people appreciation post by Fatima A. '25

in the past months, I have felt the impact of various people around me on the quality of my life with full force. MIT is so vast and there are so many different people who make sure it continues the way it does. I wanted to appreciate the people who make my MIT experience what it is.

friends 

this goes without saying so I will keep this short but my friends are genuinely the sole reason for my sanity in a time where one simply cannot afford such luxury. this semester, I have gotten to enjoy being a “Greek chorus” in relativity with Feli, aggressive nodding with Zimi in quantum, spending inordinate times working on relativity and the early universe with Jorian whose level-headedness is genuinely unmatched, playing copious amounts of redactle with Nora, making sure I am not losing funny points in front of Jonathan, the constant struggle of man to be like Matthew, the correct mix of wise and bully that is Prajna, the kind of unhinged humor that is unique only to Jenny and being bullied over text by Alan. and everyone else who I have failed to mention here, I appreciate you all so, so much.

instructors & mentors 

I have been incredibly lucky with all my professors throughout MIT. this year is no exception. I have professors who I would take a bullet for, they are so good at teaching, are very kind and I have been enjoying all my classes so much. I am taking relativity with Prof. H and Prof. E, both of whom are just so great. recently, I got to watch an old School of Science video about gravitational waves that Prof. H appears in at the very end, which was really exciting.
my professor for the early universe is a legend and I will leave it at that. quantum is certainly one of the classes of all times in terms of the length of assignments and the first midterm was a time but it is clear that the professor cares about the class and the lectures are very well organized and understandable so I am enjoying the class despite the bit of pain. outside of technicals, I am doing a translations project for credit and my professor is so, so kind. for some of the Punjabi dialogues that I just couldn’t figure out (I am not really fluent in Punjabi and it doesn’t help that the dialogues are supposed to be gibberish), he actually asked his mom for help and gave me pointers, which I am eternally grateful for.

Keita, my graduate student mentor for my math UROP and Wati, my physics UROP mentor have been incredibly patient with me as I learn some of the foundational stuff and I could not ask for better mentors.

dorm custodial staff

simply, we would all cease to exist along with the buildings we live in. all these talks of the incredibly unique culture of MIT dorms and how they foster a community rely on people who make sure that the dorms are clean and livable and a home to so many of us. shoutout to Dennis, who in addition to all of this, also makes sure you never feel down when leaving the house in the morning. everyone on the floor will agree that he is unbelievably kind and patient and treats every single person with levels of enthusiasm every single day that I can only hope to even feign.

dining staff 

I had a very complicated relationship with dining, well, it was not very complicated, I hated it. I am a very picky eater and having dietary restrictions plus having your food being completely switched isn’t the most fun combination. it took me very long to start being okay with dining hall food. only after this spring, when I was cooking for myself did I really became appreciative of the people who had been cooking for me. I have also had enough time to adjust that I do not mind dining hall food at all anymore so although I knew this before, I have really come to appreciate all the dining hall staff. I think it takes a great deal of patience to exhibit the level of consistent politeness that the grill chef holds. Randy and Marlene always make sure to ask about your days, the omelette chef now knows my order, there is a chef at Maseeh dining who always calls you “love,” people who I have inquired about dietary restrictions will let me know about unlabeled food when they see me and there are so many other staff people who continuously exhibit incredible levels of kindness and care.

(I am too awkward to ask for names so I don’t know all the names. there has been some dining staff appreciation with spotlights on different people each week but I don’t think they actually continued that past the first week or something. maybe, I have just not been paying too much attention.)

all the offices around MIT 

I have my gripes with some offices around MIT, but the people I have interacted with have more often than not just genuinely wanted to be helpful. whether that be having answers to your questions or redirecting you to other resources and people, I am so deeply indebted to people in the math department and all the random offices I have reached out to over the years. unironically, one of the most important lessons out of my time at MIT is to just, email. there are resources and people for your help and you just need to reach out and inquire about them. Currently, I am especially indebted to Kim from the distinguished fellowships office of MIT CAPD⁠01 career advising and professional development for knowing what I want to say before I say it, for unbelievable and true empathy and for caring passionately about students.