between now and departure by Kanokwan T. '26

My final semester once felt like it was at such a distance. I remember wrapping up my freshman fall and thinking it took so much life out of me. How was I to do it seven more times? The soon-to-be graduates looked so big and put-together. With grueling institute requirements and technical classes completed, they made it to the other end. They evidently endured their time, had a stronger sense of their futures, and were much wiser than I was. Right?

Right…

*blink blink blink*

One thing or another happened and bam — I’m now here. 

How time feels is an ever strange thing. It scarcely feels like what it is. Four years felt like just a few weeks. This spring seems like years. The rest of my life is an eternity.

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I’ve wrapped up all but one small lab course for my major, one class for my minor, and three classes for my humanities requirement, leaving me with five classes to take. This is strangely my least mechanical engineering-filled semester, because my past ones were so packed. My weeks now feel like that of a liberal arts student: full of dense readings, deep discussions, and long papers. Here are my classes:

2.678 Electronics for Mechanical Systems

This is a lab requirement for my mechanical engineering degree. I’ve picked up electronics experience over the years through personal projects, hackathons, and the like, but it’s good to finally take a formal course. The class is thorough and well thought-out. I find every lab so fun! We get to take home some circuits, too.

14.03 Microeconomic Theory and Public Policy

This is the last class I need for my public policy minor! It has a lot of math, but mostly calculus and algebra. The work is more in understanding how economic theory is represented in mathematical form. The readings are well integrated into other elements of the course. Solid class.

17.517 Political Utopias and Dystopias

I simply love this one. It’s basically an awesome book club that meets every Friday afternoon, like a little cherry on top to the week. Every week, we read a new novel accompanied by a few other excepts, spanning aspects of utopian/dystopian worlds. It’s the most reading I’ve ever done. We’re assessed on our reading knowledge through quizzes, discussions, and papers. Everyone is super engaged, so class is full of spirited conversation. In the current times™, I’ve found myself drawn to understanding extremes of political ideologies, and how those ideas relate to our reality.

17.831 Data and Politics

We crunch data to answer political questions. Lots of the technical content reminds me of my past 2.155 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Engineering Design class, specifically the idea of drawing concise conclusions from complicated data. The lecture and slides are tight, clean, and interactive. The readings are topical and woven deeply into lecture. Also, here are some questions we investigate, from the syllabus: “Has American politics become more polarized? When a party wins 50% of the vote but 70% of the seats, is that unfair? And how do Americans form opinions about topics like immigration enforcement, the adoption of artificial intelligence, and democracy itself?” I highly recommended this class. 

HAA.2996 The Essay: History and Practice (a.k.a. English 185e)

For the first time, I’ve cross-registered at Harvard! I wanted to hone in on my writing craft. Especially in the age of AI, I’m wary of wearing down my ability to articulate my thoughts, and also intimately understand the thoughts of others. I’ve spent years writing essays, as basically everyone does in school, but I never learned about how the form was created. What was the first essay? What defines an essay compared to other forms of writing? How have essays evolved over time? We read works from excellent essayists over the years, such as Montaigne, Orwell, Didion, etc. Perks: I get access to the Harvard libraries and shuttle connected to MIT! Their libraries are gorgeous, dare I say more charming than ours. So grand, ornate, and quiet.

Bonus class: PE.0603-1 Sabre Fencing

I’m learning to fence. This is the last class I need for the pirate certificate, making me especially excited to take it. There’s quite a bit of technology in the sport, specifically in determining what constitutes contact. Historically, ink was used. Now, electrical pads are in place. The fencing instructor is actually collaborating with the professor that runs the sports lab on developing new sensing systems. Somehow, this school finds way to MIT-ify sports.

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While we’re at it, here are also the clubs I’m active in:

Fire spinning

Rah rah rah. I love my fellow pyromaniacs. And my senior show is coming up!

Blogging

Yah.

Radio hosting

I’ve been meaning to join this club for so long! WMBR has been at MIT for decades. I’ve DJ’d parties over the years, took a break, and am excited to step back into the craft. I’m hosting the show Sound Soup every other Monday at 6pm ET, starting on the 23rd. Tune in.

Bonus club: Making

I want to make more stuff this semester. I used to mentor for makerspaces around campus, but fell out of touch. For this last semester, I want to make sure I carve out time to dig back into my old passion. It’s so fun, especially when making projects for friends. I’ll be making many parting gifts.

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I think this’ll be a good semester. I feel like I’ve reached a point where I’m ready for a world beyond this place. I’ve gone through the arc of MIT breaking me down and building me back up, and now I’m eager to be launched.