The Road Im On

The Road I’m On Pardon me for the grammatically incorrect tonight title (in the sardonic words of the ever-quotable Winston Churchill, This is the sort of English up with which I will not put!), but Im currently listening to my old 3 Doors Down albums and I really like this song. Which is why it has now made its way into my blog, like several other songs I can think of. Anyway. Life at MIT is moving right along at its usual breakneck pace, but I wouldnt have it any other way. Really, my only complaint is that I havent had all that much time to blog lately. Which isnt to say I havent been thinking about blogging, or continuously scratching down ideas for all the (hopefully) awesome entries Ill be putting up in the next few weeks. As the old phrase goes, so many blogsso little time. Yeah, so Im a little cheesy sometimes what else is new? Luckily, I have about half an hour to jot some thoughts down right now, so I figured I might as well capitalize on the opportunity. As it happens, Im feeling sort of nostalgic and philosophical at the same time, and youre the lucky ones who get to glimpse my innermost(ish) thoughts. And by you, I mean the entire Internet. Doesnt that make you feel special? ;) Seriously though. As May 1 draws ever closer, I cant believe that its already been a year since I decided to go to MIT. In some ways, I am still surprised I got in to MIT. Thats one thing some people forget upon arriving to MIT, I think: being here is not a right, but a privilege I might even go so far as to call it an honor. And unlike in high school, where there are a lot of other people (parents, teachers, guidance counselors, and so on) encouraging you and motivating you to do well, your success in college will, necessarily, have to be almost entirely self-motivated. And I dont say that because professors and advisors here arent supportive they are. But at the end of the day, they arent going to do your psets for you, or call you up and remind you to study for the big physics exam next Wednesday. Youre going to be the one who has to take charge of that. And there will, probably, be a few times you have too much going on and forget that you have some HASS paper due in four days and you havent read the book yet, or that the deadline to officially register for your UROP in the Langer Lab is in about 24 hours, or that you really need to start blogging some more, or And thats okay. Because if youre the kind of person who belongs at MIT, you wont just finish the paper (though you may have to sacrifice a few other things to get there) or manage to finish the UROP application in the nick of time, youll actually learn from the mistake and make sure it doesnt happen again. (Ask me how I know.) Sorry for digressing. I think we were talking about the National Reply Date being in five days or something, yes? Yes. When I got into MIT, I was beyond elated. I had applied back in November or something with the philosophy that I would apply to a bunch of schools, find out where I was admitted, and make my choice from that list. I cant pinpoint exactly when things changed but definitely by mid-February or so, I wanted to get into MIT. I think the blogs may have played a bit of a role in this realization. (And when I say think I mean Im sure, and when I say a bit of a role I mean they were a major factor. Thanks a lot, guys.) I waited to find out where else I had gotten into, but in the long run that was kind of a formality. CPW only confirmed my initial suspicion: MIT was, and is, the best school for me. For many of my friends and classmates, though, it wasnt nearly that straightforward. I even know a good number of admitted 2012s who have only just made up their minds to attend MIT, and many more who are still deciding. So if youre reading this, and youre still making up your mind about where youre going to go next year, rest assured youre not the only one. I cant make the decision for you, obviously. But if knowing more about MIT would help you make a more informed decision, I along with all the other bloggers, students, parents, and others who read these blogs are all here to answer any questions you might have or concerns you want to address. So whether youve already made your choice and want to explain why you chose MIT, or if youre still trying to make up your mindby all means, comment away. Thats what these blogs are here for, after all to bridge the gap between MIT and you. Thats why these blogs exist.