Please note:

MIT Admissions will be closed for an office gathering from 12:30–5 PM on Thursday, December 19.

An illustration of Janet's profile. She has light skin, long black hair and is wearing a green, textured jacket with a black shirt and silver necklace underneath.

halloween down the infinite by Janet G. '27

Happy (slightly belated) ⁠01 so if you think about it i'm technically still on time in pacific standard time. but also i girlbossed a little too close to the sun, because whoever thought that starting to write a blog with 30+ photos at 11:30pm is a good way to get a blog out on time is STUPID and BAD AT TIME MANAGEMENT, and no one comment on when this blog was published please and thank you Halloween! I woke up today and ran into so many amazing costumes that I couldn’t NOT post some of them here.

My day started off by running to lecture because I was late (what else is new), but then I got distracted by Benson L. ‘27 with this awesome LED helmet that I’m pretty sure he built himself:

person standing with helmet on

this was SO cool to see in real life. you could see all the wiring on the inside too

And even when I got to my 6.1210⁠02 Introduction to Algorithms lecture, it seemed like some people were a little dressed up.

photo of lecture hall with a notable green inflatable alien sitting up front

ah yes, a normal day in lecture with a normal set of… people sitting in the front row

Okay, so people were definitely dressed up.

three people sitting in a row dressed like care bears
Stephanie M. '28, Wendy C. '28, and Kristine L. '28 dressed as the Care Bears (while still missing one) (i was also very proud of the hack hoodies plug..)
Shirley X. '27 and Alicia L. '27!
person standing next to other person in green inflatable alien costume. both people holding thumbs up
i met the notable alien :) shoutout Jimmy C. '27 for sitting in that for the entirety of lecture (and presumably the whole day)
two people pointing at each other with spiderman meme
Lidia P. ‘27 dressed up as arguably the spookiest of them all: our 6.1210 head Prof Brynmor Chapman, notable pokemon enthusiast and writer of psets that occasionally ruin my life (for that week)
person standing with fur coat and furry ears on
another of our 6.1210 profs, Professor Demaine, dressed up for Halloween too :)

After lecture, I had 30 minutes before my weight training class ⁠03 we're supposed to take 4 PE classes by the end of sophomore year. i also really wanted to learn how to lift weights and Get Buff (so i can finally lift my own luggage when moving out) so i signed up for a weight training class with a few friends so I spent it wandering down the Infinite ⁠04 MIT's longest continuous corridor. it's actually not that long but everyone usually goes through it to get to classes and things happen along the corridor! which is why i guess it's the namesake of this post too! to collect candy at all the different offices.

halloween themed balloon arch hanging over the entry to a long corridor called the infinite
The beginning of the Infinite from the Lobby 7 side!
doorway decorated with halloween signage
the MIT Division of Student Life Office
people dressed up in costumes crowding around the Arts at MIT stall
Arts at MIT
three people standing in halloween costuming in front of a trolley with candy on top
MIT Student Financial Services! shoutout to them for giving me financial aid lol even if they ran out of candy when I got there
three people standing in witch and cat costumes, person in middle holding a box of candy
the MIT Alumni Association! they had yummy chocolates
table with candy on top and there is a poster of Kiki the cat from Kiki's Delivery Service in the background
I think this was the Office of Minority Education? I really liked their decorations in particular (the Kiki in the corner is so cute)
tables with stickers and a bucket of lollies on the top
Office of the First Year! Honestly my favourite is their gumball machine at the back which isn't even for Halloween, it's just usually there
photo of open glass door with halloween deco
this is the department of material sciences' breakerspace! they have a really cool industrial coffee machine in there that i have never tried but would like to one day. also marks the end of the Infinite

I think the people were definitely more interesting than the stalls themselves though.

photo of a person and two dogs all dressed up with capes
Chris M. from the Edgerton Center! Featuring two very Good Bois...
same person with the two golden retrievers. apparently one was dressed like godzilla and i accidentally forgot the other one sorry
Huxley and Harrison! so adorable. very happy to receive pats.
person dressed in pumpkin suit with a poodle also dressed in a pumpkin suit
Megan and Piper from the Mind Hand Heart Office :)
person dressed up in sonic gear holding candy
Chris M. (another one yes) from the Office of the Vice Chancellor!
person dressed up as Einstein gesturing to a lot of candy on the table in front of them
Also from Office of the Vice Chancellor :)

The Trick O’ Treaters also went pretty all out with their costumes:

a lion (from lion dance) peeking into a doorway
who's this?
two people standing while the Lion Dance Costume is off
it's the MIT Lion Dance Team! Zixuan '25 and Jolie '27 were getting a lot of candy
person standing in a dress and a knitted web covering costume
Georgia D., an MIT alumni, knitted the costume herself! she also very kindly offered to send the pattern to me but i unfortunately do not have enough dexterity for that....
someone in a pregnant bear costume
a very cool anonymous bear. who are they trying to hide the pregnancy from...
person dressed like calvin with a cardboard printout of a life-sized hobbes
i found calvin and hobbes along the infinite too!
a photo of two people in halloween costumes! one of them is i think dressed up as Bluey? the other is rosie the riveter i think
Laura Q. and Jonathan C. from MIT Sloan :) Rosie the Riveter and Bluey!
person dressed in perry the platypus onesie
is that... PERRY THE PLATYPUS?? (yes. it's also Anika W. '25)

But I think my favourites were the group costumes.

three people dressed up as the teletubbies holding up a
Rushil S. '27, Adrian Y. '27, and Alex H. '27. they made me laugh and i hope they found their missing teletubby...
four people dressed up as the care bears
at least the care bears from my lecture found their missing Care Bear! now with the addition of Amelie C. '28. photo creds not to me because you would not be finding me near a patch of grass
photo of about ten people dressed up in crayon shirts. very cool
shoutout to the Undergraduate Advisor Centre for getting a whole set of crayons in here

At this point I had to run to my class, and ran into some final costumes along the way.

person standing in an inflatable sun costume and wearing sunglasses
Gabriel G. '27 near the thing he is cosplaying (the sun). the sunglasses he is wearing is clearly shielding himself from the coolness of his costume
two people standing next to each other, one dressed in a white dress and the other dressed in a shadow sonic jersey
Sophie L. '27 as a ballet dancer and Alan C. '27 as shadow sonic! unfortunately the costumes had to go because we had to start lifting weights though
person wearing a sims diamond headband
Julie S. '26 with a very simple but iconic Sims costume :)

Not featured but some honourable mentions:

  • A Luigi Dad and a Mario Daughter holding a mystery box to collect candy – so cute but they are not posted for privacy reasons
  • someone who dressed up as a microwave chip (??) because I only heard about them and wasn’t able to find them by the end of the day
  • someone dressed up as a corona beer who was too far away for me to catch up to
  • like everyone else wearing a cool costume that i saw but didn’t manage to ask them for a photo (with permission)

Have a wonderful spooky season everyone :) (and also a huge congrats to those of you who have submitted your early action application!) ⁠05 so i don't have enough brain cells to write something thoughtful right now, but submitting your application is probably one of the spookiest things you will do in your life and as someone who still remembers the horrors of that time, i am truly manifesting for you all While I’m hoping this is proof enough that MIT students have enough time in their lives to even occasionally dress up, I’m going to fight some other spooky demons called my second round of midterms now 💀

  1. so if you think about it i'm technically still on time in pacific standard time. but also i girlbossed a little too close to the sun, because whoever thought that starting to write a blog with 30+ photos at 11:30pm is a good way to get a blog out on time is STUPID and BAD AT TIME MANAGEMENT, and no one comment on when this blog was published please and thank you⁠ ↑
  2. Introduction to Algorithms⁠ ↑
  3. we're supposed to take 4 PE classes by the end of sophomore year. i also really wanted to learn how to lift weights and Get Buff (so i can finally lift my own luggage when moving out) so i signed up for a weight training class with a few friends⁠ ↑
  4. MIT's longest continuous corridor. it's actually not that long but everyone usually goes through it to get to classes and things happen along the corridor! which is why i guess it's the namesake of this post too!⁠ ↑
  5. so i don't have enough brain cells to write something thoughtful right now, but submitting your application is probably one of the spookiest things you will do in your life and as someone who still remembers the horrors of that time, i am truly manifesting for you all⁠ ↑