The Places You’ll Go by Cristen C. '10

I went to 9-to-5 life in downtown Manhattan. Some of you might have wondered where the rest of us were during IAP, if not building snowmen, solving brain-busting puzzles, and taking classes on the other side of the world.

One other thing many people do during IAP is get an internship. So while everyone else was frolicking in the snow or relaxing at home, I was waking up at 7:30am on weekdays (this is hard for a college student. really!) and busting my butt off at my JOB.

I chose to get an internship in New York City partly so I could live at home. But more importantly, I found the project interesting and meaningful. As an Intern in the Green Communities program, I gathered data from several building owners around the city for analysis so recommendations could be made for energy-efficient retrofits in low-income housing. I made a few site visits along the way.

I visited the quaint historical residence that is now AMS Headquarters. Last month, the Weather & Climate Club and the MIT Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate sponsored a free trip the day after classes ended to anyone who was interested. The American Meteorological Society’s Headquarters happen to be right here in Boston!

(This is not a very widely-known fact about me, but I used to want to study hurricanes. This comes from staring at The Weather Channel for hours on end as a child, and having a deep fascination with weather and climate in general, especially natural disasters. When I applied to MIT, I said I wanted to be Course 12 (Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences). Freshman year, I declared Course 12. Then somewhere along the line I decided to do Architecture instead. They’re both small great programs. Anyway, I decided to visit AMS sort of as a way to see “what could have been.” There was even free dinner!)

It was a rainy and cold afternoon but the feeling of liberation from classwork kept the atmosphere (heh) light. We met under the Green Building (where Course 12 is located) and took the T to Park Street then walked through Boston Common.

So I guess I haven’t seen many Headquarters in general, but I was expecting something office-building-like. Instead I walked into someone’s holiday-decorated home…

It’s unmistakeably weather-oriented, no?

On our tour of the house, we learned a lot about the history behind the house (built for and lived in by some wealthy politically-important Boston man) and the features and architecture of the house. Now, this wasn’t what I expected, because I thought I’d learn about the AMS or something, but here I am seeing architecture! Just goes to show architecture is everywhere.. o.O Here are more photos:

I witnessed Ancient Rome, as interpreted several times over. Last night, I saw Dramashop’s IAP production, this year Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar! Overall good. (I admittedly went to see my best friend in the show, I actually have zero appreciation for Shakespeare. Iambic pentameter does not please my ears.) The following pictures were taken from last week’s The Tech.

Sorry I haven’t been around to post lately.. =)
Where will you go?