This past week has been a mixed bag on many levels. On the one hand, I've gotten a lot of work done (three problem sets, one group project, and one revised essay) while still finding a decent amount of time for club meetings, having dinner at my fraternity, playing Brawl, and generally hanging out with friends.
On the other hand, I didn't get much sleep, which sort of sucked.
It did, however, give me a little bit of insight into how you all might be feeling right now - how, to be perfectly honest, I myself felt precisely one year ago. I've grown a lot since then...emotionally, socially, academically; as a friend, as a student researcher, and as a human being. And the road has not always been smooth; I've been faced with potholes, run into ridiculous roadblocks, turned down dead ends. On some occasions I've made bad decisions solely of my own accord; at other times, it feels as though things are simply completely beyond my control.
But that's the way life is. The real world is so much bigger than what you know now - so much more vibrant, so much more real. And I trust that will be true wherever you finally find yourself for college, whether that happens to be Cambridge, California, or China. Four of the greatest years of your life are directly ahead of you.
I know many of you find it hard to picture yourselves anywhere but MIT right now. I understand that completely, because I felt the same way one year ago. And while I fear this will sound hollow, I just wanted to take this entry to assure you of one vitally important fact: being in college will be a wonderful experience, no matter what university you finally choose. And I mean that with all my heart.
But in the long run, college will only be as rewarding as you are prepared to let it be. Take advantage of every opportunity you can find to pursue what matters most to you - and if those opportunities don't seem exist, just make your own opportunities. Dedicate yourself wholly, totally, completely to your greatest passion and deepest desires. Claim your place, or strike out and discover a whole new territory. Make your mark in whatever way you can - on your friends, on your professors, on the random people you sit next to in class. Lead a life someone would want to remember.
No matter what anyone else tells you, never surrender your dreams.
Only sixteen hours left. I'll be thinking of you.
Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)
Posted by: Kelly on March 14, 2008
So, how was the Pi event?
Posted by: Daniel Barkowitz on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Paul on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Gautam on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Paul on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2008
Best wishes and congratulations to ALL of you!
Who knows, maybe this skinny math nerd could see you in a few years at CPW!
-Cody Dean
Posted by: Cody Dean on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Bassil on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Hopeful '12 on March 14, 2008
Thanks again for the nice post.
So should I try ?
Posted by: Anon on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Javal on March 14, 2008
Great post, btw!
Posted by: Tanmay on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Agneta on March 14, 2008
jk... Have a nice weekend!
And all the best to the prospective '12ers...
Posted by: Basant on March 14, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Yihe on March 14, 2008
Posted by: SD on March 14, 2008
All the best for everyone.
Let's see what's in store for all of us.
14 hours, 8 minutes, 7 seconds left.
Posted by: Libin Daniel on March 14, 2008
Posted by: MattD on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Morgan on March 14, 2008
thanks for that blog.
<3
Posted by: Leanna on March 14, 2008
Good luck everyone.
Posted by: Zev Chonoles on March 14, 2008
mit chat room!
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2008
Do have some caesar's salad on my behalf if you can :D
Posted by: Shruthi on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Rick on March 14, 2008
"One for sorrow, two for joy,
three for a girl, four for a boy,
five for silver, six for gold,
seven for a secret never been told"
And hey, good look to all of ya'll applying! (I know I'll need all the good luck I can get next year.) ^_^
Posted by: Rachel '13 hopeful on March 14, 2008
That's what we are.
Posted by: Laser on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Disha on March 14, 2008
What will we do? Wherever we go, whatever we do, we will matter. We will shape the future. Here there and everywhere.
Posted by: MattD on March 14, 2008
It's really a wonderful thing to see an MIT student admit that they genuinely struggled and made bad decisions, especially in such a public forum. Far too many of us look around at the people we know and think, wow, they're so perfect, they've got everything together and they know exactly what they're doing all the time. I wonder what I'm doing wrong, because I sure don't feel like that. And nothing could be further from the truth. We are fallible; we have the same stupid foibles as anyone else; we struggle and cry and bleed and react badly and do dumb things.
And yet...you don't need to be perfect to do great things. Go out and do all the things in the last paragraph. Make college what you want it to be. Live your dreams. No one said only perfect people are allowed to live their dreams.
(By the way, I'm not only speaking of intellectual geniuses with personal flaws. You don't always have to have all the answers, even just in the academic sphere -- indeed, if you do have all the answers, you're probably doing something wrong. Julianne Dalcanton of Cosmic Variance addressed this <a >"cult of genius" problem far better than I can.)
Well said, Paul.
Posted by: Alioth on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Jan on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Matt on March 14, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2008
Also, real MIT students don't how to use verbs either.
Posted by: duketipquantumelephants on March 14, 2008
mit chat room!
Posted by: mit hopeful on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Paul on March 14, 2008
Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008
Totally unrelated question:
Does the observation that a particle interferes with itself (double slit exp) guarantee that we can never determine which slot it actually went through? I mean, if the information (entropy) that the particle went through one slot or the other can never be lost (second law thermo), then doesn't that mean that it will always be retrievable? Don't forget, we can force the particle to choose one path immediately by putting a particle detector there, even if we never use that direct evidence!
This means that at least one of the following must be true:
1)The presence of the detector does not make an interference pattern impossible.
2)The particle detector does not force the particle to make a choice.
3)The realization that the particle chose a path results in an increase in entropy, which allows the entropy of the particle's decision to be lost (I think this causes a logical loophole).
4)That information is permanently irretrievable (boo hiss).
5)As soon as we determine which path it chose, the history of the universe changes and the interference pattern never occurred (that would be cool).
6)The fact that at some time in the future we will determine the choice makes the interference pattern impossible (basically the same as #5).
7)Logic and/or QM is screwed as we know it.
If we assume that all of the above are false, then (1) the pattern will happen in the first place, (2) the particle makes a choice, (3) the info is not lost, (4) we can retrieve it, (5,6) and our observation does not cancel the existence of the event.
What is wrong with this argument? I think that (1) is true, but why should the presence of a certain configuration of matter make it impossible? (Don't forget, this is QM.) What if the equipment is faulty? Can this affect whether it is a wave or particle signature? What if the "conscious" observer on the other end is found not to actually have a soul? XP
Answers please?
Posted by: duketipquantumelephants on March 15, 2008
Posted by: Mike on March 15, 2008
Posted by: Cory Wang on March 15, 2008
I am curious about what percentage of the MIT class of 2011 you know personally. At a school as small as MIT, I bet you can get to know, a pretty big chunk of the student body. Do you find this to be the case? If so or if not so, what effects does this have on your experience at school?
Posted by: 0 on March 15, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 15, 2008
peace
Posted by: enewts on March 15, 2008
Posted by: Akeem on March 15, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 15, 2008
This is nice. Good luck everybody. FOr now I don't care much about my decision, because I understand it is not the end of the world. Get denied does not mean you have to go back while others going straight, it just means that you have to take the sideway to get to the same point. But still, good luck every applicant of MIT, I think we have been great & I'm proud of us.
And again, thank you alot for the MIT because you have given the best application process I've ever experienced.
Posted by: Trungle on March 15, 2008
I don't know, I have been stressing about this the whole day. Yeah, it's a bit silly but I have been trying to convince myself that I won't get in because I got crappy SAT scores, so that by the time decision is out, I will be all calm.
I never knew I would be so attached to MIT. It's been like a fantasy, or perhaps we are just day dreamers afterall.
Posted by: Qinxin on March 15, 2008
I don't know, I have been stressing about this the whole day. Yeah, it's a bit silly but I have been trying to convince myself that I won't get in because I got crappy SAT scores, so that by the time decision is out, I will be all calm.
I never knew I would be so attached to MIT. It's been like a fantasy, or perhaps we are just day dreamers afterall.
Posted by: Qinxin on March 15, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 15, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 15, 2008
Posted by: mcvs on March 15, 2008
Posted by: OmarA on March 15, 2008
Posted by: Trungle on March 15, 2008
Posted by: Arun on March 15, 2008
And is it a bad omen for decisions to come out on the Ides of March? Pi Day is so much more appropriate.
Only 3 hours and 45 minutes to go.
Posted by: Paul on March 15, 2008
Posted by: Go '12 on March 15, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 15, 2008
mit chat room!
Posted by: mit hopeful on March 15, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 15, 2008
i was in the same position back in december....counting down the endlesss minutes til noon...then it got to be noon and i sat there, terrified to check, because my future was held behind that simple username and password login....
but what i have realized throughout these months, is that decision was not my future....my future is what I make of it....no matter where i go, its what i do while im there! so in these next 2 hours and 40 minutes, tryy to be calm, breathe easy, and realize that whatever happens, happens, and is meant to be....everything happens for a reason, so take it in stride and do something great with it, whether you get in or not....and i mean this for anyone who gets in as well....if u are granted admission to one of the top universities in the countryyyy like MIT, u darn well better use that to do something great because countless other people would killll to have an opportunity like that.....but anyways, whether you get in or not, remember, YOU make your own future by the way you play the hand that you're dealt!!
Good luck in these next 2 and a half hours, and beyond that in the rest of your lives!!
My prayers are with you!!
No matter where you go, you'll still be the Class of 2012 somewhere, which i guarentee will be the best class ever in the history of ever!!!!!
go 2012!!!
goooood luckkkk everyoneee!!
i was in the same position back in december....counting down the endlesss minutes til noon...then it got to be noon and i sat there, terrified to check, because my future was held behind that simple username and password login....
but what i have realized throughout these months, is that decision was not my future....my future is what I make of it....no matter where i go, its what i do while im there! so in these next 2 hours and 40 minutes, tryy to be calm, breathe easy, and realize that whatever happens, happens, and is meant to be....everything happens for a reason, so take it in stride and do something great with it, whether you get in or not....and i mean this for anyone who gets in as well....if u are granted admission to one of the top universities in the countryyyy like MIT, u darn well better use that to do something great because countless other people would killll to have an opportunity like that.....but anyways, whether you get in or not, remember, YOU make your own future by the way you play the hand that you're dealt!!
Good luck in these next 2 and a half hours, and beyond that in the rest of your lives!!
My prayers are with you!!
No matter where you go, you'll still be the Class of 2012 somewhere, which i guarentee will be the best class ever in the history of ever!!!!!
go 2012!!!
<33333
Lizz
Posted by: Lizz Class of 2012 on March 15, 2008
Posted by: ohhh yeahhhhh on March 15, 2008
Posted by: 2012 hopeful... on March 15, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 15, 2008
Just want to wish everyone who has applied. ALL the BEST.
Applying to MIT has been a process of self discovery for me. Gosh! I've learnt a lot. Whatever the outcome, it's all good!
Its just about 2 hours away!!!!
Posted by: Lionel Vaz on March 15, 2008
16 MB, so a slow connection may take too long.
http://www.magle.dk/music-forums/23-bach-toccata-fugue-d-3.html
Very calming.
Posted by: Sceth on March 15, 2008
Posted by: Harnur on March 15, 2008
Posted by: Twilight Bob on March 15, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 15, 2008
Posted by: Jessica G. on March 15, 2008
Posted by: Jaimpal on March 15, 2008
Posted by: Shantini on March 17, 2008
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