MIT blogger Cami M. '23

In The City That Never Sleeps by Cami M. '23

NEEEEEEEEW YORK CIIIIIIIIITY

This IAP, I was originally supposed to take an MIT class called Spanish Incubator, where I would study Spanish poetry and literature in the ever beautiful Madrid, Spain.

However, obviously, due to omicron, I am not in Spain and I was left with effectively nothing to do this IAP.

Somewhat anticipating Spain was going to get canceled before it actually did, I applied to two different UROPs for this IAP and spring:

  1. A Marvel UROP where we’ll be reviewing the role that MIT plays in Marvel entertainment and media. I’ll be doing this UROP with Shayna ’23 and my advisor is actually Chris Petey Peterson himself so it’s nice to do it with familiar faces.
  2. A gaming UROP hosted by the MIT Game Lab where we’re creating a video game about the customer journey for Boston Consulting Group. My advisor for this UROP is Professor Jakobsson who actually taught me last semester in CMS.300 Intro to Videogame Theory.

In addition to this, I am also continuing my various jobs on campus. I am hosting/have hosted three events with three really cool guest speakers, May-Li Khoe, Gloria Chao, and Amy Wibowo, for MIT Career and Professional Development office.

I am also actively participating in Student Events Board and we are in the midst of planning Comedy Night and SpringFest. I’m really nervous since I was just appointed as the main point person/lead for planning SpringFest which is arguably one of the biggest event, if not the biggest event, of the year so I really hope I don’t screw it up.

Aside from these things, I’m having a blast experiencing NYC. So far I have:

  • gone shopping in Times Square
  • watched The Book of Mormon on Broadway
  • gotten lost in the subway
  • shopped in the Oculus
  • walked around the World Trade Center(s)
  • ate kbbq with a bunch of MIT trader and software engineering interns (PEAK mit experience if you ask me)
  • eaten at SO many tasty places (i tried escargot for the first time and ray had filipino food for the second time!!)

I hope I can try more food places and maybe take a look at some museums in the near future. You can watch my first day of NYC life here:

Overall, I am really falling in love with the city. Granted, I am getting a very glamorized idea of it since I am living in the Financial District, but Raymond and I have ranked it as a solid #2 for our choice of city post-graduation. So far on the list we have it as:

  1. Chicago, IL
  2. New York City, NY
  3. San Francisco, CA
  4. Seattle, WA
  5. Boston, MA

Super glad I was able to come out and experience the city.