Reg Day collisions by Laura N. '09

I had a really interesting Reg Day.

Okay, yeah, I know, that was over a week ago, and the last time I blogged was last year, but I never claimed to be any good at this updating thing, okay? (But for real, I have so many awesome entries planned, and I have to write them, because then I graduate and don’t get to be a rockstar blogger anymore. Ack!)

So. About my Reg Day.

The thing about Reg Day, is that you run into every single person you ever knew, I swear.

While walking around campus I passed a handful of old acquaintances, one of my problem solving partners from 8.02 (electricity and magnetism), a couple of people from the best 2.009 team ever (Go Yellow!), and every single one of my ex-boyfriends that happens to be on MIT’s campus. Which is only 2. But still. 100%! Also I just wanted to through that in there to prove that MIT students do in fact date, because seriously, people somehow think that because no one except Mollie (who is now actually married to Adam) feels the need to be all “Sooooo, I’d just like the thousands of prefrosh who read this to know about the really cute thing my boyfriend/girlfriend did for Valentine’s Day!” that means that we’re all huge nerds who have no social lives and never get involved in romantic relationships. Well, we are huge nerds, but we do have social lives and relationships. It’s just that Valentine’s Day serenades are more likely to go a little something like this:

(A friend sent me that and I had to share. Tensor! Ha! Get it? Don’t worry if you don’t, a lot of it was way over my head too. Apparently it’s a lot of topology. Who understands topology? Not me, I practically went certifiably insane taking 18.02 and 18.03 at the same time.)

Um, so I was talking about Reg Day.

The thing is, it was my 8th and final Reg Day at MIT, and despite how eventful it was….everything was sort of…boring.

I woke up early and went downstairs to get some breakfast. (Wait, downstairs? Check it out: after all this time, I finally decided to move to Conner 4 but hadn’t moved my food yet. 3 years later, and my kitchen has traded places. How ironic.) I went to the MISTI building for a wrap-up meeting from my IAP adventures in Italy (which I still haven’t told you about, man I’m bad at this!) and chatted with Serenella, the MIT-Italy coordinator for awhile. I wanted to poke my head into Alicia’s office (she’s the director of MIT-Spain) but she was in a meeting.

On my way to my advisor’s office I waved to a couple more friends and grabbed a Concentration Completion Form, which I knew would be due in a few days. I got my forms signed, chatted with the student volunteer who stamped my white and pink copies of the carbon paper, and took the LSC schedule they’re always handing out on Reg Day.

I met up with Adelaide and Mason and we grabbed some coffee (or hot chocolate, in my case) and ran into another one of my 2.009 teammates in Lobby 7. We sat in the corner of the lobby, enjoying our drinks and chatting about the upcoming semester.

Then I headed off to another meeting I had scheduled, waving an awkward hello to the first of the ex-boyfriends as we passed in the Infinite.

I just went through the whole day, greeting the many people I’ve come to know and working through the system of the school I’ve gone to for three and a half years. And the thing is, I’m over it. I’ve got it figured out. That’s not to say that I would ever consider the stuff I’ve learned here to be easy, but if I look at MIT as a whole, it’s completely solved. I know where everything is, I know lots of professors and even a couple of administrators, I’ve been involved in what must be a couple dozen student groups at various points, I know how to reserve space on campus for events, I know how to apply for funding from a half dozen different departments, I know the best place to eat lunch on campus, I know which forms need to be turned in to which offices by which deadlines, I know all the best shortcuts and how to use the tunnels when the weather isn’t any good, I know my way around the office where I work and as a result I probably can actually fix your computer, I know some pretty nifty ninja commands on Athena…

I’ve just…cracked it. I’ve got it figured out. It’s not that there isn’t anything left here for me to learn (because seriously guys, it’s still MIT you know) but I’m satisfied and comfortable in my understanding of the inner workings of the Institute. It’s not a challenge anymore.

So that’s how I know I’m ready to move on.

I’ll enjoy one last semester. I’ll finish out my requirements taking a few interesting classes and writing a thesis. I’ll keep working at my campus job, and go to study breaks on my new floor. I’ll enjoy the company of all the many people I’ve already met and became friends with. But I won’t be that person frantically waving her arms in the air, volunteering to take that story for The Tech, or to be Rush chair for the second time in a row, or to organize a 150 person CPR class. I’ll sit back and let the underclassmen have their turn working it out. Because I’m busy getting ready for the next step.

You know, whatever that is.