Potpourri Blog Post

Potpourri Blog Post Coming off of a state-of-mind-altering weekend in Maine with people from the dorm, I knew a full Pre-Thanksgiving week of MIT won’t be pretty. It was pretty ugly. Checkout the iCal for this past week. [Calculus pset x4, Chemistry Pset, Final Paper Proposal, Seminars x2, Taekwondo x2, Physics Quiz, CLASSES!!!] For the moment, I have no profound thesis for a profound blog post, so I’ll go ahead and zoom in on some the crazy things that happened amidst the massive blue busyness up there. MONDAY 12:07 AM You know what’s the best part about going to 3.091 [Chem.] at 11 in the morning? Going to Steam Cafe © at noon. OK â€" Maybe that’s not exactly the right attitude towards a very expensive education, but truth is, sometimes real food is a serious priority (you will see why soon). RICE. ORANGE CHICKEN. CARROTS/CELERY. I understand this is not by any means high quality, but right there in one plate I’ve covered 3 groups on the food pyramid. MONDAY 7:10 PM If food were traditional art, this would be my surrealistic modern masterpiece: LETTUCE/ROMAINE PIECES/KIMCHI, BREAD, WALNUTS, PRESERVED FISH Compared with the example above, this is hardly real food; but obviously, I was desperately trying to pack in as many food groups as I can. Despite my honest efforts, this is still a very pathetic attempt at making a meal. I will have to try harder. TUESDAY 4:35 PM Mastering Physics; Bane of my existence, and I know I’m not alone. For 8.01 â€" the intro physics course that a large portion of the freshman class enrolls in â€" we have to complete Mastering Physics assignments twice a week. You are essentially given five or so multiple-part problems and you earn points by typing in the right answers. This is honestly the most tediously formatted, arbitrarily graded online tutorial program. You get points for getting the question right, obviously. You also get bonus points for not opening hints. But then you can gain points for opening hints and answering hint questions right; it’s crazy. And if you get a true/false question wrong; sorry â€" that’s a heartless 50 percent deducted. Moreover, the problems are not at all similar to questions on quizzes and exams â€"because Mastering Physics is probably the only “high-school-like” assignment here. The problems test one or two concepts at a time, whereas exams pretty much combine a bunch of concepts, put twists on the classical examples, and churn out brain-fry ing exam questions. Mastering Physics does function as a potential grade booster and an illusion that you are indeed “mastering physics” â€" until the real exams come that is. WEDNESDAY â€" Nothing happened on Wednesday, because all I did was calculus; I guess that p-set happened ….at 5:00 AM the next day. THURSDAY A pset completed @ 5:00 AM leads to waking up at 1:00 PM, realizing p-set had been due at 12:45 PM, frantically trying to get p-set in, and overall, starting off the day really late, and really grumpy. But I had a movie screening to take care of. I write for the Arts section of the Tech, the MIT student newspaper. @ 7PM Thursday, there was a special screening for Red Cliff, an epic ancient Chinese war film that lasted 2.5 hours and I had a physics quiz the next day. The film was average, but it was surely a good study break! Or investment of a study break, because I haven’t actually studied yet. Charliecard is my best friend. Have it on hold, you’re ready to go! Swipe, swipe â€" feels like Boston is resting in my palm. Although, it was my first time traveling alone at night; all I could do was pray that Google Maps proves accurate once I come out of the T station (our endearing term for subway). But I’m still alive, so yes, Boston is safe @ night! :P FRIDAY is now â€" and its all about Taekwondo and the Sunday tournament at Princeton. The whole campus is sprinting towards end-of-semester, and its getting hard to hold on. But I will let you know. // P.S. Heres a video of me trying out my makeshift Halloween costume; it was entertaining. Happy Weekend!