Wow! Four academic weeks have already gone by and I’m one week away from finals. At MIT, they describe the educational experience as drinking from a fire hose. Although we all knew that before arriving, not everyone has found a comfort zone yet. The program is structured so that you cannot possibly do all of the assigned work. Just as in professional life, you have to set priorities and decide what you’re just not going to get to. Some of the class are trying to do it all, sleeping only two hours a night. You won’t be surprised to learn that I am jetisoning assignments at a steady pace and still getting a regular night’s sleep. It reminds me of the old newsroom joke (playing on the New York Times motto) “all the news that fits.” Even at that pace, I’m working hard and learning much. Last weekend, for example, I spent 22 hours completing two homework assignments!
Perhaps one of the biggest surprises for me is that I like statistics. It’s sort of the-evidentiary-standard-meets-math. I’m actually trying to figure out if I’ve got enough higher math to take an advanced course. And, I might even write a thesis that involves regression. Who knew?
I am very lucky because my assigned study group is working well. The summer part of the program is intended to have a bit of a boot camp feel, combining pressure with strangers and new concepts. Some groups do not share a common study style and, as a result, struggle harder to work together. Mine has remained hard-working, cooperative, and cordial. We’re all a little efficiency driven, so we actually spend more time working alone and shorter times working together. Some groups, that like to do all of their work together, are still in the school building at 2 a.m. We are normally out by 6:30.
Our schedule is pretty tight, so I’m skipping most recitations to run around the campus meeting faculty and researchers. I think most of my new best friends will be in Engineering (System Design Management and Technology & Public Policy), Computer Science and Artifical Intelligence (http://oxygen.lcs.mit.edu/KnowledgeAccess.html) and the Media Lab (think hundred dollar laptops and wearable computers: http://www.media.mit.edu/research/index.html ). I’m starting to have lots of interesting conversations about rules-based access, life beyond the semantic web, and unified data theory. This is important, because MIT is known as the “DIY” (do it yourself) academic environment.
There is a lighter side, too. I’ve discovered, but not yet used, the glass blowing/metal welding shop. I’ve also not yet used the massive gym, rock climbing wall, and sailing facilities. But, I have high hopes for the second half of summer, when the homework slows down a little bit. And, I’m studying the interesting history of “hacks” at MIT: http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/ . (My personal favorite is the 16 foot paper airplane: http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1998/paper_airplane/, but the police car on top of the dome is apparently the gold standard: http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1994/cp_car/).
I already know some of the things I will and won’t miss about
