This past weekend was the legendary Campus Preview Weekend at MIT and I was extremely stoked to finally visit. Not only was it my first time visiting campus, but it was also my first time in Boston/Cambridge. Here is a photo of me outside of 77 Mass Ave.

I was instantly stunned by the campus and the intriguing architecture. I was especially awed by Simmon's Hall, aka "The Sponge."  After getting settled in my host's dorm at New House 2, I was pumped and ready to attend some fun events and classes. Before my escapade, my host and I took time to chat in the Office of Minority education, where I was able to get the scoop on MIT from other current students. The more I learned about MIT, the more I was certain that MIT is the perfect fit for me. This only made me more excited to be on campus. My CPW weekend was off to a great start. The entire weekend was action-packed and downtime was nonexistent. I could probably write a book about my CPW experience, but rather, I will highlight some of my favorite events of the weekend!

The Stata Center. Another mind-boggling architectural masterpiece at MIT.

On Friday I went on a UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program) tour at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research to learn about current cancer research headed by Dr. Robert Weinberg. It was interesting to know that our tour guide had an active role in this significant research, and the fact that I would have the opportunity to partake in research at MIT was exciting. I toured the actual laboratory, how cool is that? I even got all of my inquires answered. When the tour was over, I couldn't help but ponder upon when I will participate in research at MIT...by this point (Day 2 of CPW, mind you) I was already convinced that MIT is where I would be next year.

Between Friday and Saturday, I attended three fairs: the academics fair, the athletics fair, and the activities fair. I collected all sorts of brochures and packets from everything that I was interested in. Just envision a fully-loaded, on-the-verge-of-exploding, drawstring bag and you'll have a comparable image of what my bag was like after these three fairs. I walked table to table at these fairs and discovered so many, perhaps too many, clubs, sports, and academic opportunities that I found thrilling. The opportunities seemed endless, and for that, I knew at this point that MIT was where I would go to college. MIT will allow me to explore and develop all of my interests. I know that next year as a freshman, in addition to my classes, I may try water polo, play in the MIT Symphony Orchestra, and make time for the literary club.

On Saturday I toured WMBR, MIT's student-run radio station that broadcasts all over Boston. They showed me their music library, complete with innumerable CDs and records. I felt like a kid in a candy store, and the first bookshelf I rushed to was the one designated to artists that start with "L" to see which Led Zeppelin albums they had. In fact, the radio crew let me pick a Led Zeppelin song, introduce it on air, and play it. And that was my radio debut (there will be more of me on air next year at MIT, just a heads up). In case you Zeppelin fans out there are wondering, I picked "Immigrant Song" to play on air.

Remember, I have only touched upon a few of the events because, as I said earlier, I could write a book about my CPW experience (and maybe I will, who knows). Attending CPW confirmed that MIT was the perfect place for me.

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

Hooray! That WMBR tour was way fun.

Posted by: claire '13 on April 29, 2009

Reading all these posts is a bittersweet experience. As a US citizen living abroad, CPW is probably something I won't experience until I am an MIT student in the unlikely possibility that I do get admitted. Yet it is fun to enjoy the CPW experience vicariously as I read the blog posts.

Anyways, SECOND!

Posted by: Labib (?!4) on April 29, 2009

The stata center is... pretty ugly from up front XD

But wikipedia has an aerial view photo of it that shows its true beauty~

And one day, you might get an aerial view of it yourself :3 Things like that are better in person ;P (but that's not exactly an easy thing to do)

Posted by: Narce on April 29, 2009

Hahaha I was the "radio crew" who let the prefrosh pick records to play on the air. You can listen to Shelby's broadcast in this .mp3 at 21:20.

Posted by: Ahmed on April 29, 2009

That third to last paragraph: I wish I could say that about my current school.

Posted by: 0 on April 29, 2009

Nice entry, Shelby! Thanks for posting it, Snively.

Posted by: Mikey on April 30, 2009

Thanks!! Its so cool that it got posted, haha!

Posted by: Shelby on April 30, 2009

Shelby - I am so proud of you. I see GREAT things in your future.

Posted by: Leslie on May 4, 2009

Hi, good post. I have been pondering this issue,so thanks for posting. I will definitely be coming back to your blog. Keep up the good posts

Posted by: How I Lost T h i r t y P o u n d s in Thirty Days on May 5, 2009

Shelby congrats on getting admitted! Enjoyed reading this post.

Posted by: samir on May 5, 2009

That's awesome! Glad to hear that MIT is the perfect fit for you!

Posted by: Alex on May 7, 2009

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