Congratulations! You got the job. by Laura N. '09

*Sigh* So I went and wrote this whole entry about women in engineering that was based off of my initial comment that I’ve never experienced anyone directly saying that women were inferior to men and immediately got a comment stating just that. Are you guys just out to get me or what? =P

So Momchil, here are my thoughts, short sweet, and to the point: Everything you just said is wrong.

People are just people. The end. And now I’m done with all of this deep discussion about admissions and learning from rejection and sexism. I am just plain moving on people. Here we go.

This week has been simultaneously awesome and horrendous. You know what I mean, right? I don’t think I’m going crazy.

On Monday I had my first shift on the MIT Ambulance. EMTs must protect patient privacy, so we’re never allowed to discuss calls we’ve been on. That won’t be hard- there weren’t any. I guess that means that MIT studnts are healthy, right? Anyway, I still learned a lot. Every crew is responsible for doing a checklist and making sure the ambulance is fully stocked, so I did the super long one to learn where everything was. The crew chief and second were really cool- they knew it was my first shift, and they were really patient and took a lot of time to show me things. (Each crew must have at least 2 people- a “crew chief” who has a lot of experience and runs the calls, and a second rider who must be an EMT but can have almost any level of experience. Optionally, there can be a third rider who only needs CPR certification. Third riders are there to learn and observe and basically be bossed around by the other crew members. =) Newly certified EMTs remain thirds until they get enough experience to work as second riders.) After a lot of exploring the ambulance, they let me play with the stretcher. (Mostly I just think Mike, the second, wanted to sit in it and be wheeled around and pulled in and out of the ambulance.) After that, we got to sit around in the (really awesome) bunk room for about 5 hours. I got a lot of HASS reading done. =)

Then, I found out that I got a new job! Ready for it? You sure? It’s nerdy….

I’m the newest member of the IS&T (Information Services and Technology) Computing Help Desk. This basically means that I will be the person on the other end of the line when you call tech support…

…in 6 months.

After I got the job, we realized that the field hockey season would interfere with mandatory training meetings. We were basically worried that the summer break followed by my abscence from training meetings would let me forget everything I learned this spring. The timing was just no good. So the new plan is this: I’m going to go in and observe students working there. Then next semester, if I think that I’m still interested in the job, I might just get thrown in with the next cycle of hires who will start working in October. A little weird, but in the end a pretty cool solution to the problem. So I have a job. Stay tuned, in 6 months I might tell you about my first day. =)

The middle of the week…

…you know what? I’m just not even going to go there. I don’t even want to think about it. I, like everyone, was really, really anxious for spring break to arrive. And now it’s here. How wonderful.

Then today, I passed my written exam, which means I’m now a real-life certified EMT. That was pretty cool.

I spent my lunch break working on top-secret stuff with the other bloggers. *grin* I announced to the room that I’d be attending the Princeton admitted students meeting, and they all gave me the weirdest stares! I was so confused until I finally realized that to me, Princeton is a city, but to the rest of the world, Princeton is a college. So they all thought I was going to a meeting for students who were admitted to Princeton, when what I really meant was that I was going to hang out with the students admitted to MIT who happen to be meeting in Princeton. Sheesh. *eye roll* Admitted student meetings are fun. You should go.

Tomorrow I’m going to the Boston FIRST Regional. Then I’ll finally post the pictures from Manchester in one big FIRST-happy entry. Yay.

Read on for responses to comments!

Responses to comments:

Anonymous said:
MIT stinks Laura.It does sucks.
Hee. That’s creative.

Melodie said:
Question: How much do you suggest we go to CPW? I’m playing at Carnegie Hall the weekend before, and I’m missing 3 days of school because of that, so if I miss 5 straight days, my teachers are liable to send me a low-scholarship =/ I was at one of the summer programs, but my RA said that MIT in the summer is very different from MIT during the school year.
CPW rocks. A lot. You should definitely try to come if you can. I’ve never been here in the summer so I don’t actually know, but I can’t imagine that it’s the same. If you have a lot of questions about MIT and you’re still struggling to make a decision, CPW is a great chance to learn a lot about MIT. Of course, the school you’re actually in now is pretty important too. =) Just keep in mind that you can come to as much or as little of CPW as you want. Feel free to show up only for the actual weekend days. I’m not sure how feasible that is for you (I guess it depends on how far away you live and the travel time involved), but it’s definitely an option.

Mike W said:
Hmmm…getting rejected at MIT is tough, especially when things have also taken an incomprehensible turn for the worse in several other activities I’ve been dedicated to longer than I’ve been dedicated to getting in to MIT.
I feel your pain. My senior year involved a lot of things I was really dedicated to falling apart. It was pretty painful. Hang in there, and make the best of it. And good luck with calc!

aRdho said:
are u real MIT students? :D thats cool..
Haha. Yup, real life MIT students.

Hamster said:
Over time I’ve read several people talking about their HASS classes like they are more enjoyable than their engineering/science courses, which always surprises me because it conflicts with the supergeek MIT stereotype.

Is it that you like them because they are easier? If you truly just enjoyed the material more, why wouldn’t you major in a humanities subject?
Wow, that’s a great question. I think there are several answers. For one, it’s just an MIT student’s nature to complain. No matter how much he/she loves math and science and engineering, chances are that the average MIT student loves to rattle off a huge list of psets and tests and labs and projects that they have to do. Plus, bonding with each other as MIT technical classes kick your you-know-what is a time-honored tradition. So even if you love physics, after being up to all hours of the night working on a terrifically difficult pset and then getting beaten up by a really hard math exam…you just think, “Ahh. Simple, enjoyable reading. With conceptual questions. No calculator necessary. *contented sigh*” Plus, speaking as a freshman, humanities classes are my only chance to choose my classes. So far this year, I’ve taken bio, chem, physics, calc, multivariable calc, and differential equations. I personally love physics but it’s still just a requirement. On the other hand, I got to pick whatever I wanted from a huge list of humanities classes. But mostly I just think it’s nice to have a change of scenery.

Edmund said:
Growing up in NJ was pretty cool … def. miss NY style pizza in Maine and good bagels :))
Oh. Oh I know. Pizza and bagels are the two things I miss most about NJ. Uhh…you know, after my family and stuff. I’m going home Sunday morning for break and I can’t wait to go out to get real pizza. Yum.