Boundary Testing
Collecting lore like never before
I’m going crazy, but this is the most fulfilled I’ve felt for a very long time.
This thought appears to be a common one at this institution. For reference, I come from a pretty competitive high school; my friends here tease me about how it’s ranked #4 on U.S. News, calling it “Nerd School.” The intensity there, along with the strong community inherent from a small class size of 27 people, pushed me to grow. I had the privilege of taking challenging courses that prepared me for undergraduate studies. At the same time, though, I felt like I was filling up my time with things I didn’t actually enjoy or things that were just for the sake of college admissions.
So here, with a firehose of activities from daily dormspam emails, classes, and other adventures, there were endless places to explore. The freedom was both exhilarating and horrifying. There’s so much going on: on one hand, there’s the constant fear of missing out, but on the other, it’s pretty hard to go wrong in terms of choosing what to do.
I’ve been here for around a month now, and I’ve finally settled into my classes. Currently, I’m thinking about majoring in Course 6-9 (Computation and Cognition) and possibly double-majoring in Course 18 (General/Applied Mathematics). I’m taking a lot of Course 6 (Computer Science) classes, which have been incredibly challenging. My workload has been less of a pretty package neatly tied with a bow and more of a landfill. I decided to take 6.1010 (Fundamentals of Programming) and 6.1210 (Introduction to Algorithms), skipping the prerequisites for both, and I'm worried I'll end up regretting my choice. I’m not the strongest in computer science, so these classes have done a number on my head, both in good and adversarial ways.
Initially, I was going to take 6.100B or 16.C20, but I heard I could jump straight to 6.1010 with my 6.100A Advanced Standing Exam (ASE). Similarly, I was also deciding between 6.1200 (Mathematics for Computer Science) and 6.1210. I chose to dive straight into 6.1210, since I technically don’t need 6.1200 to major in 6-9, and some people encouraged me to jump to 6.1210. Unfortunately, I barely have any proof-writing experience, but I did math competitions in high school, which gave me a vague idea of what a decent proof looks like. Writing one on my own, however… that’s a different story. The first couple of psets made me quite nervous, but I’m hoping I can pick up the gist of it to push through.
Honestly, those two classes alone have been quite rough. While testing the waters of 6.1200 and 6.1210 for the first two weeks, I fell behind very quickly. I’m still very much behind and I’m wondering if I will ever make it through. Deep down, I know it will all work out some way or the other, but it hasn’t been easy. Luckily, freshman fall is on the P/NR system.
As for my other classes, I’m taking 9.01 (Introduction to Neuroscience), ES.9114 (Non-violence as a Way of Life), PE.0626 (Rifle), and 4.S21 (Architecture Studies). Luckily, these have all been pretty chill — I don’t think I could handle a third overly challenging class. They’ve all been very interesting! I was introduced to neuroscience in my later years of high school, so I wanted to try it out in college. I’m not sure what I want to do career-wise, but I’ve decided that it’s not for freshman me to figure out.
Instead, I’ve been trying to take classes I think I would genuinely enjoy and find interesting. I always love using ES.9114 as a lore-drop, because it’s set up by the MIT Prison Initiative. Our classes are at the Suffolk County House of Correction, and we, the “outside students,” are accompanied by incarcerated students, the “inside students.” This class fulfills one of my communication requirements (CI-H), but moreover, I wanted to change my perception on incarcerated people. Logically, I know the judicial system is screwed up, and there are way too many social problems which end up creating unfortunate, complex situations. Emotionally though, I feel a little intimidated by people in jail; in the media, incarcerated people are often portrayed in a certain light, but it seems very one-sided to me. The reality is they have their own stories and motivations for having made a poor decision. I’m hoping that after this class, I won’t hold said instinctive assumption anymore.
In stark contrast, I’m also taking Rifle to work towards my PE requirement. It is contrary to what I would normally do; I’m terrified of loud, sudden sounds and don’t like being in possession of something that could be lethal. However, that’s exactly why I chose this class. I’m chasing new experiences and pushing through what I never thought of doing before. I want to push past the extreme ends of what I know and do a bit of boundary testing. On top of that, I don’t think I’ll have many other opportunities to try this sport out.
Lastly, 4.S21 has been a wonderfully chill discovery class. Basically, it’s scheduled time to go into the makerspace and try one of the tools or softwares. I wanted to build things in college but didn’t think I would make time for it myself. Taking this class forces me to have some time to actually think of what I want to make and learn the skills I need to build them. Some of my projects include a needle-felted Totoro (which I started a month ago and still have not finished), a neon sign, and some clothing. I’m sure I’ll think of other ideas along the way.
On top of classes, there have been a lot of clubs I want to be involved in. The Tech is one of them: if you’re reading this, you probably know they make newspapers about the happenings of Cambridge, Boston, and, more specifically, MIT. Originally, I wanted to be an MIT blogger, but I got rejected. However, admissions recommended I write in this section of The Tech. I’m excited to have a more formalized place for my writing (or more accurately, my unnecessarily long yaps) and learn from people who edit my work!
I’m also a part of the MIT-Wellesley Toons! I’ve always enjoyed singing; in fact, I did choir in elementary school but didn’t get to continue later on. Nevertheless, I really wanted to join an acapella group in college. Initially, I only knew about The Logs, so I was surprised to learn there were at least five other groups on campus. I went into auditions with absolutely zero experience and was trying things just for the giggles. Turns out that I actually got into two groups, and I ended up joining The Toons!
I also really want to get involved in AppDev, Camp Kesem, table tennis, running, and some other clubs that are related to my major. On top of that, I’m hoping to continue other hobbies I picked up from high school — vlogging, blogging, and piano-ing — and maybe get involved in a UROP. I am afraid I may have overstepped, but time will tell.
Freshman fall has been a whirlwind of late nights, new faces, overwhelming classes, and unexpected adventures. It’s messy, it’s chaotic, and as the kids these days say, it’s cooked — but it’s also the most fun I’ve had in a long time. If this is only the beginning, I can’t wait for what comes next.