REXit by Alex M. '21

Today is August 31st, the final day of REX, but I’m writing this from the comforts of home in Seattle, more than three thousand miles away from MIT. I’m slowly getting ready to go back to the firehose; I’ll be on a plane in less than 48 hours heading back into the land of problem sets and early morning rowing practices. I’m excited to see my friends and my teammates who are also my friends, I’m excited for my classes, I’m excited to finally move in. I’m especially excited to be a blogger for the first time!

While most of my friends have been back in Boston for at least a week meeting and greeting freshmen, holding REX events in B entry, convincing new students to join the crew team, leading FPOPs and orientation groups, I have been in Seattle, at home, while the rest of my family has been away visiting relatives.

This is the first year I haven’t been on campus at all during REX,⁠01 a weird, liminal experience and here’s what I’ve been up to instead:

• I became a blogger! Officially!!!⁠02 !!!
• Made curry twice⁠03 once with friends (red curry) and once on my own (yellow curry that became ginger curry due to......shameful mistakes)
• Video called my family for my mom’s birthday⁠04 weird that <em>they</em> were away (visiting relatives) while <em>I</em> was home finishing up my internship. how the tables have turned.
• Went to a free outdoor concert where I hadn’t heard of any of the artists, but ended up really enjoying it⁠05 shoutout to KEXP Seattle. yes this is my dad’s favorite radio station
• Sampled five⁠06 (5) different flavors of macaron at a dessert shop in Seattle⁠07 the best one was POG (passionfruit orange guava). i had to look up what POG stood for. POG is also a delicious juice. a delicious passionfruit orange guava juice. i thought the G was for Grapefruit and the P was for peach. apparently i have no taste.
• Hiked to two⁠08 (2) alpine lakes with two⁠09 (2) friends
• Ate large and delicious burgers with the same friends after the hike
• Went to a housewarming where everyone else was a college graduate and felt so adult but also so young⁠10 they were like… “let’s go to a bar after!” and I was like.....“i’m 20!” and then i went home
• Finished out the last 1.5 weeks of my internship⁠11 So Long, Big Tech, And Thanks For All The Free Coffee
• Watched an embarrassing number of sitcom episodes
• Played an embarrassing amount of video games while watching said sitcoms
• Tried to coordinate freshman room selection in Macgregor without being physically present⁠12 RIP to the other room assignment chairs. thanks guys. RIP to me also for even being a room assignment chair.
• Got assigned a course 16 advisor⁠13 i had no advisor between early march and now
• Improved my relationship with my cats⁠14 they forget who i am whenever i leave, or maybe they just don’t like that i don’t smell like them when i come back, but anyway since i left for college they are not my biggest fans. but now i’m the one who feeds them, so now they’re all “oh, hello, i love you, extra food please”
• Tried to plan out how I am going to unpack, go to 4 different meetings, buy groceries, figure out my bike repair situation, decide what classes I’m taking, get school supplies, and get a Harvard library card while jet lagged in the less than 48 hours between my plane landing in Boston and my first class Wednesday morning ⁠15 a definite downside of missing REX. I was supposed to go to a 5th meeting, but it conflicts with one of the other 4.
• Wrote this post⁠16 or most of it, anyway.

UPDATE: I am now writing from my dorm room.⁠17 mostly unpacked. and now with a river view! Today is September 4th. Yesterday was registration day, and classes began today. I made it back to MIT. I made it to all 4 meetings.⁠18 I mean, I still didn't make it to the 5th. I bought groceries. My bike now has a glorious new chain. I got half a Harvard library card.⁠19 like, I got approved by the Harvard library privileges office. but I still need to go back to get the card made in the card machine. I registered for classes. I unpacked.⁠20 mostly I finished this post.⁠21 mostly Classes began today. I am tired, but I am ready. Classes began today.