Tuesday, September 25, 2007

The Institvte

I returned Saturday from my first-ever visit to MIT! After doing some laundry (ok, a lot), catching up on some blog reading, stalking some Facebook, catching up on work, answering some e-mail, and otherwise building suspense for this entry, I'm finally ready to recount my exciting experience in demonstrative detail. =) My story, like all good MIT stories, begins at night.

I arrived at BOS on Tuesday shortly after 10pm. At this point I had the option of getting to know Boston's public transportation system - taking multiple subway lines and walking a few blocks to the hotel and probably getting lost at least once in the process - or taking a taxi. For efficiency's sake (a valid reason to do just about anything) I had crammed my belongings (minus liquids, and minus flashing LEDs that look absolutely nothing like a bomb) into a carry-on bag and a backpack. This abundance of luggage, plus my utter lack of subway knowledge, encouraged me to take a taxi.

Arriving at the hotel, I met my dad and acquired mother (I don't like the word "step-mom"), quickly repacked, and started in on sleep. Despite my random, restless thoughts about the days ahead, I fell asleep quickly. This was possibly the result of the Navy forcing me to wake up at 0400 every morning and myself refusing to go to bed at a decent hour. =O

The next morning at 0830 we took a free shuttle van from the hotel to the MIT campus and stood for a moment on Massachusetts Ave, taking it all in.


Our first stop was the Admissions Reception Center in room 10-100, where we received a warm welcome and plenty of reading material. I called Paul, and he stopped by before class so we could finally meet in person. As it turns out, Paul is not a forty year old man from Wyoming. =)

We were the only people at the morning information session, which became pleasantly informal for this reason. I was already admitted, and I had already decided on MIT as my top choice, so there weren't many questions left to be answered. Most of our concerns centered around financial aid, and for those we were taken immediately to someone in the SFS office. During the information session was the first time I heard the words, "Oh, you're that Hawkins!" which took me by surprise. I'm a regular reader and commentator of the blogs on the admissions web site, but I had no idea how many people actually read those things!

Next on the schedule was the campus tour. We waited for our guide in lobby 7.


Ann, our amazing tour guide, took us all over the campus, walking backwards 95% of the time.


She spoke of people and places, of hacks and history, and she walked backwards. The parents were impressed and amused, and hopefully began to see some of the wonderful aspects of MIT that make it so much more than just a great engineering school. We didn't go to any of the dorms; they're all so unique that seeing one or two really doesn't give an accurate impression of the rest.

We had some time between the campus tour and the EECS tour, so we ate lunch at the Stata Center...


...and we went to a lecture! Yay, my first MIT lecture, 6.041 (Probabilistic Systems Analysis)! The professor was excited to have visitors; he approached us before he began, introduced himself, and invited us to talk with him after the lecture. It was the fifth lecture in the course, so I didn't follow every detail, but I wasn't totally lost either. (yay!) It made me believe that, given the other four lectures, I could probably hold my own in the course.

Next on the schedule was the EECS tour. I met Anne Hunter, the undergraduate administrator for the EECS department, and was surprised to learn that she too recognized my name from the blogs! We were taken on a tour of Course VI labs and classrooms, and we learned a bit about what it's like to be an EECS student. I didn't take any pictures because almost everywhere we went there were people working. =)

At this point we were finished with the schedule. It was time to visit the COOP! I purchased the requisite MIT hoodie and a t-shirt for my sister. My dad bought a t-shirt too, which he proudly wore to his meeting the next day (he was actually in Boston on a business trip, so we modified his plans to include a campus visit)! We could have spent much longer in the COOP, but Paul called and said he was meeting up with Ben Jones (widely known as the mastermind behind the MIT Admissions web site) in a few minutes if we would like to stop by. So we crashed Ben's meeting with the newly chosen bloggers and finally met him in person! Ben remembered me from the blogs, and even told me I was famous. What?!

It was getting close to dinner time, so we walked to Kendall Square for some food. We sat and talked about the day's events, and they walked back towards the hotel. I walked back towards Mass Ave., knowing that the day was nowhere near over. I met up with Paul again and we ate burritos at Anna's in the student center. He showed me his dorm, Simmons, and his fraternity's house (PKS).

On the way back toward campus, we saw the safe ride shuttle and ran to catch it. Someone asked how I knew Paul, and Paul said, "We met online." This met with a good laugh and was retold more than once during the rest of my stay. =)

Once we returned to Simmons, it was time for a PSET party! I tagged along, wanting to see how the process worked (I've never really done homework as a group before). It was pretty chaotic and very cool. I'm actually looking forward to that part of being an MIT student. I love collaborating with other people, and there are precious few groups of people with whom you can use engineering language and be understood.

At about 0300 we finally left the "party". Paul not only offered to let me stay in his room, he slept on the floor and left me the bed! I'm not used to people being this hospitable - I thought for a moment I was back in Tennessee. And so ended the first day of my visit, in true MIT fashion, in the middle of the night.

17 comments:

FreeLance said...

wow, Paul is a pretty cool guy !
wait a minute, does everyone at MIT read the admissions blogs ?? that's how snively became famous (and you apparently). does that mean that if Star and I are in (i hope so!!!) they wil already know our names ? lol scary !
mit students have blog stalking skills and they write profiles about us !!! (like in criminal minds)

Anonymous said...

Great post Hawk (and yeah, it was worth the wait). Sounds like the visit was lots of fun! (Sooo jealous of you here).

And I second what Isshak said; creepy blog stalkers (I'm not one of them, most definitely not...). But people probably won’t recognize me, because I don't use my real name (yeah, I have that in common with Kate’s mom), so I'll never know if I've reached the height of fame :(

Anyways, glad you had fun, and I can’t wait to hear about the rest of the trip! No pressure ;)

Greg said...

lucky....
I'm going to be telling my grandkids one day, " You all know that old guy you're studying about in 'The Modern History of Computer Technologies and Their Impact on the World' named Daniel Hawkins? We graduated high school together and up until the point at which he transcended the human race we were best friends."
Hey, at least right now I'm the guy people come to with their Chemistry questions. :) It's a start.

Paul said...

Awesome entry Hawk...and you haven't even gotten to the best part yet! ;) I look forward to the next installment. :)

Hawkins said...

haha! It's a staggering thought, that so many people know you before you've even met them.

Slowly but surely I'm writing the other two entries... I do have a full-time job, you know. =P I could probably write much faster if I wasn't such a perfectionist.

lol, Greg... You are my hero.

Paul said...

I like to think being an MIT student counts as a full-time job as well. :P

Anonymous said...

I wonder one they get my application they are gonna stalk me at all my blogs on the web.. Oh well, I do it too also in facebook...

The harvard t-shirt, I think is the funniest one at the coop.

Anonymous said...

AHH YOU WERE HERE!

I didn't get to meet you =(

I'm glad you enjoyed your visit!

And being an MIT student is taking a job full time and paying for it. That's all.

Hawkins said...

lol, yes I would agree that MIT is the equivalent of at least one full-time job. I don't know how you guys do it! But I'd much rather be paying money to do something I like (e.g., education) than earning money doing this. I'm paying four years of my life that I'll never get back! All a matter of perspective... =P

@Don - though it might be tempting, the admissions staff won't look you up on Facebook or Blogger to get a better idea of you as a person. That wouldn't really be fair. I will stalk you all, though. =)

JKim said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

yeah, yeah. GET TO THE PART WITH ME IN IT ALREADY, HAWKINS

Anonymous said...

ok, I double-posted and now it makes me look like I posted something creepy and then redacted it. but I double-posted. just so you know. erkk

FreeLance said...

oh you are in his trip ? this is gonna be crazy... post your article already !!! and don't use the i got a job card

Anonymous said...

Hey Hawkins! It's good to hear that Part I of your MIT visit went well...I'm looking forward to future installments!

-Kate (who is a wee bit tired after an AMAZING senior homecoming)

Anonymous said...

PS) Where are you on facebook? Today is my friending new people day! lol

Anonymous said...

sure man feel free to stalk.. I got a new blog so anyone else here can stalk me tooo :)

Hawkins said...

@Kate - here's a link to my profile:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1506360016

Sorry for the delays, everybody... I took this past weekend off from everything, including blogging. As a result, I now have even more to blog about! =P