never gonna let you down

Sleep is nice. Without it, my brain becomes a horrible boggy swamp through which only the most persistent of thoughts may crawl, gasping, to the muddy roiling shores of my consciousness. So naturally I try to get at least 6 hours of sleep a day. More is better. Wednesdays are my savior, because I get double first free then extra help and saunter into school at 9:30 or so instead of 7:50 like usual.

Today, thanks to the extraordinarily pleasant non-anally-violating goodness of a diffeq test that is worth approximately 30% of my semester grade, I decided to get plenty of extra sleep and came in at about 9:25 am, slightly ahead of time so that I could review section 3.6 once more before the big crunch. The hallways were deserted. Must be an alternate schedule. And then I remembered: THE MIT LOGS ARE PERFORMING THIS WEEK. I dropped my backpack, ran to the gym, and sat in the very back so as not to attract unwanted attention from cranky decaffeinated teachers eager to hand out detentions. Hm, bad idea. I could barely see the tops of their heads milling around in front of the stage. They were still introducing themselves ("W, mechanical engineering." "X, computer engineering." "Y, nuclear engineering!" [faint cheers from the audience] "Z, ROCKET SCIENCE!" [the crowd goes wild]) and I was sort of awkwardly sitting there way way in the very back corner of the gym, craning my neck over the taller Asians' heads while trying to pick out the face of Sham's stalkee as I'd promised.

And then they sang and it was beautiful. I'm not going to attempt to confine the pure auditory bliss to the feeble constructs of the English language. Except that we got rickrolled unexpectedly, and for once, it was pretty good.

When they moved on from eargasms to Q&A, Harker went straight to the point. The Logs didn't answer the question about their high school GPAs. Most of them did, however, raise their hands when some girl in the front asked if they were single. (Go for it, MIT12.) Then we all descended upon the stage in a fangirling blizzard of excitement and purchased their CDs. I exchanged like three lines of conversation with a probably half-asian Log, by which point I was still reeling from their intense aura of awesomeness but had also realized that no, I could not possibly do them all, not even for the sake of the MIT12 chat. Thus I leave this arduous task to you, fellow 12ers.

See you at CPW.

Okay, if a Log actually reads this, a lot of it is sarcasm, I'm not that creepy.

3 minutes and 3 seconds of your time

A short one from me today... something to distract you from 1. how disappointing your finaid is 2. counting down to CPW.

When I first saw this video, I couldn't think of a better place to talk about it. Granted, it probably isn't impressive to many of you, but don't forget I'm a bio kid. :) Anyway, now I really want to take apart my game boy starwars game, because it definitely has one of those motors that goes off when you crash into the walls or other pod racers... haha.

Countdown to...
"21" --2 days
CPW --15 days
graduation --66 days (whaaaat?!)

A Bigger Party

Now that all the RD people are starting to come, everything's gotten a lot more exciting. I finally got my financial aid package over the weekend and admitted student gatherings are just around the corner (anyone going to the NYC one?). And CPW isn't too far away either.

I think it's finally hit me that in a few months, I'm gonna be done with high school. Guys. We're going to college.

HI.

I haven't been here since this blog started. So what have I been doing? Absolutely nothing! No, I lie. I've still been doing my normal stuff.

But otherwise, congrats to you RDers. CPW is going to be a lot of fun. Um, I ran out of things for me to say. Suggest something so I can write about it.

Hmmm....

I don't really have anything to say. I'm really excited about CPW though. The Schedule looks great. Hope to see you all there!

I think I'll end it here.

Bye!

the attendance policy vs. the most fabulous weekend ever

“I am SO over you, high school!”

Even now, as I have been accepted to college and am in little danger of failing my classes, I can’t escape!!! Not even one day for CPW!? It doesn’t help that recently the CPW schedule became much more interesting, because now I get to see all the fun things I’m going to miss Thursday until 7:00 PM and Friday between the hours of 1:00 AM to 3:00 PM (and that three o’clock number is being optimistic, assuming that I will be pushing 75 on the highway and I get lucky with traffic lights):

Some of the Fun Things I Will Miss on Thursday/Friday
-Classes
-FOOD everywhere! And it’s free!
-Two separate ice cream parties!?!? No fair!
-EAsT camPUS tour (out of curiosity)
-A capella serenaded dinner
-Bubble wrap hallway (how random! …oh, hold on. haha!)
-Chopstick eating contest (I might get lucky on this one)
-“Spontaneous lectures” at odd hours in the morning
-Capture the Flag at 1AM
-Waffle Breakfast (!!!)
-Classes
-Graffiti!
-Several BBQ’s, my favorite food group
-Did I mention FREE FOOD? L
-Ultimate pick up game

Boo. The moral of the story is that I wish I didn’t live so close, so that “travel” would be a more legitimate excuse to miss school. So all of you who are fortunate enough to live in Far, Far Away: enjoy every fabulous second of CPW you get! Lucky kids.
“Hey, yeah I won’t be here on Friday cause I’m going somewhere. I need the day to travel.”
“Where are you going?”
“A thing for MIT admitted students.”
“Is it at MIT? Like, in Cambridge?”
“Maybe.”
“Isn’t that just 20 minutes down the highway?”
>>This is where I need to get creative.
“Well, actually you know how there’s a lot of engineers there? For a class project, they picked up the whole campus and moved it to Vancouver for the weekend. Isn’t engineering fabulous?”
“Wow! Yes! Okay we’ll count Friday as an excused absence!”
“SCORE!”

Random non-MIT picture today... my bad. Don't lie, this is why you all remember the name "Avogardro" no matter how long ago your last chem class was!
Leave it to Trader Joe's to sell something like this. Needless to say, it was delicious.

"The List"

Screen Names - Real Names/Facebook Links
In alphabetical order for your convenience!

(If you would like your SN/ Name/Facebook added leave a comment or IM Pochacco666999 (Najah) )
('11 doesn't necessarily mean they are in the class of '11 it just means they are already at MIT :P)

aditi14929 (gtalk) - Aditi
Alexskryabin – Kevin
alphawolf6969 – Steven
alroo12 - Ale
amandah27 - Amanda
ambryllien – Becky B
arabesquelolita - Vivi
ardnassak411
armorsmith42 - Andrew
attilitus - Tim
axiomadaescolha – Will part 2
aznfishonprozac
BaLLiNStaLKeR – Matt G
Bananafryer
beccavas16 - Becca
bookgirl102990 - Nan
calvinfourth - Calvin
cheddarcatcher - AJ
citricavalanche – Sam XY
conversacomigo - Stephcrazycanook42
creepygargoyle - Dhruv
d07riv
dazzlingdina234
dga ballllla
DnasTheGreat - David
Doyoulovekiwis - Kayla
Dreems of Winter - Raina
Eskimocherokee - Mike
ethuilas - Rutu
everythinginvsbl
foll0myfootsteps – Donald Guy
frednirv632 – Fred ‘11
Frozen Moosehead - Michelle
God of Electrons – Will, The Original
GyrotheDragon - Katie
hawkinsmit12 – Daniel (Hawkins)
i meant to win - Gina
ieatbabyduckies - Rachel
iobiojibkid - Shannon
jaungchiu - Jason
jbwldcr
jeanbrazil – Jean
jeniscool8d
JxDxCx8890
keys40k
kingoforigin - Alex (lex)
kissmeimagreek - Sappho
knightofni88
lakshmi2290
LaLaLoo6 – Lauren
lazytrackrunner
littleklutz247 - Karen
LittleUnit113 - Cameron
littleyanners - Yanran Chen
lslyv102 - Lesley
luciaprincess2
luv2ch33r08
miccapicca - Micca
minglu1234 - Ming
monsterkw - Cathy
Musicianistic - Yan
Mythili Iyer
N is for NEHA - Neha
njtitans16 – Ernie
Nohcnonk – Eli
Notspelledright – Chris (Chrixx)
oharder2breatheo - Meghan
OldCityRambler - Healy
omarramo12 – Omar (Moar)
omegacredarius – Chris Mills (Chris3)
Ordinarydaysx
Oscarsdumpster
ospreyoars227 - Chip
pagefiler
pamannmon - Pam
PhilotheaZS
Psykid90 – Chris, The Original
Pwafflesprinkles – Marie
Rainynightstarz – Yuzhi (Uz)
Risenage – Kevin
rms27025 - Di
rmv7213 - Robbie (Our Favorite FSU student)
rockernswimmer - Alina
S p e n s i n o
Sammyorbarry – Keshav (Barry)
Scottymorr – Scott ‘11
seeplusplusrules - Andy
shamzillaXD – Shamarah
skswimmin - Alli
SomeBoredSchizo - Stephen
sooxee
speaker td - Joy
sportsaholic989 – Alisha
Steve Biski
SuperSam372 – Sam XX (Sorry Sam!)
surfdude421 - Sean
TekkenGrl13 - Katie
THEJ1990 - Janice
ThePeanutGa11ery
Theyjuststared - Marty
timanthasan
tinashsu314 - Tina
twilights07 - Alex
uhhxgrr
ummmmuhhh64
unmasked14 - Justin
VgMAnGUs
Viridaelassa - Yoonjoo
vulcancountry5 - Matt
Westing Game 738
Windingminds – Karen ‘11
Winnietheluo - Winston
WuTheFWasThat - Jeff
Xchocolatthundax – Arthur (Arty)
Yonderrwindow
Zanyzambiazach - Zach

for the zillionth time

I already wrote on the MIT 2012 facbook wall, and said it in MIT12, so yet again,

“OMG CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” to everyone!

Now that this whole thing is over (a few months ago or 2 days ago), we can all take a deep breath and chillax. Like, until the end of senior year. Well, not so much that we get rescinded! :D But seriously, its been a great journey. I just thought of that Semisonic song… “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” We’re going to college guys!!! Woo!

Anyway, now that MIT12 is crazy busy, at least for the past two days, I figured I’d transfer some energy over here to the blog. Word on the street is I’m doing all my homework right now so that I can be on MIT12 tonight without having to worry about it. Yes, I'm that lame.

Sorry for the disjointedness and poor grammar… I’m sitting at home right now out of school with the flu’s annoying little brother, eating saltines and sprite with my calculus homework ominously staring me in the face… I’m a bit of a scatterbrain right now.

**Edit
Happy Evacuation (coughStPatrick's) day! Don’t go too wild… remember, it’s not the weekend anymore. :P
Happy St. Patty's day every year except 1940, 2008, and 2160!!
Thanks Snively...

Picture: from MIT's Technology Review
P.S. TR is amazing. Those of you who haven't poked around there yet, I highly suggest using it to be a s^3 (second semester senior) i.e. procrasinate. It's also just great reading in general. I read this article this morning on the most promising technologies of the year...very neat stuff.

Mile 26

Ok sorry guys this is long and serious (most of the time)...

1. Happy pi day! I hope your ratio of fun : crap was at least = pi!

2. Some thoughts on the college admissions process, MIT, and the meaning of life (no, really!):

Applying to college is like running a marathon. Your preparation starts months, in our case years, ahead for this one race. We’ve slaved through high school for three and half years, subjected ourselves to tests than run four, even five hours, spent sleepless nights on commonapp.org during deadline week. All for a couple of form letters that barely fill a standard sheet of paper. “But Alli, it’s not just the letter, ____ is my dream!” …or, “But Alli, finishing the Boston Marathon is my dream!”

Take a step back. Why are you applying to college? No, not because you want to go there. Why do you want to further your education? College only lasts four years, an hour in a week of life. What counts is what you do with your education. Many kids our age just don’t have the opportunity to go to college at all. We should leap at any higher education we can get, MIT or otherwise, because we have access to it and therefore it is our responsibility to put it to good use. I, for example, want to go to college to make a difference in the world. Is MIT going to make that difference for me? Had I been rejected, would I have abandoned my dream of changing the world? Absolutely not! Changing the world depends on whether I have the conviction to follow through with my dream, not if I spend a mere four years at a cool school.

Continuing with the analogy, why are you running the Boston Marathon? If I ever ran (ha ha), it would be to raise awareness and support for Habitat for Humanity, since I do a lot of work with my local branch. Now, if I go halfway and pass out, or at the very end some race official, for whatever reason, pulled my aside and told me not to finish the race, will I disown HfH and never volunteer there again? Um, no.

Turns out that all our preparation wasn’t actually for college applications (think of those as an added bonus), but for ourselves. We found dreams, inspiration, and motivation. We laid the foundation to do great things wherever we go. “Doesn’t that fit the spirit of MIT? I’d fit in perfectly!” But that isn’t the spirit of MIT, that’s the spirit of YOU!

So here we are, mile 26. We feel like we’ve been in this race forever. We know exactly where the finish line is and we are all capable of reaching it. If you finish, congrats! If a random dude pulls you over to the side two seconds before you break the ribbon, takes your chip and chucks it in the Charles River, thereby preventing you from finishing, you’ve got every right to be angry and slap the guy in the face. And either way, don’t lose sight of why you wanted to run in the first place.

Let me finish with quotes. I like quotes!
“Don’t let today’s disappointments cast a shadow on tomorrow’s dreams.”
-?
“Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.”
-JFK

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!

warning! science!

Hey hey. Bonjour from beautiful Essex County, MA. Our monstrous piles of snow have almost completely melted and our citizens are enjoying a sight they haven't seen in months: grass! Granted, it's all dead and nasty, but that's beside the point. Spring is in the air! Easter is in a week and a half! CVS is selling easter candy! CPW is in 28 days! All's good in the hood.

To help those waiting for... the D word, I found some strange/fun/random science. Which we all will enjoy because, duh, we applied to MIT.

>Some human test subjects checking out mentos, pop rocks, and coke. Have you ever heard the myth of the little boy exploding to death because he downed an entire pack of pop rocks and chased it with a two liter bottle of coke? No? It's okay, its probably just me. This was proven false, yet the playground-rumormachine was well underway among kids ages 4 to 13. General Foods spent thousands of dollars sending letters to schools and running newspaper ads reassuring Soccer Moms of America that if their kid happens to swallow a packet of pop rocks and chug a can of soda (gross), no, little Timmy/Suzie will NOT explode. You're probably not thinking right now, 'Okay, so what would happen?" They have EVERYTHING on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRccwJenuC4 "So far, no death."

>No write up on this one, but its wicked cool. Bionic Contact Lenses

Picture: Reading Room under the dome (taken during my visit)

3.15.08

That's when regular decisions come out. Hopefully all our RA chat friends will be accepted. Good luck to all those waiting for decisions and I hope you have a lot of work to do this week so that you have something to help you keep your mind off of it (though that's practically impossible :D)

Once again good luck!

bye!

RD?

So apparently there are rumors going around that RD might be march 22nd rather than the 15th. If anyone has solid evidence of the date that regular decisions will come out please let me know ASAP.

-Thanks.

RD

Hey you guys, I just realized that after next Saturday (the 15th), there will be a huge rush of new people coming into MIT12! Eee! lol it's gonna be crazy

38 days until CPW!