Stressful Weekend

Last weekend was Amanda's Birthday so we threw a surprise birthday party for her. Once I upload pictures from my camera I will add some. I also went to "Masti" a South American Asian concert that had lots of dancing, skits, and singing. Rajiv (Gus' "nephew," a first year grad student), danced in it. All the students were very enthusiastic, it was a lot of fun to watch.

Gus and I went to church on Easter Sunday. I hope everyone had a great Easter! Since it was a 4 day weekend I was pretty efficient with getting work done, I studied a lot for my 5.12 test, which I got above average on (which was a B), so it was worth it.

This weekend however, isn't too fun. I have an 8.022 test on Tuesday, an 18.03 test on Wednesday, and a 5.12 pset due on Wednesday. And 8.022 is going to be very hard. I also found out that I got a really low lottery pick for my room next year (230....and there are 236 people total). Annelise got 215. Hopefully we will just room together and get a larger double than this year. We are really good roommates and great friends, but both of us are used to having our own room. We'll see what happens....but there probably won't be too many singles left after the upperclassmen pick their rooms. (Simmons has a lottery system for each class, sophmores are last). We were both really unlucky, as was Gus. He will still be able to get a single, but he was one of the last rising juniors picked out of the junior lottery. I hope everyone else is having a better weekend than me.

On a positive note however, my neighbor's that lived next to us before we moved visited me yesterday, and Gus and I went out to dinner with them. It was wonderful to see them! Their daughter is a sophmore and already starting to look at colleges. Visiting with them was a nice break from all my studying.

I just have to get past this week and then all I really have to worry about if finals!!!!

CPW

Winter is now over I think! It has been gorgeous the last few weeks, nice and sunny and warm. I haven't needed a jacket or anything. When we got back from break, it was Campus Preview Weekend (CPW)! CPW is when all the accepted students come to visit MIT. I had sooooo much fun last year, it was one of the best weekends of my life. Annelise and I both hosted a prefrosh, so our room was a little full at night. We didn't get to see much of our prefrosh because they were out doing so many things. I helped set up a Karaoke night and Games night at Simmons, both of which went very well. I had so much fun singing my heart out with my friends and embarrassing people. Overall I think CPW went really well. There are so many activities for people to attend, I wish I could be a prefrosh again! Here’s just a sampling of what went on: http://web.mit.edu/admissions/cpw/schedule.html

On Thursday, a cannon appeared next to the Green Building. And not just ANY cannon. The CALTECH cannon--yes that's right, the official Caltech cannon that is like a mascot to them, found it's way to MIT. Some MIT students stole it, posing as a moving company. It was a very well done prank. They made a plaque for it, and they even made a huge brass rat (the MIT ring) to go over it. Everyone was talking about the cannon! Since Caltech and MIT don't have an official rival, we sort of pick on each other, especially since we're both technical schools. The reason MIT stole the cannon was because of last year's CPW. Caltech students came and put t-shirts in the free t-shirts pile that said "MIT" on the front and "because not everyone can get into Caltech" onto the back. The also changed the wording on the small dome to "The Other Institute of Technology," MIT retaliated by putting up "the only." Go here to see pictures of the cannon:

http://www.howeandser.com/

http://flemingcannon.com

Right now we have a four-day weekend, but I'll be studying for most of it (I have a 5.12 test on Wednesday and then I have 8.022 and 18.03 the week after that). At least it's still a four day weekend. I'll just study during the day and then go out and do things at night.

Spring Break

After my second round of tests, which I did much better than the last ones (but can still improve), I flew back to California with Gus. I think he was nervous about meeting my parents, but it all worked out. My parents liked him and we had tons of fun. I showed Gus around Carmel, went to the beach, walked around Cannery Row and went to the Aquarium, and we drove by the coast. Then on my last day, I visited my high school and said hi to people there. One of the juniors is going to ISEF this year, so I talked with him about it, he should have a blast! It was very amusing because while we were at my house we watched Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers--Gus had never seen them before, and didn't want him to watch them before we left for fear he would be afraid of ruining his chances with my parents. It was nice to have a break from school. When I got back to MIT, I had to finish up a story for my HASS class, hopefully the teacher will like it!