Post-wedding update by Matt McGann '00

So, I’m back in the office after this weekend’s wedding. It was great to catch up with many old friends, and of course to see my old roommate tie the knot.

If you’re wondering what a random sampling of MIT alums 3-6 years removed from the Institute are doing job-wise, here’s who was around at the wedding: software engineer/Kenjitsu instructor/author, Medical Doctor (resident), engineer for Sony Consumer Electronics, medical school student/NIH researcher, DC-area attorney, MIT physics instructor, engineer for Exxon-Mobil, city planner, chemistry PhD student, and, oh yeah, admissions officer.

At the reception, I got to sit next to Julian Wheatley, a member of the Foreign Languages & Literatures (Chinese) faculty and housemaster of East Campus dormitory. We chatted a bit about my slowly progressing Mandarin studies, and he pointed me to his new OpenCourseWare 21F.101: Chinese I site.

The groom requested a Red Sox update during the reception, so I got on my mobile phone and called Nightline, MIT’s peer-listening hotline, for the score. Nightline’s greatest service is in peer counseling on serious issues like stress, depression, sexuality, etc, but to encourage students to get used to talking with them, they’ll take any kind of phone call. The nice Nightline staffer reported that it was 4-2 Red Sox in the 5th inning, as I reported over the DJ’s microphone minutes later. Sadly, the Sox lost 6-5. I did not report that over the microphone.

Back in the office, I’ve done two information sessions in two days as well as a local college fair last evening. At the college fair, interestingly, the two most common questions I received were about economics and varsity sports at MIT. If those were your questions, you should check out the Economics Deprtment and Athletics Department. And to the person who asked if we have any computer courses: I assure you, we have plenty.