The Masochist's Institute of Technologyanecdotes of an ambitious MIT student

There are many things in life that irk me, but as of late I’ve been trying my hardest not to complain too much about them. It’s actually working too – just today I refrained from whining too much about a colleague’s broken promise. Although sometimes it’s difficult to play the part of a momentary martyr by letting someone’s faults slide by, in the end I feel much more accomplished. It’s definitely a greater challenge to put aside grudges than to fight back, but I’m working on it =)

However, while I was calming myself, I started realizing that most of my annoyances can be easily categorized into a few select categories. I’ve decided to reflect a bit on them and how I can handle others who exhibit these traits.

Pet peeve #1: indecisive people

So which one will you choose? You look so confused.
Tell me the truth: do you know what you want?
- “Do You Know What You Want”, by M2M

I absolutely despise indecisive people (well, not really the people, just this particular trait in them). I am indecisive at times as well, but at least I make concrete decisions (which are “subject to change”). However, when I ask a person something like, “Are you available at 2pm today?” and the answer is, “Ummmm,” suffice to say I am not exactly pleased. Especially for someone who likes to write out everything in her planner, having someone spend 20 minutes deciding whether they are going to attend my event or not is super irritating.

Several of my friends are definitely guilty of this, but I’ve been trying to help them get past it as well. I’ve been very systematic in my approach, for example, asking them to list out their options and rationally eliminating enough to get to a decisive answer. This is the approach I take for most of my decisions, and it works wonders. Good luck to those who are in need of more assertiveness and decisiveness in their lives! =p

Pet peeve #2: people with lack of ambition

JUMP JUMP take off しようぜ！ 天使の羽を広げたら
(Jump, jump, let’s take off! I have the wings of an angel)
見上げれば 未来 Boys＆Girls! Be Ambitious
(If you look up, there’s the future. Boys and girls, be ambitious!)
– “Ambitious！野心的でいいじゃん” by Morning Musume

“Ambition” (also known as aspiration, goals, or any other similar variant) is one of the highest qualities that I value in a person. Naturally, the opposite is also true – I am not a fan at all of people who lack ambition. I’m not saying everyone should aspire to be the next Steve Jobs or Donald Trump, but at the very least people should try to do the best in whatever they decide to devote themselves towards. I have some friends who are set on becoming rich investment bankers in competitive firms, and that’s awesome. I have friends who want to work with cancer research; that’s great! On the flip side, I have some friends who really want to be fashion designers or professional cake decorators. While not quite as lucrative a career as a biomedical engineer or investment banker, I still support their decisions because they seem very enthusiastic and excited about their jobs. Not everyone wants the cut-throat pressure of Wall Street or wants to deal with extremely challenging work every day, and I acknowledge this. The cake decorator that devotes her time to learning new techniques, improves her style, and actively seeks jobs still deserves respect in my book. However, the student who doesn’t attend college because they “don’t see the need” and then end up working as a cashier in Wal-Mart for a meager income? That is a lack of ambition, and it irks me when my closest friends sometime express ideas like it.

Especially here at MIT, it’s sad to see a lack of ambition because we are sitting here at the breeding ground for brilliant people! Someone (whether your parents, donators, or federal aid) is paying for your Ivy-equivalent education, and it’s not cheap. Why waste someone’s hard work by squandering away your time on useless activities (like watching comedy shows all day long?) That time could be better spent on reading, learning new material, planning your upcoming semester, attending student group obligations (see pet peeve #3 below) or even socializing with friends (you learn a lot from other people). I just hope that people here would create goals and then actively start striving for them; I want friends on the same level of ambition as I do, so that we can help push each other to attain greatness =)

Pet peeve #3: skipped rehearsals (with no good excuses)

悔しくて　泣いた日もある
(There were painful days when I cried)
学校とレッスンの両立にあきらめた日もある
(There were also days when I lost my balance of school and rehearsals)
だけどアンコールがどこかで聞こえた
(However, I could hear the encore no matter where I was.)
– “初日”, by AKB48 Team B

I’m just being petty here, but ever since ADT started I realized how incredibly frustrating it is to do formations and practice when people aren’t present at rehearsals. Seriously, you have no idea how annoying it is when you expect 6 people to show up and only 2 actually do. From this point on, I swear I will no longer miss a rehearsal for any of my groups (Dance Revelasian, Concert Choir, Chinese Choral Society) unless I have a very good and legit reason (sickness, company interview, etc.)  Now I understand why Adam used to get so annoyed when all the violins decided to miss MITSO rehearsal.

Really, everyone. Rehearsals pay off because after all that blood and sweat and tears (figuratively, of course), we can produce a really great showcase that everyone will love. This leads to better recognition of our group, more members, more funding to buy costumes, and nothing but good things will be said about us. So seriously, come to rehearsal! :D