awesome <3.

Posted by: Justin To on April 12, 2010

Awesome!! Must've rockd.
But next year's cpw should be of the roof(literaly!) M ! I ! T !!!

Posted by: Dru '15! on April 12, 2010

@ '14waitlisted-applcnt

For statistics about current majors, click on "Enrollment Statistics" here:

http://web.mit.edu/registrar/stats/

Posted by: DanN @MIT on April 12, 2010

@ Domi - for next year? sign up some time this summer: july/august-ish

@ Matt - it was a pleasure to meet you

@ Justin - heck yeah MIT is awesome; see you next fall?

@ Dru - I can't waitttt!!!

And - thanks, DanN

Posted by: Hamsika '13 on April 12, 2010

The girl who got asked goes to my high school! I saw the same photo on her facebook, and the guy who put it up, from a nearby school, who also got into MIT had her tagged.

Posted by: Evan '14 on April 12, 2010

Hey I think I see myself and quite a few others..

=)!

Posted by: Hrishikesh on April 12, 2010

Here's my recording of "You Belong With Me" at the opening! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YueOCvMKBCQ

Posted by: Laura on April 13, 2010

Ahhh - thank you, Laura!!

Posted by: Hamsika '13 on April 13, 2010

No problem! Oh man, it's totally awesome to see my video in an MIT blog :-D.

And I see there's a "('14?)" after my name...indeed, I'm a prefrosh. Not sure where I'm going to college yet, though. (Although CPW definitely rocked!)

Posted by: Laura on April 13, 2010

@ DanN,
Thanks a lot, this is very helpful.

@ Hamsika,
well it seems there is only 1 international p.sci concentrator and in total 17 :S well I am waiting for waitlist decisions but at this time, I hope a spot opens for me in may. p sci in MIT would be awesome!

Posted by: '14waitlisted-applcnt on April 14, 2010

This kind of proposal can be expected only from an MITian(doing unique things)..haha.. By the way the dome was looking awesome ..superb photography.....

Posted by: Varun on April 15, 2010

Hiee di...hop i can call u as my "di"....
jus loved ur blog...was wondering about how that must hav felt...I've always dreamt of being at MIT...after all its M!I!T....would probably join next year...wanted to ask if its really so difficult to get in there..!?

Posted by: Bhawna on April 15, 2010

hey...
really nice blog...loved it, especially the video-nice perfomance..lolz....MIT definitely ROCKS!!!

just wanted to ask how difficult is it to get in? SAT exam surely not so tough then i again i dont think scoring great in SAT really gives u any edge..Wat is the main preference co-crriculars?

thanks mate...nice knowing u

Posted by: Abhinaba on April 17, 2010

Can u plz mail me ?? I got to ask u a few questions regarding the freshman applicants !!

Posted by: Abhinav on April 18, 2010

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