The diagnostics are over, praise be, and now the REAL fun decides to grace us in the form of CLASSES. Today was the first day of Calc and Physics lecture, along with a lab safety training session. I did better than expected on the diagnostics, ending up in the highest section of Physics, the middle section of Chem, and the lowest section of Calc. Eh. So it goes. As we've all been trying to reassure ourselves over the past few days, it's better to be placed where one is comfortable than to grumble about not being placed higher. We all get homework, however, which is problem-sets, or P-sets, at MIT. P-sets come once a week, but they are exhaustive enough that they require at least the average amount of time you'd give to nightly homework. The best strategy is to crack down on them the first night they are given, diligently tooling away at them each night and asking a classmate or older student if one encounters a problem. Needless to say, that's quite ideal, and it rarely happens that way. I'll be the first to testify that procrastination does NOT go away in college; in fact, it seems to increase exponentially as the number of surrounding distractions subsequently rise. I'm doing my best to battle the Procrastination Monster, and hopefully he'll be kept away for at least this summer...
The most pressing exciting development on hand is the pre-UROP oppertunti
es available for Interphasers. MIT is really unique in that all students, even freshmen, can work on research projects side-by-side with some of the world's top scientists. It's a great way to make connections, explore new fields, and get raw lab experience. Anyway, even prefrosh are allowed to participate over the summer, so we were asked to submit our interests and field preferences so we could be placed in one. I listed environmental science and Mech E. as my top two, but we'll see where they had space. We'll find out our assignments by Monday, and we'll get to eat lunch with our PI's ("Primary Investigators," or "Research Big-Wig Bosses") on Wednesday. Some people didn't get a match for their fields, they said (it IS summer, and even researchers must have lives, too, I suppose...), so that's a little worrisome... We shall see.A note on Boston weather: it's wicked crazy. Yesterday dawned balmy and bright; by the time classes were over, a few harmless clouds had drifted over campus, and the wind had begun to shift a little. Half and hour later, ironically coinciding with our time to go to dinner, we were at the epicenter of a full-fledged tempest. I had reached the front door of the dorm before it began in earnest, when the trees were only whipping back and forth at a somewhat alarming rate. What's a little rain and wind? I reasoned, and embarked out on my way to the McCormick dining hall. Withing 30 feet, I was drenched, the wind had escalated to supersonic mode, and the rain was pounding in an impossibly perfect parallel path. So, overall, it was a nice sprint to McCormick, hurdling some downed branches and the glass from some shattered globe lights on the way. In conclusion, don't trust the weather in Boston any more than you should trust the drivers. That is, not at all.
But look out, Accident: according to our pals at the Weather Channel, you're in for it next. Enjoy!
In a week and a day is the Fourth of July. It'll be the first time in...12 years I haven't gone to the parade in Accident. That is a beast of a parade. I'm planning on the Boston Pops! and lots-o-fireworks up here, but nothing--I repeat NOTHING--beats that Accident parade. And the fireworks at the Wisp. Enough gunpowder to make Al Gore cry, but a thrilling show nonetheless. Enjoy the Fourth, and get some candy for me!
Take care and peace out, one and all!
And now for something completely different... an exclusive look at the not-so-elusive Procrastination Monster:
