Hailing from the notoriously hot and humid city of Houston, in which snow-that-can-barely-be-called-snow deigns to appear about once in ten years, it was understandably a big deal for me when last Sunday, in the midst of 30-something-degree weather, it began to snow.
Much to the amusement of floormate Swetha '13 and with the full support of my roommate Jeanne '13, I pulled out my camera and literally took pictures for about ten minutes:
All my pictures turned out like this...it was snowing, I promise!
Clearly, I'm from Texas :) And the first snow of the 2009-2010 academic year was pretty exciting to me.
But not nearly as exciting as President Obama's visit to campus today!
I was unfortunately not one of lucky students to score an invitation to his speech; thus, my hopes of seeing President Obama were forced to realize themselves through a more creative outlet.
It all began on the balcony of the McCormick's East Tower Penthouse. Unable to see through the trees that lined the streets and ordered not to leave the confines of McCormick, Swetha '13, Carin '13, Divya B. '13 and I sought an aerial view of President Obama's arrival. We were soon joined by others, who seemed to have had the same bright idea. We stood out there, victims of the natural elements, for about an hour.
This is me being cold:
L-R: Me, Shireen '13
This is everything being so completely worth it:
Did you hear the voices at the end of the video? That was Secret Service! WE GOT KICKED OUT BY SECRET SERVICE!!!! How exciting is that??! They TALKED to us. And we didn't get arrested! Or shot by the snipers:
As you can no doubt tell, I was a little hyper by this time.
And the fun wasn't even over! We left the penthouse and headed to various other locations in the building, hoping to continue following Obama's trail through MIT. We eventually settled in the dining hall, where we watched the live stream of the president's speech:
And then the best part:
WE SAW HIM AS HE LEFT! In the second limo! Ahhhhhhh!!!!! If only my video-editing skills were more impressive, I would zoom in - over and over and over again. And then all of you could see him too! But for now, you simply have to believe me when I say we were less than five feet away from the president of the United States.
Things were slightly anti-climactic after that. Within a couple of hours, the barricades were removed, the number of security personnel dwindled, calc lecture took place as usual, and only the shiny, recently-cleaned windows of Kresge Auditorium hinted at the fact that the president had just visited campus.
In other news: Happy Mole Day, everyone!
Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)
Posted by: Divya B. '13 on October 23, 2009
Posted by: Elias('14?) on October 23, 2009
Posted by: Narinta on October 23, 2009
Posted by: Carin '13 on October 23, 2009
and yes it is happy mole day. clements decided to have a mole pledge of allegiance too. -.-
Posted by: jialing on October 23, 2009
But a silly question from me, I want to select a course to join MIT, what are the best things in course 9 (brain and cognitive sciences)?
I mean the areas of study and all, from the point of view of revolutionising the world (thats my interest) ! Ahh !! That question is important for me !! Thats why I asked !!
Thanks.
Posted by: Sambheet Krishna on October 23, 2009
Posted by: Quinton on October 23, 2009
such dedication...
but yeah the secret service part was super cool!
i was tryin to walk thru kresge, but police started yelling at me, and i almost wanted to run in and taunt them....at the time i did not kno bout the presence of snipers --so im very glad the rational part of my brain took over....
ANYWAYS. GREAT POST.
Posted by: jenny '13 on October 24, 2009
Posted by: Piper '12 on October 24, 2009
I can't believe you guys ran into Secret Service! Your blog is totally legit ;D
Posted by: Ian on October 24, 2009
Made my day. It sounds like an amazing experience. Only at MIT!
What's Mole Day? *off to wikipedia*
Posted by: Justin L. on October 24, 2009
We also don't know what Obama means but it is not about climate or sea
Posted by: Zeki '14? on October 24, 2009
/This/ is why MIT is so special -- Presidents visiting and students getting inordinately excited about it. (:
Posted by: peiyun on October 24, 2009
@ Zeki
I know how you feel
Posted by: Luka ('14?) on October 24, 2009
Posted by: sepideh on October 24, 2009
Moving completely away from the subject, do you know the etymology of your name?
I think it is a really cool name, do know what it means or where does it come from?
Posted by: André ('14?) on October 24, 2009
I think it is a really cool name, do you*** know what it means ou where does it come from?
Posted by: André ('14?) on October 24, 2009
And there's no way Obama's gonna be even just five hundred feet away from me!@@
Good that I can feel the joys vicariously through the blogs...=)
Posted by: Val'14? on October 24, 2009
and great post!!
Posted by: Hana '13 on October 24, 2009
Thus 10/23 is Mole Day
Posted by: jbhasin '14? on October 24, 2009
Nice Logic ! But then Mole Day is 6.022 times smaller than Avogadro's Number and I think that some part of October 23 should only be called Mole Day !! I suggest it should be Happy Mole's Fraction Day !!! ie because it is 6.022^-1 (6.022 x 10^23) as its only 10^23 left !!! lolz
Posted by: Sambheet Krishna on October 24, 2009
Posted by: 0 on October 24, 2009
I'm from Turkey and in fact 80% of Turkey is snowy in winters but It is special about my homecity -In Southeast Europe,North Meditarrenean- named "Mersin".
Posted by: Zeki '14? on October 24, 2009
however you have "uludag" to be proud of...
Posted by: sepideh on October 24, 2009
Posted by: '13 Bahar on October 24, 2009
Posted by: Mom on October 24, 2009
Posted by: Anonymous on October 24, 2009
just out of curiousity, How come turkey is in europe while of it occupies the asia?
Posted by: 0 on October 25, 2009
Posted by: ThisIsMoreThanStalking on October 25, 2009
Of course :D
@Anonymous
Turkey has both Asian and European borders.In past because of politics Turkey was called "in Middle Eastern" but today every simple Western geographist calls it "in Europe".Both two of explanations are right but today Easter countries like Russia are being accepted as European.Turkey also a member of European Council and candidate of European Union.We managed half of Europe 625 years.İstanbul is the greatest proof of our being European.
And my homecity is geographically in Europe with Cyprus.
Posted by: Zeki '14? on October 25, 2009
Yup, I do know the etymology of my name. In Sanskrit (an ancient Indian language that's still semi-existent in patches about the world today), my name means 'as graceful as a swan' and 'the one who brings happiness.'
My parents are awesome name-choosers
Posted by: Hamsika '13 on October 25, 2009
Posted by: yo mamma on October 25, 2009
And yeah, your parents are indeed awesome name-choosers.
I do like my name as well, it is related to christianity and comes from Ancient Greek : ]
Posted by: André on October 26, 2009
Posted by: Chris on October 26, 2009
AND GETTING KICKED OUT BY SECRET SERVICE PART IS SO COOL. That's my new goal in life.
Posted by: Shree-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on October 28, 2009
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