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MIT student blogger Bryan O. '07

Saturday Roadtrip by Bryan

Out on the open road.

So this past Saturday, I set out on the open road with some of my friends for a little fun outside of the city.

Step One: Acquire vehicle.

Now at first, I was a little confused. I didn’t know if this was a minivan or a sports utility vehicle. It was a strange hybrid of sorts, but the nice part was that it only had 1200 miles on it, and it still had the new car smell.

My first leg of the trip brought me to Lawrence, MA where I spent about 10 hours doing some manual labor for Habitat for Humanity.

The two tasks for the day was to remove from siding from the house they’re rehab-ing and paint new clapboards for the house. Given my acrophobia and just general disappointment in the way ladders are built, I opted to paint.

Over lunch, we were approached by a nice old man who asked us if we were from MIT. Somehow, we got onto the topic of organic chemistry. Over the course of the conversation, he let slip the fact that he actually designed the course. Turns out he was Professor Emeritus Frederick Greene. He was at MIT before my grandpa graduated from high school, and here he was climbing up on ladders building houses. He also shared some interesting facts about MIT back in the days.

(In the style of Sam)
DID YOU KNOW?
MIT students used to have to take:
4 sememsters of Math
4 semesters of Physics
2 semesters of Chemistry

(No advanced placement credit awarded)

Today, the requirement is half that much.

After leaving Lawrence, we headed back to MIT.

Later, we went out to appreciate the wonder of cheese fries, malts, and portobello mushroom burgers at Fuddruckers. I kinda ruined my appetite by finishing half of my Mocha malt before my burger was ready, but somehow, I can forgive myself. (I have a slight sweet tooth).

/End Day

I was originally scheduled to leave for New York that evening to visit Mitra except when I discovered that I misread my ticket for 6 pm as a 9 pm flight at 7 pm, it was too late. I need to get my eyes checked. Maybe next weekend?

3 responses to “Saturday Roadtrip”

  1. James says:

    Do you know why they changed the requirements to only half as much?

  2. Bryan says:

    James,

    A while ago, a committee at MIT, decided to revisit the General Institute Requirements (GIRs) and see if things needed to change. They decided then that they could revamp the core curriculum into what it is today minus the biology requirement (that was added in the 90’s I believe). Actually, right now, they’re taking another look at the GIRs to see if anything can be improved again.

    – Bryan