MIT CPW 2006
[56k WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY]
Now that spring break is here, I get to update a comprehensive account of what happened during my stay in Boston during MIT's CPW (campus preview weekend) which was held April 6-9. It is long (very long), b/c this entry is more for my memory, kinda like a Pensieve from Harry Potter.
So I got to miss school starting on Thursday and instead hop on a plane and fly to Boston. Who wouldn't? It was a no brainer. So w/ the other guy who was admitted to MIT from my school (say hello to Charlie, right below this text) we took a midwest flight there and back. Only having taken Northwest airlines in the US, i had no idea midwest had such comfy seats. sooooo good. If there was one thing bad about them, they made us pay for lunch, but considering the state of US airlines, it's completely understandable. They did give us two freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies, however, which made up any misdoings.
^ say hi to charlie (short hand: CZ). a few of you (LCCers and former KCCers) know him, i'm sure.
There were 5 MIT admits going to CPW in this flight, which was awesome.
^ Boston from above. The flight took little less than 2 hours.
from the airport to MIT: shuttle bus (it says "MIT preview weekend airport shuttle" on the window)
^ I stayed at a frat house, and this is their lounge. I had a very basic understanding of what a fraternity was all about, but after staying with these guys for 4 days I got a better understanding. About 40% of MIT's student body is pledged to a frat or a sorority. Very nice (and amazingly smart) ppl.
Ohhhhhh. the infamous Caltech Cannon prank.
The story (excerpt from a convo w/ hannah:)
well, CIT has this cannon they prized and it's been subject to a lot of prank (abuse, almost).
b/c CIT did their own prank on MIT last year (they gave out shirts to MIT CPW pre-frosh that said "MIT" on the front and "because not everyone can go to caltech" on the back), MIT wanted to revenge. Pretending to be a moving company (aptly called "Howe & Ser") about a dozen student from MIT went to Caltech and took the cannon cross country to MIT. It was put in the middle of MIT for all to see on April 6th, the day CPW prefrosh arrived there. Because it was so *fresh* my host didn't even know it happened until a friend told him while we were walking through the campus.
How cool is it that the students there did this all for the first day of CPW?
more info & pics:
http://www.mitcannon.com
http://www.caltechvsmit.com/
First night: Official CPW opening. All of MIT admits crowded in the gym to be welcomed, etc, by many many people. It was quite overwhelming to think that the majority of people here would be my classmates for the next 4 years.
oooh. another good story. Idk why, but I've always had these...."recurring people" kind of themes in my life, especially so because I moved around SO much. For example, I lived in Purdue until I was in 1st grade (then to Korea). But when I came back in 6th grade, seeing all these 1st grade classmates and church-friends being older, and talking about what happened to my then close friends made me feel like I was filling in a gap in my life. The entire experience was sort of a deja-vu at a social level. Of course, that was only the beginning and waaay more happened
(e.g. attending a church where Ann and Judy were brought up (KCM) when I first "knew" them @ Purdue, hosting a childhood purdue friend (tae-lim) at our house for a couple of months, having a childhood Purdue friend (yoon-chul) move back to Purdue for a year after I moved back, having a swimming teammate from Korea (jin-soo) come to Purdue (purdue really does attract all of the koreans, don't they) and go to my school... ALL of which happened by chance)
Well, another happened while I was @ MIT. I saw Brian there! (In the pic, in the middle w/ the tux) He was in 8th grade when I was in 7th when I was at Purdue. He's a very very smart guy and attended Phillips Exeter Academy for HS. Haven't talked to him since, seen him since, etc, but I saw him @ CPW. how amazing is that. I wonder how many more of these meetings I'll have. Very cool though.
Ah, I was wondering when I'd get to see a DDR match while @ MIT: the first night, of course. This was during the CPW Festival right after opening. This was sponsored by the taiwanese club, i think.
^Can you feel the festivity (tonight)?
MIT breakdancers
O yes, the liquid nitrogen icecream (my stomach hurt then, so i didn't try any of it)
Make your own T-shirt! One of the most popular things to do. It is hands on stuff; what did you expect?
(aside: there were SO MANY FREE THINGS THERE. There were so many things I brought back home than I took there. I was sooo happy.
)
Next day: keynote lecture by none other than Eric S. Lander, one of the people who led the Human Genome project. The lecture was nothing short of fabulous. He said one of the cool things about being a (top) researcher and a professor at the same time is that he can tell the students in his class things that aren't in the textbook, correct some wrong ideas presented in books, and even predict what will be on future textbooks. How cool is that?
Activities fair: freebies galore
I attended a seminar to see how a MIT seminar would be like. Before the seminar, there was free food, for which MIT is very well known. They had sushi for free
I had no idea how much free food MIT gave out to everyone there or even the quality of it, but this really topped all other free-foods i've ever seen.
The lecture was about carbon nanotubes, of which I know a little bit (i researched the topic as a possible sci fair project) but after the 2nd slide, i was lost.
MIT Residential Life Panel. The ceiling of the hall was cutely decorated with.... colored condoms
-_-
apparently a prank by MIT students for the CPW prefrosh.
CZ enjoying his sushi. the food wasn't that bad all @ MIT.
Back to the dorm: A beautiful setup by my host's room-mate.
12" Apple laptop connected to a ~20" screen w/ awesome sound system. He is double majoring in Computer Science and Philosophy.
The most recognized buildilng @ MIT.
The student center
The amazing semi-underground auditorium. The roof is a perfect 1/8 of a sphere, touching the ground at 3 points.
As you can see by now, the weather wasn't too keen during CPW 2006.
The new (well, a few years old) Simmons Hall, a dorm. Looks sooooo cool. Too bad they got busted (for something during a party few years back) and is under heavy scrutiny, so it can't hold medium/large parties. bummer, no?
CZ knew his way around boston, so he gave me (and a few others) a tour around the city. The 1st pic is inside the Quincy Market.
So much to see, so much to do! If there's a fact to make the guys here jealous, it's Insun's claim that if you only look at Koreans in Boston, the girl to guy ratio is 4:1.
I loved how you can immediately see how deeply rooted Boston is with its past and with America's past. The pic: Faneuil Hall and a lot of tourists
Quick glance at Harvard Square
ahhhh how can we miss the MIT marching band
With ~900 people in each class I thought the marching band would be bigger than....10 people.
The football team is aptly called "the engineers"
O yes, i met KIRUPA. If you're a flash developer and needed help getting started, you'd know this guy (originator of the awesome kirupa.com). I was so amazed I got to see him. I was in a dorm tour when I saw his logo on one of the door's and I knocked on it to find KIRUPA! Even a guy fresh (almost) from Vietnam knew him -- he's the one on the bottom. I totally forgot Kirupa went to MIT, and meeting this guy made the day.
Dorm tour of Simmons Hall: they even have a meditation room
Great cafeteria. well...quite minimalist
A section of the workout room. You can look at the main field while working out.
For the Closing, the Deam of admissions had all the Bloggers come out. I am forever indebted to them for all the guidance they gave me for the admissions game.
For the closing, all the a capella groups @ MIT came and gave performances to the prefrosh.
Here, The Chorallaries' rendition of Alicia Key's If Ain't Got You. They were sooooo good.
Roof deck party! Downtown Boston is seen at the background. I went to SO many parties there. (all of them frat-sponsored). Some were good, some were ok, but I went around w/ the frat ppl alot, so I didn't go to other "regular CPW events" which I wish I did a little bit more.
On a saturday, I went to parties until...2AM and when I came back to my room, I saw my host and his roommate on their desks minding their business, doing HW (p-sets) or take home tests. I asked them "so...what have you been up to this night?" Their answer: "we've been on our butts this whole time"
It was a SATURDAY NIGHT. Of course not everyone studies like THAT @ MIT, but I'm sure going to have to work on my study habits before I go there...
MIT's crew during their practice. I caught a glimpse of them while going over the Harvard Bridge (the bridge nearest to MIT that connected Cambridge to Boston, or MIT to my frat house)
Guess what the shirt says
k, that took way longer than I wanted it to (time to go to bed...). All in all, CPW was great fun. Meet many many prospective classmates, and made me fall in love w/ the campus and the city. Yay for next 4 years!
w00+
[edit] i knew something was amiss: i forgot to add that it was through God's grace that I got into this school. I am even more indebted to Him for his guidance. I will make the most of this great opportunity for God's glory.
[56k WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY]