Peace, at last!

I can't believe I'm already done with 1/8 of my time here at MIT. That's pretty scary to think about. It all passed by so quickly through fun, work, and sleep deprivation that I can't imagine being ready for the real world in three and a half years.

A lot has happened in the two months (O_O) since I last posted.

Old stuff: 

• Making the pledge paddle for my pledge class, Atlas. This was a lot of fun and probably the catalyst for whatever happened to my motivation this semester (more on that later). Gathering the materials for this was a pain because we started maybe three or four days before we had to finish, and we couldn't find some parts for our original design. Our finished product turned out much better though, and I'm very proud to have worked on it. (I painted the globe! Green, black, white, and gold are ADPhi's colors. Although it's hard to see, the icy regions are white.)
• Becoming a brother! The week or so before initiation was tough because Atlas wasn't doing so well with learning stuff about the fraternity (history, aims, songs, etc.). We had a few cram sessions and some stressful nights, but the 23 of us made it! Next semester, I'll be co-Historian, which basically means taking a lot of pictures and working on organizing the website.
• Serenading AXO: I don't know if it's tradition, but one of the sororities asked us to serenade them during their initiation dinner. So eight of us came together and sang an a capella arrangement of "Title of the Song." It was awesome (and slightly out of tune). The girls were laughing... that's good, right?

New(er) stuff:

• Skating/Hockey! I finally learned how to ice skate, although I'm not too good with stopping or moving quickly. I also played two IM hockey games and realized that I need to get contacts because hockey helmets and glasses don't play nice. It's a fun game, and I'll probably keep playing through all four years here.
• Finals: Pass/No Record is the greatest thing. I will miss P/NR forever now that it is gone. Besides a few hours of cursory review for each class, the freshmen on my hall spent finals week playing Mario Kart and SSBM. It was glorious. Now onto letter grades...

Now that I've finished the semester, I have to think about what I could have done better. Number 1 would probably have been taking harder classes. I wasn't so sure if I would be able to handle the rigor of MIT classes after taking a gap year, but instead it ended up perhaps too easy. I stopped going to classes because I could learn the material and solve the problems much faster on my own, and I skipped a few problem sets during weeks when I was particularly apathetic or busy with other things. Once it started, it didn't stop. This definitely caused some stress right before the 3rd bio test, when I realized I hardly knew anything about neurobiology, immunology, or genomics - basically everything on the test. That lack of motivation carried through to other parts of my life, including writing on this blog. I don't know if taking a harder class would be the cure, but I think I like losing sleep over hard problems rather than procrastination. (Speaking of procrastination, how about starting the first draft of my final paper in my humanities class a week after it was due? I was not happy about that one.)

My number 2 change would have been trying more things. I definitely should have tried out for the orchestra when I got here. I missed out on playing one of my favorites, Dvorak's New World Symphony :( Maybe I could have worked part-time or tried for a research position. There was definitely time available for some of those things and I may not have had my first problem.

Hopefully I won't overcompensate for this stuff next semester. I'm taking Differential Equations, Intro to Solid State Chemistry, E&M 1 for masochists, Harmony and Counterpoint, and I'm trying out for the orchestra. If I can, I'll also try to get a research opportunity so I can work over the summer. Along with being a Historian at ADPhi, I hope it won't be too much.

Unfortunately, I won't be seeing you guys this winter. I'm heading to Japan on Christmas day, where I'll stay for just over a week before coming back. Enjoy your break everyone!

P.S. I'm now thinking of double majoring in Materials Science and Engineering and Physics, maybe with a minor in Energy Studies.

P.S.S. This place is so quiet...