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Linking Young Minds Together
     Volume 2 Issue 40| October 17, 2010 |


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Distant Diary

First Impressions

Nazia Chowdhury

Today, exactly after a month in my new home, I am taking a few moments to look back at my time here.

On August 21, 2010, I left New York for Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It was still dark with the sky carrying hints of a new sunrise. Even though I had already begun missing my family and friends, I was in the best of my spirits. After a long 5-hour drive, my car stopped in front of 77 Massachusetts Avenue. The car-lag was all gone as the grand building came into my view. 'A skipped heart beat', 'a moment's dream'feelings that people associate with falling in love, overwhelmed me. You ask, "Why?" Easy! I fell in love with the place, my home for the next four years, then and there!

I was instantly at home in my cozy dorm at McCormick Hall. My room has the most beautiful view of the Charles flowing serenely by Boston town. Though the room at first seemed too big for me, things started to change as my new roomies filtered in. The place was soon filled with laughter and giggles, sometimes sounds of playful smacks and punches cutting in, and the little pizza breaks while unpacking as we began to know one another.

The next week was a total blur of orientation activities. Before I knew it, the infamous 'reg day' was here - the day when you would find all the students rushing towards the registrar's office with multicolored pages and lists of courses. After undergoing some placement tests and brainstorming, I was a part of the crowd too. At last I was a registered student of the institute of my dream!

Now was the time to 'drink water from hosepipe'! Classes began and along with them came the 'notorious p-sets' that have been the reason for sleepless nights for generations of students. Who knew we could actually deal with science in such a fun manner! The classes were equally engaging too. Especially everybody's favourite Prof Eric Lander, who made my Physics-maniac roommate consider pre-medical course and he is the reason why she is still sticking to it! All my professors turned out to be amazing teachers! I can safely bet that nobody can make as eye-catching demos as Prof Zwierlein and Prof Klute! And nobody can make blackboards more colourful than Professor Mattuck!

However, everything was not rainbows and butterflies. I sometimes tended to get lost in the infinite. I had to do things that I had never done before, like cooking, banking, grocery shopping, cleaning refrigerators being a few. But I coped quite well; with each achievement, I felt more confident of myself, ready to try out all those things that were new to me. I took up ballroom dancing class, which I am enjoying to the fullest. I have also started working at the Admissions Office where I get to meet people who had altered my life a few months ago and where we are eagerly waiting for the class of 2015 applicants' pool.

My experience at MIT is moulding me in many different ways, changing me into a better me. Sometimes when I get lost in the whirl of buildings with unfamiliar numbers, I wonder if Edwin Aldrin, James Woods, Lawrence Klein, Richard Feynman, Sidney Altman or Robert Horvitz ever set their feet on the exact spot that I stand on. Tiny shivers go through my spine when I think of the life that happened beyond my time. For now, I feel deliriously happy in this bubble, amongst a bunch of amazing people caught up with fascinating activities everyday. I hope and pray to the Supreme Being that I shall be perfectly ready to face the world when I graduate from this place. Because Massachusetts Institute of Technology, my home, will help me prepare for it. I hope I can make it proud.

(The writer is an Undergraduate student of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, class of 2014)

 

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