Presenting…My Prefrosh! by Hamsika C. '13

Howdy fellow prefrosh, future MIT applicants, and MIT students!! I’m Abir, a prefrosh, and I was fortunate enough to have the BEST host ever, our very own blogger Hamsika :) Being the amazing person she is, Hamsika asked me to guest blog about CPW and I am going to try to give a glimpse into my CPW experience – boy, was it an experience!!

Being the eager beaver I am, I decided to book my flight to CPW EARLY in the morning; 6:25 to be exact. Nonetheless, lady luck was NOT on my side Thursday morning, and I arrived five minutes late for checking in my bag and thus missed my flight :( BUT I took it like a man, pulled out my macbook and played Sims 3 until the next flight at 8:45 a.m. Sims 3 or no Sims 3, sitting around at the airport can be a drag.. and having no one to talk to makes it worse! Thus, when I saw a slightly dazed and confused looking girl around my age walking around my departure gate, I introduced myself! Lo’ and behold, she was a prefrosh too! Amanda, if you’re reading this it was quite nice to meet you!!! Add me on facebook ;) I also met Ameesh, a high school friend, and David, a fellow Dallas admit, at the airport! Minor shout out to both of you :D (kind of wish I could tag people.. argh!)

After finally getting on my flight two and a half hours later than expected, I sighed with relief and took a LONG nap on my flight from DFW to Boston Logan. My arrival at Logan was welcomed with a myriad of texts from my LOVELY and LOVED MITES friends who were already at MIT. I had the awesome opportunity to spend 6 weeks at MIT last summer, and returning to campus was like returning home from a long long absence. Basically, I WAS PSYCHED to be back!! Despite the gloomy weather, seeing campus again was amazing! From chilling in Simmons, where I remember pulling all nighters trying to do Biochem Psets, to eating the Grill’s pizza, notorious for it’s abundant supply of grease, memories definitely washed over me all around campus.

Campus from Nu Delta roof top :)

Thursday was what I like to call a “CHILL” day :) I settled down in Hamsika’s dorm (where I met her wonderful roomies Manu and Jeanne!) and headed to Downtown Crossing with Hamsika and my MITES bud Tiffany. Coming from Dallas, a city filled with cars and void of pedestrians, Boston strikes me as a city with a quick pulse. I’m used to the relaxed and sometimes languid feel of Texas, and spending time in Boston is an exciting setting change. Wherever I looked there was an immense diversity of people, some of whom were quite… for lack of a better term… sketch looking :S Taking the underground transit system is always an experience… we witnessed a shouting match and an extremely packed subway wagon leaving me feeling… quite urban and hip ;)

On our way to the subway station we got to see this hack! Only at MIT do people hang lounges upside down.. notice how the light is on!!!

I got to meet Tim!!! YAY! Super exciting :)

Thursday evening I attended the minority dinner and got to meet a bunch of interesting new people! The food was good, but the company was definitely better. The dance exhibits were really entertaining, and as a minority I felt quite welcomed to MIT! Following the minority dinner I headed over to the CPW Welcome where Hamsika <3 made a little speech! I’m going to be honest with you all.. I bragged about her IMMENSELY!! I made sure that everyone in my vicinity knew that she was MY host :) After the CPW Welcome there was an awesome festival in the Johnson Athletics Center; I got to meet some really interesting and creative people. Everyone was extremely friendly and happy to see us prefrosh creating an awesome and fun filled atmosphere.

Tiffany & I with the MIT Shakespeare Ensemble Group

Friday was quite a gloomy day.. the rain wouldn’t let up but we still managed to have a lot of fun!! I toured the Brain and Cognative Sciences labs with my friends Robert and Grace and was amazed at all the opportunities and the amount of research that MIT conducts. I will confess, I did get a little emotional from time to time; it’s an incredible blessing to be surrounded by people who are working to better this world. Everyone I met on campus was extremely passionate about their goals, and were equally as passionate to tell you about them. I couldn’t help but think that I was surrounded by the people who would cure diseases, create marvels, and better the world in every way possible. MIT brings together people who care, and to be surrounded by them definitely had an impact on me.

For dinner MIT’s Muslim Student Association took some of us muslim prefrosh out for dinner/breakfast (our eating schedules were thoroughly messed up at this point). We had a great time eating and talking… but I never managed to finish my french toast :(

YUM YUM!

Friday night I headed out with my friends to the South Asian Culture Show which was a blast!! Got to see some awesome traditional dancing :) It’s really incredible to see the diversity in student activities available at MIT

I attended the Meet the Bloggers event where I got to meet both Matt and Quinton!! Very exciting :) Quinton is officially one of my favorite people in the world.. he’s just TOO funny! I distinctly remember him posing GQ looking with one of my rings.. but for the sake of his dignity I won’t be posting the hilarious pictures (pssst..! check out my CPW album on facebook…)

Saturday rolled around and I still hadn’t explored Boston!!! Some friends and I decided to head to town for some tie dye and food! We first visited TEP, a frat, and made some tie dye shirts :) verrry fun! Also had some ‘spice cream’.. the MOST sketch tasting ice cream i’ve ever had!! We spent the next day roaming the city and I honestly had no clue where we were going.. but somehow my friends got us home at 2 p.m. issssh safe and sound ;)

The cutest hack ever :D So excited I got to see it!!!!!

Overall CPW was AMAZING! Hectic, fun, and interesting are words that attempt, yet sadly fail, to truly describe the event. I meet some awe inspiring people, and had a weekend full of fun!! If MIT wasn’t a strong contender (for some strange reason..) after CPW it should be :)

Lots of Love,
Abir :)