Highlights of college life: October 2009

Posted by | Posted in Alpha Chi Omega, Personal life | Posted on 11-11-2009

There’s never a dull moment in my life, it seems. Well, besides the fact that I’m sitting at my computer on Veteran’s Day desperately trying to learn Laplace transforms. That’s not exactly dull either; it’s simply something stressful that I would rather not do.

Thankfully, one of the wonders of college life lies in the fact that there always seems to be weekend distractions to alleviate said stress. October 2009 was definitely interesting; I attended a few parties and had a some majorly exciting moments. Here are a few of the highlights:

The night before the launch of Windows 7, the Microsoft Cambridge office held a huge launch party! There were students from Northeastern, Boston University, MIT, Harvard, and more. Although it wasn’t quite as exciting as I had hoped, it was definitely quite an adventure. I gorged myself on chips and salsa and wandered around with Chao and Jason. There was a Microsoft Surface table to sample, Rockband (Beatles version) to play – although I did not, because I’m not a Beatles fan – and free prizes to be had. They must have given away hundreds of dollars in prizes; Tiffany managed to wrestle a copy of Office 2007 out of someone’s hands, even though she managed to slice her thumb open in the process. Props to Tiffany and her dedication to free goods ;)

Late October, instead of accepting my invitation to the Alpha Delta Phi semiformal, I headed out amidst the wind and rain to karaoke with two of my Alpha Chi Omega sisters – Sarah Sprague ’13 and Ingrid Chaires ’11! We managed to sing everything from Broadway musicals (Phantom of the Opera!) to late-90′s pop (Britney Spears) to 80′s pop to the latest hits (Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, etc.) It was a ton of fun, especially since all of us were perfectly content to warble out the songs without caring too much about how on-pitch we happened to be…

“What’s this?” you say. “Vivian, I thought you got out of all that math-sciency stuff, aren’t you an economics major now?” Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but economics majors deal with numbers all the time. Especially at MIT, where the economics is very highly mathematical. This is a piece of my first 14.02 (macroeconomics) problem set, which I nearly aced after only attending class for a week. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself =)

And of course, the obligatory food image. Let’s just say that as of late I’ve gotten quite addicted to Next Dining‘s salad bar. I always get the same – a bunch of greens, topped with a ton of tomatoes (no one seems to like them), eggs, noodles (when available), olives (at times), and the slightest bit of vinaigrette dressing. And the best thing? An entire box of salad (which can fill up my Tupperware bowl) is only worth a jaw-dropping $1.50! Talk about cheap and healthy dinner…

Last but certainly not least, Alpha Chi Omega recently had its pledge class 2009 initiation… That means I’m now a full-fledged sister! After the ceremony, we went back to the student center and had celebratory desserts, serenades, and photo-ops. Shown above are all the sophomores (c/o 2012) currently in the sorority – there were four sophomore initiates this year. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of the entire 2009 pledge class, but I’m sure the photo above is completely representative of the electric happiness present in the room the entire night =)

Mid-semester update

Posted by | Posted in Personal life | Posted on 10-15-2009

At times it’s hard to believe that we’re already nearly halfway through the semester! I’ve experienced some drastic changes to my academic schedule, along with getting more active in various organizations on campus (including but not limited to: AXO, SEBC, NSUW, UEA, and a variety of other lovely acronyms). I’ve rearranged my four-year plan (something I like doing on a weekly basis it seems – there’s just too many good classes to take here); I’ve run numerous succesful practices with MITADT, I’ve taken time to reflect on why I’m here and where I’m going…

And you know, despite some major troubled times the past month or so, I think I’ve finally got things under control. To celebrate, let me share with you a few pictures I took the past few weeks (there haven’t been many chances to do so…)

A few weeks ago, when I was feeling absolutely miserable, my AXO mystagogue Yuri sneakily dropped by my room when I was taking a nap and dropped off a bag of goodies for me! In addition to an adorable get-well card, the care package also included tea, fruit, cough drops, soup, crackers, chocolate, and more. And this isn’t just exclusive to me and Yuri either – many of the AXO girls are super nice and always support each other through thick and thin. I feel a little bad since I’ve been way too busy (and sick) to attend a lot of the events, but as initiation approaches, I feel like I will definitely try to devote more time to getting to know this amazing group of girls. We get our Big Sisters sometime in the coming week or two, which is something to which I’m really looking forward =)

Ever since I’ve gotten sick, I’ve been trying my best to eat healthier. Yesterday, after dance rehearsal, I decided that I would go down to Next Dining and make use of that Preferred Dining plan in which we’re forced to participate. Instead of getting a cheeseburger or a quesadilla or stir-fry, I made my way over to the salad bar and load up on some veggies! My salad consisted of some crunchy greens, lots of cucumbers (there were no tomatoes, unfortunately), carrots, a pinch of cheese, lots of fresh eggs, and just enough lowfat vinaigrette dressing to give it a deliciously sweet-yet-sour taste. Needless to say, I love salads and I was very glad to devour one yesterday; I’ll have to make trips down to Next Dining more often! But now, to finish up my entry, here’s a…

Summary of my fall semester:

  • 14.02 – Principles of Macroeconomics
  • 15.301 – Managerial Psychology Laboratory
  • 18.03 – Differential Equations
  • 21F.107 – Chinese I streamlined
  • AXO – Alpha Chi Omega
  • MITADT – MIT Asian Dance Team (captain)
  • MIT Concert Choir (soprano II)
  • HKSS – Hong Kong Student Society
  • NSUW – Network of Sloan Undergraduate Women
  • SEBC – Science and Engineering Business Club, Marketing focus group
  • UPOP – Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program
  • IM Badminton B League (for Next House)
  • RAship at Harvard Business School

This also means that on an average day, my calender is extremely full. I extend my fullest apologies to anyone who’s been trying to reach me for a quick lunch/dinner – I end up eating at really strange hours due to my busy schedule!