vibe check by Ankita D. '23

I moved to Cambridge for the summer!! I’m living near Central Square, so I’m about a 10-minute walk from campus. I’m staying in two adjacent apartments with 11 other⁠01 9 out of the 11 other freshmen, one junior, and one senior Bombers,⁠02 my living community so things are pretty great. We all have remote UROPs/jobs for the summer and it’s nice to be in a space where we can work during the day and hang out at night.

The experience living here is almost the same as that of living on our floor of Burton-Conner. The other apartment is only ~20 steps away and always accessible, so I can hang out with anyone at any time. I realized how much I took this for granted once I left MIT, so it’s wonderful to be back in this kind of environment. I’m really enjoying the agency that living here has brought; living with my family was great, but I enjoy cooking for myself and working on my own terms. Also, being able to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender with my friends every night, to work in the park near my apartment, and to go on long bike rides around Cambridge/Boston is absolutely incredible. Just having the ability to be present in the city I love alongside the people I care about is more than I could possibly ask for.

The spontaneity of living with everyone has been preserved as well; we randomly decided to celebrate someone finishing their freshman year by running around barefoot in the pouring rain during a thunderstorm. It was liberating and reminiscent of all the crazy times I had while living at my dorm. I also am done with school—I finished my only final yesterday, so I am officially done with my first year at MIT :’)

Obviously, Cambridge is still kind of dead, so I don’t feel like I’m living in some alternate reality where the pandemic hasn’t wreaked utter havoc on the world. Everyone is mandated to wear masks while outside, so leaving the apartment really makes me feel like I’m in the midst of an apocalypse, as opposed to how chill leaving my house back in New Hampshire was. But even though we’re all still being cautious and practicing social-distancing, it is nice to see people around. On a bike ride, I saw (comparatively) quite a few people hanging out in the parks by the Charles River, which was nice.

The weather has been really nice ever since the thunderstorm a few days ago, so I feel like I’m in a great mood all day. I’m so happy! I am excited about my UROPs this summer and all the time I get to spend with my friends! 2020 has been a shitshow but I am VIBING!!!

Aaand there’s my life update. If you still have school/finals, good luck; otherwise, I hope you’re enjoying your summer!!