From First Visit to First Week by Richard O. '28

Last week I started classes at MIT. A simple 7-part sentence that would’ve meant the world to freshman me back in high school. But as I prepare for my 4-year journey that will probably include a lot of late nights and interesting experiences, I want to reflect a little on my first trip to this campus which I think really changed the way I’ve viewed my preparedness for this next stage of my life. More specifically, the independence that came from visiting MIT the first time.

Looking back, there’s something about traveling that I think can be fulfilling and scary at the same time – especially traveling alone. On one hand, I think it’s really cool that in today’s world, you can press a few buttons on a screen, and in a few months a large cylinder with wings can take you halfway across the east coast to a state you’ve never set foot in. But on the other hand, traveling alone is also an experience that I think can change the way you see yourself – at least it did for me. 

Probably like most of my peers, I don’t live near Cambridge. And the last time I was on a plane was when my family went to Ghana back in 2017. So visiting MIT last April for the first time for CPW ⁠01 MIT's Campus Preview Weekend for admitted first years that usually takes place in April and spans an advertised total of 3.14 days was something completely new to me – not just because I had never been on the campus before but also because I don’t travel that much. And this time, I was traveling by myself. No parents. No Siblings. No friends. Just a backpack, a carry-on suitcase, and a newly purchased MIT sweatshirt that I probably wore to school a few too many times prior. 

IAD airport at 6 AM which I hadn’t seen for 7 years until my trip to MIT

But I very vividly remember the moment I said bye to my dad at the airport after he helped me check my ticket before leaving. In that moment as I was waving and watching him walk back towards the entrance after dropping me off, I began to realize that I was really on my own – not just in the fact that I was flying by myself, but more importantly in the fact that I had reached a point in my life where I truly had a sense of autonomy in my life decisions. Neither of my parents had made me go on this trip. The flight had no credit requirement that would show up on my high school transcript or worksheet that had to be submitted for a grade. Applying to MIT wasn’t even an expected activity for a club or anything like that. The whole thing was the culmination of decisions I made about my life – for myself. And that for me was…different. I was so used to living with frameworks and expectations from school and the people around me that the realization of me having this much responsibility over my life decisions was a weird thing that hung in my mind the whole time I waited for my flight.

Mother nature’s preview of what Boston weather would be like that weekend outside my window seat

But after the short 90-minute trip (filled with regret after finding out that cellular plans don’t actually work on planes and I should’ve downloaded my music playlists before taking off) I realized that this independence, as weird as it was, could also be empowering. In the next 3.14 days, I had the chance to meet people who came from all over the world (literally) and were amazing in their own way – some of which were people I had met on Instagram and it was really great to finally meet them in person.

View of my flight plan as I patiently wait for my music-less expedition to end

Some photos with said amazing people:

Me and some CPW friends taking a group photo on Killian Court

Late night roaming around campus

Weirdly enough, MIT has a huge poker fanbase apparently

Me and Stu

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But looking back I now notice that it’s okay to feel lost and alone sometimes. It’s okay to feel nervous about being independent and making decisions. Because at the end of the day, you aren’t alone. Yes, I took a flight by myself to somewhere completely new in the middle of exam reviews. But I wasn’t the only one experiencing this – I was among 1,000+ other students also leaving their homes to come somewhere that may have been completely foreign to some of them – and that’s okay. Because making these decisions is what life is all about – regardless of whether or not things go the way you plan.

And just like the several thousand people here on campus as well as the millions of students on other college campuses have found their way up to the start of classes for this semester, I’ve somehow managed to navigate my own journey up to where I am now and hope that as I continue through MIT I’ll be able to embrace this independence and learn more about myself and what I want to do and be after college. 

Because after all, thanks to this independence, I got to experience MIT and all its unique aspects from its underground tunnels to its famous Great Dome…by myself, in the middle of Cambridge, almost 500 miles away from home. 

My first ever picture of the Great Dome in person from CPW