Bad Ideas Month by Ellie F. '28

I’m no cook when it comes to normal food, but if stupid ideas were dishes, I’d be head chef of a Michelin-starred restaurant (or at least I’d like to think so). Unfortunately, at MIT, most of my computational power has been devoted to “psets” and “midterms” and not Silly Girl Time, but when the Bad Ideas Weekend email (and subsequent reminder email) hit my inbox like [redacted], I knew it was showtime. 

Every year, during three days in IAP⁠01 Independent Activities Period , Bad Ideas Weekend takes hold in MIT like glitter: it’s everywhere, if you look hard enough, and it catches the light, even in the dark. Students run activities silly and absurd and sometimes delicious, and even more students emerge to bake rat-shaped cakes and play IRL Fruit Ninja and take their minds off the constant demands of an MIT education. Bad Ideas Weekend was my calling. I sent in two event proposals, and thought nothing more of it for two months.

One Month Before Bad Ideas

I had a plan for IAP. A blissful period of rest, exploring Boston museums, baking desserts, learning to ice skate and drawing murals and spending my evenings with my friends. Sure, I had a UROP⁠02 a research project I’m working on investigating anomalous exoplanets that would take up most of my time during the day, and I also needed to finish a homework packet for my 18.03 ASE⁠03 an exam to test out of 18.03, aka differential equations , but I’d still have more than enough time to get my fill of goofing around before the hell of spring semester started.

The first Bad Idea I was running was Huge Ping Pong. I don’t know if you noticed, but Normal Ping Pong is really hard. Those paddles are so small, and I keep missing! The solution, obviously, is to make giant paddles, which would solve all my ping-pong-related problems. And though I had no idea where to host my event, or where to get the wood, or even how to use any power tools whatsoever, I was confident that my half-baked idea would end up working.

Three Weeks Before Bad Ideas

IAP started off just how I imagined. In the first week, I practiced a beautiful piano piece, started learning glassblowing, rehearsed for a Video Game Orchestra Tetris performance, and explored the Institute for Contemporary Art. It was heaving, until Sunday, when I realized I had worked about ten hours less than I was planning. And I hadn’t even touched 18.03.

In a desperate moment of clarity, I sat down to meticulously plan out every hour of my day the next week. Mornings and afternoons were dedicated to my UROP, and evenings were for 18.03 and miscellaneous responsibilities. Then, the MIT Mystery Hunt suddenly consumed four days of my life, and I was left with one week to finish about two-thirds of a giant homework packet.

My second Bad Idea was S’mores with Various Questionable Sources of Fire⁠04 BIC lighter, Bunsen Burner, flamethrower?? . It was yet another event I was wholly unprepared for–the most fire safety training I’ve done has been Stop Drop and Roll back in elementary school. Sadly, the event was axed for safety reasons, or so I thought. Just a few days before Bad Ideas Weekend, I was suddenly notified that s’mores was back on, but without all the fire-making contraptions. And we had no supplies. I called an emergency meeting, and my co-conspirator Caroline and I decided, in a last-minute change of plans, to make our event now centered around gourmet smores⁠05 s’mourmet?? .

Three Days Before Bad Ideas

At this point, things are dire for my ASE. We cook up a plan.

Mission Don’t Fail 18.03:

• work all day, every day
• stop cooking. Order Uber eats 
• leaving your room is for losers 
• stop watching YouTube and also having friends and also contacting the outside world

The first few days went alright. Although my back hurt and my legs were probably atrophying from disuse, I was definitely making progress. Not as much as I had hoped, sure, but still enough to be on track to finish. And then…

Dawn of Bad Ideas Weekend

Saturday brought with it the s’mores event, and though the 18.03 exam was drawing nearer, the need to stuff my face with marshmallows was too strong. After all, I deserved a little treat. Caroline had bought the supplies, and when I arrived, we started toasting marshmallows. Among our spread of gourmet choices was Peeps, jelly-filled marshmallows, Nutella, strawberry jam, Feastables, and slices of whole wheat bread.

MIT Science Olympiad happened to be holding its awards ceremony right next door, so I’d go into Kresge Auditorium’s lobby to advertise free s’mores, and like the Pied Piper, I’d leave with a gaggle of high schoolers trailing behind me. Within an hour and a half, our supplies had run out, but a gaggle of my friends stayed to chat and poke at the fire. Ian offered to buy free boba from Teado, and while we were there, Liong, in the interest of Bad Ideas, ordered a water boba, setting off a microtrend to the amusement and befuddlement of the barista.

When we walked back outside, we were treated to the sight of a steaming trash can that would have definitely been labeled as carcinogenic in California. In the confused aftermath, we carried a table down and up a flight of stairs, but we eventually got everything squared away. All in all, no injuries were had, and also I got to embezzle a mostly full jar of Nutella from the event, so it was a huge win.

smores!!!

we had only the highest quality ingredients

my peeps + cookies n cream feastables abomination

water boba. boba with water. surprisingly good. also cheaper!

thats the cancer trashcan

we loved carrying tables on stairs so much we did it twice!

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I didn’t get that much work done for 18.03 that night, but I did eat a hefty amount of Nutella.

Bright and early next morning was my ping pong event. Although some wood was allocated for the paddles, I realized it wouldn’t work well, so I snatched the largest sheet of wood I could find at Reuse⁠06 a shelf/wall area in the basement of the Infinite Corridor with free stuff . I explained to a Metropolis mentor my predicament (no training with any woodworking or power tools oops!), and they recommended I use the laser cutter. We traced out a paddle shape, and after some debugging, both paddles were cut out!

It was then that I realized we didn’t have a ball. I took a trip back to Simmons and pilfered a few balls from the ballpit, one of which we spray painted white. We put some finishing touches on the painted paddles and headed outside to play. Unfortunately, giant ping pong is not easier than regular ping pong :(

never speak to me or my ping pong son ever again

thanks alan for taking the photo!

AHAHAHAHAHA

ms paint #1 art app

laser cutter pew pew pew

putting on some finishing touches

paddle happily living in simmons hall :)

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That evening, I finally finished my 18.03 homework packet, with a day to spare. Still, I felt my grasp on all the concepts, especially the earlier ones, was shaky at best. I spent one more day forcing myself to work through as many practice exams as I could, feeling my confidence repeatedly build and crumble with every problem I got correct or incorrect.

In the end, it all worked out. Despite not having any woodworking skills, I successfully made ping pong paddles. Despite cancellations and last minute changes, s’mores ran smoothly. And despite procrastinating on and underestimating the difficulty of 18.03, I managed to pass the ASE. It’s a boost to my confidence, I suppose, but I mostly look back on my IAP as a lesson in what not to do. I overcommitted myself, took on too much unnecessary stress, and I paid the price mentally. I’ve now promised myself to use IAP to explore new hobbies, be with my friends, and relax, and overall, not turn Bad Ideas Weekend into Bad Ideas Month. Check back in next year to see if it worked!