Hey guys! My name is Natnael Getahun (please for the love of all that is Nerdy call me Nat(pronounced Na-Tea)) and I am your friendly neighborhood nerd. Let’s get right to it, the boring stuff. I was born in Ethiopia and moved to California at a young age. But before you Californians claim me as one of your own, I moved from California to Kansas at the ripe young age of 5. So I am a Kansan through and through and that usually turns heads itself. People realize and remember that Kansas is a state, but don’t know much more than the Wizard of Oz has taught them. It’s merely a blip of a state that one quickly forgets as they attempt to get from point a to point b, although I’m not sure what’s so great about those two points. But before you ask me any questions about Todo and the latest workings of Dorothy and her gang, I live in Eastern Kansas, also known as civilization. No I’ve never seen a farm, no I’ve never been cow tipping, and no, the education is not as bad as “Inherit the Wind” would have you believe. So there’s that, my living situation has been interesting to say the least.

My interests are as across the board as my living habits. If one hasn’t noticed yet, I love to read and watch movies and very often make subtle cultural references. For instance, if you didn’t catch the quote from the Hitchhiker’s Guide in the first paragraph, don’t panic, there’s still time to go back and read it. Taking a hike back across the activity board, Archery takes the next place as a huge part of my life. Starting it on a whim after reading a book about it tickled my fancy, I started shooting with a club and never looked back, it’s an activity I hope to continue here at MIT. One last trek across the board will land you in the board encompassing realm of FIRST Robotics. But unlike one would expect, I never touched the robot in my time with FIRST Robotics. Rather, I was the web designer, a graphic designer, and the guy in charge of all things non-robot related that required a computer. A member of team 1710, those hundreds of hours spent in front of a computer screen and dancing wildly at competition will go down as my favorite part of high school. A+++++ would do again.

Another large influence FIRST Robotics had was on my potential major, course 6-3(Computer Science) or a CS oriented 6-2(Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). The word potential is used here because it is subject to large and rapid changes. Hoping to UROP(or as Chris P. would say creep) into the Media Lab or CSAIL, I’m interested to see where two things in the field of computer science develop, artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction. Along with my potential major also lies my potential dorm. I’m currently an East Campus resident of the happiest kind. Delighted by the wide range of people, and hair colors, I meet on a daily basis, I’m excited to see how the year unfolds.

So that’s me in an oversized nutshell. I look forward to blogging for you all soon! End of line.