Hamsika C. '13 | November 05, 2009
"Sights and Sounds"
Some weeks ago, Jeanne '13 and I embarked upon yet another of our voyages into Boston, meandering past our usual destinations and toward the Boston Symphony Hall, where we hoped to pick up Boston Symphony Orchestra college cards. I haven't actually had the chance to use mine yet, but at the time, the sole thought running through my head was, "Hey, this is free. Wait, it's free?! I'm getting one ASAP." And thus, it was decided that I would sacrifice an afternoon nap for a one-mile walk across the Harvard Bridge and into one of most famous orchestra halls in the world.
This trek was made more memorable by the following episode:
(Jeanne and I spot a group of girls clustered together, gossiping happily, oblivious to our presence)
Jeanne: Look at them! They're always clumped together. They're...LIKE PLATELETS.
Me: *Silently ponders this extraordinary bout of nerdiness, starts laughing*
(A minute or so later: we walk through a narrow passageway)
Jeanne: Whoa! Now it's like we're walking through a BLOOD VESSEL!
Me: *Wonder, disbelief, further laughter*
These soundbites are so normal here at MIT. Biology, Harry Potter, derivatives, and vectors all merge themselves into casual conversations. What results is random but hugely entertaining discussion, during which I often wish my capacity to remember clever comments were more refined.
Pictures make MIT's sporadic wit much more memorable:
The above sight met my eyes this past Tuesday night, as I walked in my physics classroom for a late-night review session. Somehow, I paid more attention to this than I did to polar coordinates and dot products; the pure unexpectedness of seeing moment of inertia linked to the Yankees tickled my sense of humor to no end. I believe my love for MIT, slightly ragged due to the endless wear of psets and midterms, was renewed the second I saw this picture.
In chem class on Wednesday, this reborn enthusiasm was solidified with the sight of the following experiment, embedded here with permission from Professor Schrock:
I'm so glad I go to school here.
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Responses To This Entry:
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First ;)
Glad to see that MIT classes are fun! Can't wait to get free stuff in Boston! What else is free for MIT kids?
Posted by: Tesh '14?! :) on November 6, 2009 11:49 PM
omg! i saw the creation of the a-rod uniform masterpiece; i was bewildered. :]
Posted by: Jenny '13 on November 6, 2009 11:50 PM
LOL I remember doing that chem demo at school!
It looked like kryptonite so our whole AP chem class was singing kryptonite (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpl6ncyxLGw)hahaha
Posted by: Su ('14?) on November 7, 2009 12:33 AM
Did she mention that Schrock (the proff in the video) has a nobel prize?
Posted by: Carin '13 on November 7, 2009 01:45 AM
I'm studying center of mass, rotational dynamics, and moments of inertia in AP Physics C, so I was very entertained by this extremely bad pun.
"It's like alchemy or something!"
I will now digress and mention Full Metal Alchemist.
Posted by: Nestor '14.4167? on November 7, 2009 10:44 AM
Wow, MIT students get free concert tickets!? That is SO AWESOME!
And your chem professor seems amazing.
Posted by: Lydia AK on November 7, 2009 02:22 PM
This is why I have always looked at MIT as the perfect school for me. Just the other day a group of students was blocking the hallway, I groaned to my friend, "what's with this huge blood clot?" When the group started to move as a whole through the hallway, we cried out "thrombosis!"...
So if I get it, when it is time for me to get it, MIT seems just the place for me...=D
Posted by: Hitha???? on November 7, 2009 02:57 PM
Hitha, I think you are my new best friend.
SEE, Hamsika, other people think the same thing! :O
Posted by: Jeanne '13 on November 7, 2009 03:37 PM
oh wow. it sounds like so much fun.
chem seems so much more interesting too.
and the nerd references are awesome. it reminds me of mlia. =]
Posted by: jialing on November 7, 2009 05:39 PM
Wow! I am glad you got to go to MIT!
Posted by: mom on November 7, 2009 06:12 PM
A few days ago my team completely dominated a race(all divisions). So I figured;
If our team were a genetics problem, the answer would be:
a.) complete dominance.
Posted by: makesense on November 7, 2009 07:50 PM
Haha we've done that experiment so many times in AP Chem. It's awesome. Most compounds that can liberate the Carbon from the Carbon Dioxide and burn readily should work though.
Posted by: Vinay H. ('14?) on November 7, 2009 08:12 PM
I did that lab in my chem class at school! Haha I was so shocked when he wrote the equation on the board and I remembered it... that was a really fun lab.
I love the platelet and blood vessel joke... and the A-Rod diagram :P
@ Nestor '14.4167
Full Metal Alchemist = Best anime ever!!!
Posted by: Lauren on November 7, 2009 09:12 PM
My friend and I have conversations like that all the time too - it's really great! The other day, we were on the T, and one of the stops was Charles/MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital). My friend said, "Potential energy!"
Also, try watching Toy Story 2 again. There are so many 8.012 references in there, it's really funny. When we were watching it several Friday nights ago, we found a ton of potential pset problems in there. :)
Posted by: '13 on November 7, 2009 10:27 PM
dude! I love your posts!!
and haha, that's a really cool demonstration!
your chem professor seems entertaining. I thought it was only Sadoway that was a fun professor!
Posted by: Hana '13 on November 8, 2009 01:21 AM
oh, and HAHA that A-Rod picture was pure genius =)
Posted by: Hana '13 on November 8, 2009 01:24 AM
That is what it is like in an MIT Chemistry class! IT IS AWESOME!
@ Lauren and Nestor
I LOVE FULL METAL ALCHEMIST! New episodes are out now... chasing... Medical Exchanging (I think thats what it means in English O_O)!~
Posted by: c2 on November 8, 2009 12:02 PM
@ Lauren
Nopes, the best anime ever is Great Teacher Onizuka.
Posted by: Anonymous on November 8, 2009 01:37 PM
thats awesome!
Posted by: enriqueve on November 9, 2009 06:42 AM
can u pls send me some information about admission.where r u form? pls send as early as possible.
Posted by: NAZMUS SADAT on November 9, 2009 01:14 PM
~~classic in the lab~~
"Hey can I have some of your water?"
"Why sure."
"Thanks."
"So how was the dihydrogen monoxide?"
GASPS +starts screaming for the teacher
:)
Posted by: makesense on November 10, 2009 09:31 PM
Haha, and here I thought I was the only one to make jokes about calculus and such.
"The MIT interview critical point ended up being a relative max."
Posted by: Light ('14?) on November 11, 2009 05:51 PM
Definitely have a video of that 5.112 lecture on my phone as well.
And the A-Rod picture made me laugh, especially because I just finished studying moments of inertia for 8.01 tomorrow.
Keep up the good blogging! =)
Posted by: Anna '13 on November 12, 2009 12:16 AM
