fragments by Ankita D. '23

it happened again. after finishing my second round of midterm exams, i was promptly swept away by a whirlwind of final projects and presentations, dance rehearsals and shows and workshops, and concerns both personal and interpersonal. wholly submerged in the myriad of things going on, i didn’t blog! at all!!

now, as i reflect on the past month, i can only marvel at how many important moments are soaked into the intangible haze that is the last chunk of my semester. 

here, i attempt to pick these fragments out of the haze for you—because each of them is worth talking about⁠01 ...debatable  and because they can help offer an unfiltered view of what I’ve been doing for the past month 

so. in the past four-ish weeks, instead of blogging, i:

• went to see AJR⁠02 pop band famous for Weak, 100 Bad Days, and I'm Ready

my first concert! they played Beyond the Sea, a song my dad used to sing to me as a kid, during the encore. my heart was so full

• made a cake for Bombergiving

Bombergiving is a potluck event and yearly tradition of my floor⁠03 we're called the Burton Third Bombers that was absolutely lovely. it reminded me how much i love the people on my floor and how grateful i am to have found a family in them

wow aint we cute

• filmed a dance video with a friend 

i desperately longed for people to dance with when i was in high school, so having a dance community is nothing but fulfilling

• shopped with my roommates at the Prudential Center and on Newbury Street

and bumped into six MIT students on the way!

• celebrated the birthdays of two very important people in my life

i’m so happy that i was able to help make it special for them :)

• watched a movie with the Sloan Business Club

& became social chair for said club 

• sang anime karaoke with my ‘13 friend in Chinatown

and also talked a bit with one of her friends who is a grad student from Japan. i really missed speaking Japanese

• went back home to Nashua, NH for the first time this semester

i’m from 45 minutes away and i can’t go home once? i attribute it to the club activities i have on weekends…there are no weekends at MIT, folks

• ate a lot of good food for Thanksgiving

obviously

• rediscovered my love of reading!

being confronted by the stacks upon stacks of books in my bedroom prompted me to pick one up again; i started rereading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami⁠04 author of <em>The</em> <em>Wind-Up Bird Chronicle</em> and<em> Norwegian Wood</em> who's famous for his wildly surrealist, utterly captivating stories (my favorite author). i also am listening to Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, but my mind is so occupied most of the time that i can no longer focus on audiobooks. it sucks

• realized how thankful i am for my living environment at MIT after spending three days at home

—the suburbs are too quiet and i don’t have many close friends from high school. in a state of loneliness, i found myself reaching out to several of my old friends (mostly people i met during my summers in Japan/Taiwan). i’m grateful that i was driven to reconnect with so many people, but the isolation i experienced while home rekindled so much resentment. high school was miserable and i’m beyond thankful that i’m at a college with so many wonderful people

• ordered four pints of Ben and Jerry’s with my roommate to prepare for the turbulent week ahead

 ah, college

• attended Mocha⁠05 Mocha Moves, the urban dance group i'm in Formal

we dressed up, exchanged Secret Santa gifts, ate fried chicken, and talked about our choreography ideas for our February show. i’ll be choreographing (for others) for the first time!

snazzy

• survived four Dance Troupe dress rehearsals and five shows while sick

dance really has consumed my life and i love it

• experienced my first snow on campus

i’m from New Hampshire. this means nothing.

i did, however, get to both play in the snow with my friends and utterly obliterate a snowman in Briggs Field,⁠06 the big ol' field between Amherst Alley and Vassar St which was fun

prefrosh, i hope decisions went well for you! everyone else–good luck with finals week!!