E-Mail at MIT

At MIT, time is precious. Each class has a certain number of "credits" assigned to it, with the typical number of credits to a class being 12. Most people take about four classes, but then.... there's e-mail! Before college, I got a few e-mails here and there from friends and family and a lot of college spam.

Now, checking and responding to my e-mails requires the amount of time of a 12 credit class! I get e-mails from my sorority, classes, clubs and activities, job, class officers, etc. Probably my biggest flux (18.02A vocab!) of messages comes from being a member of the UA Student Committee for Educational Policy (aka SCEP). I joined the committee to become more involved and because I like all the things they do for the student body. Once on it, I was delegated the role of managing all of the student-faculty dinners.

What is a student-faculty dinner? Well, it's a dinner (or lunch!) between a professor and 3-6 students that the UA pays for! Over IAP, I went out to lunch with my 18.02A (multivariable calc) professor, John Bush. I didn't know too much about him before the lunch, but I'm so glad I got to know him better! The night before our dinner, Professor Bush had made this extreme scientific advancement- he somehow related quantum mechanics to fluid mechanics. We're talkin' Noble Prize worthy research. I was shocked. He was having lunch with me and my fellow freshmen friends? What a cool guy! I was very impressed by how down to earth and friendly he was given his academic status. We even all posed for a picture after the lunch :

After the lunch with Professor Bush, I joined SCEP. Everyday now I respond to dozens of e-mails from students who want to go on student-faculty dinners who have questions about the process of registering, reimbursement, or changing locations. It's a time-consuming task, but knowing that I'm helping fellow MIT students to get to know extraordinary faculty makes it all worth it.

The Intern Chronicles: Day 1!

So today was my first day in the office as an intern. I'm working at Amtrak in the Engineering Department, and it was such an awesome experience to be in the real work world!

As I walked into 30th Street Station, I got a little nostalgic watching the trains leaving for Boston. I felt like I should be getting on one of them to go back home (I mean to college!).

Today was a little slower than normal because I haven't received my computer yet. So I was able to meet everybody in the office, and they were all so nice to me! (Did I mention that I have a whole cubicle all to myself?! It's pretty much the size of my dorm room. Yes, my room was small, but yes my cubicle is big!) I learned more about what I will be doing this summer.

When I mentioned my interest in high speed rail, the man in the office next to my cubicle gave me packets of literature on new high speed rail. He even said I can go to the meetings with him! Did you know that 40 years from now, I will be able to travel from Philadelphia to Boston in under three hours? Hopefully I'll be done with my degree at MIT by then :).

I'm really glad that I did F/ASIP (a seminar at MIT called the Freshman/Alumni Summer Internship Program) or probably would not have found such an interesting job in a field I love.

Ironically, I'm ending my day watching "The New Adventures of Old Christine." Wanda Sykes is on the show, which is cool because she's from my hometown :).

It's 8:30 and I'm exhausted! Goodnight, blogosphere!

Goodbye Cambridge, Hello Home!

My freshman year at MIT is OVER. As I was saying goodbye to my friends I realized how much my life has changed in just 9 months. I've certainly had troubles, like getting hit by a car, but I have met some of the greatest people, and I now have a true passion for engineering. It feels pretty awesome!


I've yet to unpack, and I'm sure that will be a bit of a chore. In the meanwhile, I'm enjoying being home in the suburbs of a small town in Pennsylvania. It's a welcomed change of pace to be served meals and to see a forest outside my house! Tonight I even had three of my close high school friends over. At around 10 we got hungry and decided to go out for ice cream... It's a Saturday night, but that didn't stop the first three places we went to from being closed. I should probably get back onto a normal person sleep schedule...


Actually, it's pretty crucial I get on a normal schedule because I begin my full time internship on Monday. I'll be working 8-4 everyday at Amtrak in the engineering department. I had to go buy professional clothes today - a huge change from my lifeguarding uniform I wore all last summer!


As for the rest of my summer, my third cousin from Poland is coming to spend two weeks with me in June/July. We've been pen pals since we were six, and I visited her last summer, so I am looking forward to showing her the States! After that, I'm spending three weeks learning Polish language in Krakow, Poland courtesy of MIT and their generous scholarship. 


To say I'm excited for this summer is an understatement. I just wish I had a little more time to unpack. Oh well, that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.