Tuesday morning, I excused myself from de-insectifying MATLAB scripts for a breathless noontime hour and ran. Terminal windows dissolved into concrete sidewalk grids, swollen with rain delicately infused with the brine of Boston's air pollution. Soaked in a brew of life-shortening chemicals, I wrestled down the nightmare-inducing plethora of health concerns associated with touching water that had once belonged to the Charles River and, choking on flying needles of acid precipitation, battled onwards across the Harvard Bridge. As I approached the threshold of drowning, I flinched away the retina-searing tears of rain that had glommed in the gutters of my eyelids as my field of vision was suddenly, out-of-nowhere filled with the morale-raising sight of Professor McGreevy in an orange T-shirt, sprinting heroically toward MIT. Simultaneously bewildered and inspired by the aerobic presence of my former 8.022 professor, I drowningly flailed my arms in greeting as we passed, accompanied by a frenzied, Picasso-esque facial expression that said, “Nice to see you, Professor- excellent final this year. Hope you got the thank-you card our class sent you- that's right, the one where I wrote that div(McGreevy)= 4pi*(awesomeness/8.022). Clever, I know. By the way, did you hear about the guy who fell into the Charles River and immediately broke into a deadly rash? Ha ha ha.” McGreevy sort of waved back with his left eyebrow.

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

FIRST

Posted by: first on June 28, 2009

yes!! awkward moments with past professors! my calc prof almost ran over me with his bike!
thanks for the tidbit of funny, yan!

Posted by: Sara '12 on June 28, 2009

Yan, I know this is somewhat off topic (ok, alot off topic) of your post, but did you take any Physics E&M in high school? I noticed you took 8.022, which I hear is insanely hard, and I'm wondering if its possible to take with no E&M practice in high school.

Posted by: Justin E '13 on June 28, 2009

@ justin

IMHO....I think that it is INSANE to even WONDER of taking 8.022 without proper E&M practice.

Posted by: Mr_thermoionic_emission on June 28, 2009

For some reason I constantly run into my freshman year Health teacher outside of school. I immediately think of vaginas every time.

Posted by: Chris on June 28, 2009

@ Justin + MTE:

I had absolutely zero experience with E&M before MIT. I ended up with an A+ in 8.022, a summer UROP in E&M-related research (magnetic reconnection in plasmas), and a major in physics.

It's a hard class, but don't let anyone stop you from taking it.

Posted by: Yan on June 28, 2009

Hahahah, amazing how much can't be conveyed by frantic arm-flailing.

I was under the impression that Boston area's air was clean relative to any other large cities, though :3

And, finishing the task of commenting on your post backwards (by the topic, not the letter ^_^"), it sounds like you had a fun time pulling moths out of your relays ;P

Posted by: NathanArce on June 28, 2009

@Yan and MTE
Thanks for the advice from both of you. I'll probably judge how much I wanna challenge myself after 8.012 (which i have years of experience in). Don't know if it means much now, but I too am also considering physics as a major.

Posted by: Justin E '13 on June 28, 2009

Lol, MTE, I really think it's meant to be able to introduce people to E&M, just like 8.02.

Not that I think Yan's experience is a good example of how manageable a class would be for other people ^_^"

Posted by: NathanArce on June 28, 2009

Lol I can't speak from experience but I agree with NathanArce. From what I hear, 8.02 (as well as 8.01) is geared towards everyone, not necessarily those w/ strong math or physics backgroudns. 8.022 is for those who are comfortable with the math and such, and want a challenge, but not necessarily those with extensive E&M background (correct me if i'm wrong upperclassmen...)

Posted by: Justin E '13 on June 29, 2009

...or he was just laughing at you.

P.S. Hello from Beijing.

Posted by: Katelyn '12 on June 29, 2009

@ Katelyn:

Envy.

Also, I need to check your blog.

Posted by: Yan on June 29, 2009

China blocked all the blogging sites. And all open proxy websites too. I'll figure out how to set up a blog on my MIT account this weekend when I actually have time.

Posted by: Katelyn '12 on June 29, 2009

If your 8.022 professor was a source of awesomeness then shouldn't it rather be

div(awesomeness)= 4pi*(McGreevy/8.022)

Just sayin'

Posted by: Tarun on July 5, 2009

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