kindness friday live blog! by Taylor L. '29

This semester, I signed up to become an EMT with MIT EMS, our campus EMS service. Every Saturday for the past three months or so, I and eleven other students have Ubered over to the other side of Cambridge for our weekly 9-5, eight hour EMT extravaganza. (not to mention the weekly 4-hour Zoom lectures on Tuesday nights). 

It’s coming to a close now. We have a final exam for the class split between the next two weekends, then the Massachusetts state exam the weekend after that, and then the final written NREMT exam at some point before the semester ends. Once we get certified, we’ll be able to volunteer with MIT EMS. (We have an ambulance!! Her name is Jolene. It’s free for students to call and get care). 

On the first day of class, our instructor gave us the assignment to take the vital signs of 25 people so that we’ll be prepared to do it in the field.

I will be fully transparent that I have done a grand total of 0, but it’s due at 9am tomorrow, right before the first half of our final exam. My excuse is that I was handicapped a little bit because I wasn’t given my vitals-measuring instrument kit until a few weeks into class. 

So, I have to take the heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate, lung auscultations, and pupil response of 25 people in the next 24 hours. 

5:30 – Woke up. I have a vibrating alarm clock because I used to have a terrible sleep schedule and was completely immune to my alarm. However, I traveled to Kazakhstan, which is ten hours ahead, during IAP through MISTI, our study abroad program. I was so jetlagged when I got back that I slept for 21 hours in one day. I guess it fixed my circadian rhythm, and I’ve been a morning person ever since. 

The view from my dorm room this morning! The leaves are growing back on the trees around campus and it’s really pretty

5:45 – Heading to the boathouse! I joined the club rowing team this semester, but I have zero rowing experience, so they’re teaching us from scratch. Today was my second day out on the water. We rowed up the Charles to Kendall Square. It was a little rough technique-wise, and it started drizzling,  but its been super fun to learn so far. 

7:45 – Coming back to the dorm and going downstairs to pick up my laundry from the dryer. I left it in overnight, so my clothes are pretty wrinkled, but at least they’re dry. I’m on the sixth floor, and the washing machines are in the basement, so laundry day is evil. 

8:30 – Pulled up the Dunkin in the student center, which is a lot busier than normal, probably because of CPW. I’m usually more of an energy drink girl, but a nice iced cold brew is really calling to me right now.

8:55 – Honestly upset because the line was so long that I had to abandon my cold brew, or else I would be late to class. Heading to my Organic Chemistry lecture. We’re learning about carbonyls now. 

10:05 – I’m at my laboratory in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences building. I usually do lab work three days a week, but I honestly didn’t come in any earlier this week because I had an evil sequence of three exams. We’re having a meeting about what experiments we’re going to run in the coming weeks. I’ve been tasked with putting mice in a mosh pit. 

10:25 – First set of vitals taken! I got my lab mate, who is also the RPM (resident peer mentor) on my floor. It was honestly a little chopped but considering it’s my first, I’ll probably get better at it. Trusting the process here. Only 24 more!

10:40 – At the Z for push day!! Honestly not locked into these vitals at all, going to have to go on a generational run later. I do really like going to the Z midday because it’s not usually busy at all. Had to cut it a bit short because I didn’t budget my time well. 

12:00 – Concourse seminar time! Every week on Friday, from 12-2, the first year mate’s learning community Concourse has a lunch debate/discussion about some vaguely controversial topic. This week, the topic is what balance that science has to strike between defending absolute truth and ensuring social and political wellbeing. It’s open to CPW students as well. We’re not allowed to use phones during it, so I’ll update in two hours. 

At this point, you may have noticed the conspicuous lack of vital signs in my day. Honestly not sure when they’re going to be done but I’m trusting/hoping that they will. 

2:21 – I took five sets of vitals after the seminar (which was a pretty interesting discussion!), taking me up to a total of 6, but that made me 20 minutes late to my next class. It’s 8.02, which is Electricity and Magnetism, and we’re doing an in-class experiment today, so being late was totally not the move.

2:52 – Physics is over (thank God). Now I’m heading over to Starbucks in Kendall Square with a friend. It’s my Friday indulgence as a reward for making it through the week. This is my version of Kindness Friday. I always get a protein matcha. Pro tip, get it with no ice so that it’ll be really fluffy and you get more. 

3:19 – Got sidetracked and went back to the Concourse lounge, where I found two more victims for my vitals checks. One of them is another student in the class. I’m on 8 now!! And we’re still heading to Starbucks, so there’s a lot to look forward to.

3:48 – Starbucks run done! Heading back to the dorm for a CPW event to make slime 😛😛😛

4:19 – Ended up going back to my room, where I talked to my roommates and the prefrosh we’re hosting. She also wants to be a Course 9, which I’m super pumped about. Also got two more vitals, from one of my roommates and one of my neighbors! We at 10, we up.

4:35 – I’ve been bumming around in my room for a few minutes, and I discovered that the vitals log is actually due at 8am tomorrow instead of 9am, which doesn’t really change anything actually. The class officers (MIT students already in the EMS service who help us with the class) are holding office hours tonight as well, so I’ll be able to get their vitals there tonight at 9pm, meaning that I really only need 13 more. We also have our written final exam for the class tomorrow, and we have a 200-question multiple choice practice exam that I haven’t started, so I think it’s time to get cracking on that.

5:34 – Yeah, I didn’t even open the practice exam, but I did get in my daily Instagram time. Felt like a bum so I left to go actually work on the exam. Stopped at Concord first and bought like a little cup of overnight oats. I’ve scouted them in the past during my Concord runs and I’ve been wanting to try them, so I figured now was a good time. Now I’m sitting outside Hayden Library, and I’m doing the practice exam for real.

6:57 – 200 questions later, all done! Might need to put a little studying in tonight before the real thing tomorrow. As a side note, I’m teally enjoying the Boston weather during spring. I’ve just been sitting outside listening to happy summer music like Mac DeMarco and Malcolm Todd. It’s good for the soul. Now I’m heading to Cava with my roommate! I’m a Cava fiend, and it’s been too long since I’ve been. Meet the Bloggers happens in an hour on Stud 3!

Some parts of MIT are actually gorgeous. The architectural highs are high, and the lows are low.

8:09 – Meet the Bloggers is underway, and there’s already a ton of people who have volunteered to let me take their finals. I think we’re all good, folks!