the spring semester of my freshman year at mit started last week. here are some of my plans for the semester:
i. classes
cc.802: physics ii, aka electricity and magnetism. this is a mit gir, so i wanted to get it out of the way while i’m still a first-year concourse student. i’m also excited to take a physics class at mit, since the last time i took physics it was interrupted by the start of the covid pandemic and i ended up not retaining much of it.
6.009: fundamentals of programming. my first impression is that this class is essentially advanced programming in python? which is good because i never actually learned python formally. the labs also look interesting, so i’m looking forward to them.
9.00: introduction to psychological science. my high school didn’t offer psychology, so i’m excited for this class. 9.00 is a pretty well-liked class; unfortunately, the usual professor is on medical leave this semester, so it’s not quite the same as previous semesters of this class (we do watch some of his recorded lectures though, so we kind of indirectly engage with him i guess). this is also my hass for this semester.
12.409: hands-on astronomy: observing stars and planets. looking at the sky and taking pretty pictures! i’m mostly taking this class for fun, as i’ve always wanted to get better at astronomy, and i also enjoy stargazing. we get to go out to mit’s wallace observatory (away from boston’s light pollution) a few times during the semester and i’m really excited to learn to use some of the equipment there! i also want to eventually take some of the more advanced astronomy classes (which this class is a pre-req for), and maybe minor in course 12? that all remains to be seen. this class is smaller in general, so i’m looking forward to vibing with everyone
cc.011: seminar ii. a continuation of concourse seminar from last semester. this semester’s seminar is supposed to be somewhat different (not sure exactly how yet though). last semester’s seminar topics didn’t always resonate with me, so i’m hoping i’ll enjoy this semester more. concourse does provide free lunch, so i can’t complain too much :P
this adds up to 45 units, which is less than last semester’s 51 units. i wanted to focus more on my mental health this spring, so i’m lightening up my courseload slightly. this also frees up more time for
ii. extracurriculars!
solar car team: we wrapped up our work on the brakes system for nimbus (the car we’re racing this summer) over iap. i’m now working on the door for the post-nimbus multi-occupancy vehicle. we’re building a mock door model, which means i get to learn how to weld! along with other manufacturing techniques.
video game orchestra: i’m planning to rehearse and perform with vgo again. i did have plans to try arranging something, but i never really found the time for it. having an opportunity to play violin regularly is very important to me nonetheless.
economics urop: i’m working with my professor (who I met through concourse) on a urop examining the corporate bond market. i won’t say too much about it here, but we are doing lots of cool things and i’m excited to see where it goes!
firespinning: i kind of got less involved in firespinning as the fall semester went by due to being hosed, but i want to get back into in the spring. i’m currently planning to go to the weekly spinjams, and hopefully perform at some point in the future.
music production collective: i took a class about dj culture and performance over iap (more on this in a future blog post?). long story short: i finally feel more confident about my djing abilities and i want to keep practicing and performing. mpc is holding regular dj meetups, so i plan on going and potentially playing at some of them. besides djing, i’m also hoping to have more time to produce this semester; my unofficial goal is to make at least one track each month.
iii. other things
i’m on tEp haus food! which basically means i get free food at tEp in exchange for helping cook or clean once a week. i’m happy about this because i enjoy hanging out at tEp, and my cook shifts have been fun so far.
i’m doing mit’s getfit challenge with some friends to try to exercise more. getfit is a “competition” where teams log their amount of exercise each week and try to meet a weekly goal. i want to get back into running and strength training, and getfit helps a lot because it promotes accountability.
i will also actually try to blog regularly this semester (and hopefully into the future)! my goal is at least one blog post a week. i haven’t been writing recently and i feel, i don’t know, antsy? this blog post isn’t too serious, but i want to eventually delve into some more personal topics, which is why this blog is somewhat anonymized.
i’m not quite sure how to conclude a blog post like this, so let’s just call this the end. thank you for reading and see you soon ;)
lyricist 