Biofuels and karaoke
Working and living in Brazil was an experience like none other. I learned so much about chemical engineering, biofuels, Brazil, and myself.
Listen to her
She was lying to me. She was telling me that everything was fine, but her body was saying something else. She was forcing herself to be brave, to fake the courage we are all supposed to have.
In through the back door
I remember hearing over the years how people felt once they got tenure. A sigh of relief, a feeling of recognition, the sense they had made it, that they were somehow now okay. I never felt that.
Virtual reality zombies in Berlin
The highlight of my summer was using the mobile EEG, which allowed me to take a glimpse into other people’s brains while they moved and interacted with space.
Too far to grieve
I had watched the scene unfold twice before. In the busy shuffle between classes and club meetings, the phone call comes. My friends learn that someone they loved has died, and by physical proximity, I am the first outsider to know.
Looking back and moving forward
The room lacked character. A single barred window, which overlooked the students’ courtyard, was the only thing interrupting the bare dominion of bleach white walls.
I love meeting random people
This is part of a series of MIT application essays submitted by students who were later admitted to the Institute. The following prompts are from the 2013-14 admissions season.
Dinner in a Japanese household
I only got to see Shoko and Kazuo twice while I was living in Yokohama, Japan, since I spent most of my weekends exploring other parts of the country. Still, those were two of the most memorable days of my summer.
Dancing after a double surgery
This is part of a series of MIT application essays submitted by students who were later admitted to the Institute. The following prompts are from the 2016-17 admissions season.
Making change in Paris
The morning after Bastille Day, the French national holiday, found me walking down the Rue Rambuteau in Paris. I was on the way to a boulangerie that boasted of having the best baguette in the city.
Pokémon and robots
After over a month of working at Yoshimoto Robotics in the heart of the great metropolis of Tokyo, my life had become a routine. Everything changed when Pokémon Go took Japan by storm.
Student evolved into adult
I settled into a routine: I’d wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, come home, eat dinner, shower, sleep, and repeat. I found it increasingly difficult to go out and experience the city. Enter Pokemon Go.
How to prevent street harassment
How many ukuleles did you have? Two? Why didn’t you limit yourself to just one? If you replace “ukulele” with “drink,” you get the usual slew of questions women are asked after sexual assault.
Freshman year reflections
If there’s one thing that MIT has taught me, it’s to not plan too much.
Eva Breitenbach
In the last week of November, I went out to dinner with my boyfriend. We got in a huge fight, and I woke up the next morning and couldn’t move half my face.
Reflections of a BSU Co-Chair
Every BSU Co-Chair had at least one major innovation during their tenure, and I had no idea what mine would be. Then came the wave of events across college campuses such as the University of Missouri, Yale University, and Ithaca College.
Haley Cope
I felt alone and ostracized. Not only did my social group fall apart, but my family fell apart, too. For the first time, I started feeling suicidal.
Anita Horn
I was fine until I was a teenager. That was when I first started feeling like I wasn’t good enough, wasn’t measuring up. I went to college and moved to Denver. I struggled with feeling unstable.
Seeking the culture in agriculture
Last semester, the freshmen in 12.000 (Solving Complex Problems) embarked on a mission to feed the entire world. Well, we didn’t quite accomplish that, but we did learn a lot about food security in the face of a changing climate.