I got my Translink pass in the mail yesterday. I really like this thing. Takes away the hassle of carrying around exact change and dealing with fare machines. This card is like a multi-transit pass. I'm going to be using it on Caltrain, BART, MUNI, and AC Transit. This basically covers getting in and out of Palo Alto, getting around SF and Oakland. You can even load monthly passes onto it. There are a still a few kinks in this thing (since it's still new) but I think it's pretty good overall.
I went out to San Francisco again earlier tonight for a William Barton Rogers reception. The WBR Society is for people who donate a certain amount to MIT. It's actually not a lot of money for current students and people fresh out of school. I had been debating whether or not to go since I have a midterm tomorrow (Friday) and didn't know anyone else who was going. But I think I've done all I can for the midterm tomorrow so I decided to go and see about networking. I thought the Translink card coming in the mail was a sign anyway.
Most people there were older but everyone was pretty social since the event is basically a social. There was some really good finger food. It was held at a common room in a really nice condo complex that looks out onto the Bay and the Bay Bridge. I chatted with some random people and then met Mitra '07, who was one of the MIT admissions bloggers. She remembered me from my high school send-away event. I was impressed. That was a long time ago.
There was a talk by the Smart Cities group who are working on these small cars, scooters, and motorized bikes. It's a group in the Media Lab who've developed these things and are looking to implement them in big cities like Zip Cars. Their ideas sound really awesome. I wish I have one of these motorized bicycles. You can pedal whenever and switch to the motor when you're going uphill. The guy was great and there were some good questions and discussion at the end.
The great thing about being a civil engineer is that you get to tell people things like, "oh yeah, I worked on the xxx project." Everyone thought it was so cool that I had worked on the BART project. And I talked to one guy who was really excited about the MUNI Central Subway project because he lives south of Market and this would let him go north into Chinatown really easily. I can't wait to work on Transbay. That would definitely be a great conversation starter.
Looking forward to finishing my midterm tomorrow. I think I'll go to the gym after that and then grocery shopping. Going home Saturday afternoon. My first day of work is next Tuesday! Now that I'm working in the city, I can go to even more of these events in SF. If they're on the right day, then I can just go after work and wouldn't be making a huge effort to get out of south bay just to attend something.
Showing posts with label MIT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MIT. Show all posts
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Friday, April 18, 2008
The next 4 months...
Did you know it snowed here in Cambridge while I was away? Amazing. It was so warm in January and February that we gave up all hopes of snow. Anyway, glad I managed to miss out on terribly cold weather this year. I was only in Boston for one blizzard.
Life this past week has been really boring. All I'm doing all day every day is studying. I don't have any more engineering classes to go to. My Chinese classes don't start until late next week and they're 3 hours of class max. I've found out that I really like routines. I am much more efficient with things if I have more things to do and less time to do them. E.g. sophomore year, very productive.
So somehow I will survive through this monotony for another 3 weeks. And then I have to do these projects which, for various reasons are not looking too exciting for me. I don't plan to put a whole lot of time into them anyway. Hopefully my group mates will be chill about these projects as well. My Chinese classes will end in 4 weeks and then I don't have exams for them until probably the first week of June. So after my Engineering exams are over, I plan to do some traveling around Britain and Europe, probably on the weekends. I'll still have plenty of time for these projects and studying for Chinese.
Life will get even more exciting starting the last week of May. Yalu is coming to visit on the 28th (a Tuesday) and is staying in England with me until June 1st (Sunday). So we'll spend some time in Cambridge and then head over to London that weekend. I think the plan is to try to see as much of London as possible as well as hopping over to see Stonehenge and maybe Bath. Again, I have Chinese exams that following week and will also be finishing up my engineering projects. So after that Friday, June 6th, I'll be free of all academic stuff.
So that Saturday, June 7th, Yalu and I are planning to meet in Amsterdam and stay there for a night. I'll fly there while she takes the train. And then I'll spend the 2nd week of June in Paris with Yalu. And then that Saturday I'm taking the Eurostar back to London to meet my parents and Victor who are coming to visit. The plan for their trip is that we're going to Cambridge first and staying for 2 nights. Then I'll pack up everything and we'll all go to London and stay there for 3 nights. We'll spend a good part of one day in Oxford as well. I don't think we can fully explore London in that amount of time but we'll be able to see all the tourist attractions. That should be enough. It's not too rushed although our last day in England will just be getting up and going to the airport. Not very exciting but it's enough. I mean, it's not like we're staying anywhere for only one night, which is what I usually do and that's pretty rushed for a family trip.
So I'll be flying back to the States on June 19th and then starting work on the 23rd. That would conclude my year in Europe. Well, I wasn't really in Europe for a whole year, more like 9 months of a period of 13 months starting from late May 2007 to late June 2008. Will I come back again? Probably. MIT has this program where you can take Spanish II in Madrid...
Anyhow, this summer: I'm planning to work 9 weeks, stopping on August 22nd. I'll probably spend the weekend with my family before flying back to Boston in the middle of orientation week. Yalu is not going to be back from Paris until the 27th, a Wednesday. Which is not bad since I was planning on going back on a Tuesday or Wednesday anyway. That would give me the weekend at home and a couple of days to straighten out things at home. And when I get to Boston, I'll have time to unpack, get over the jetlag, and maybe do a fun thing or two in Boston before the school year starts and while it is still warm. My brother will mostly likely start school the week I fly back to Boston so no point in me staying home for that whole week anyway. Yup, thinking about the summer, picturing a blue sky, bright sun, and warmth on my skin made me happy.
Life this past week has been really boring. All I'm doing all day every day is studying. I don't have any more engineering classes to go to. My Chinese classes don't start until late next week and they're 3 hours of class max. I've found out that I really like routines. I am much more efficient with things if I have more things to do and less time to do them. E.g. sophomore year, very productive.
So somehow I will survive through this monotony for another 3 weeks. And then I have to do these projects which, for various reasons are not looking too exciting for me. I don't plan to put a whole lot of time into them anyway. Hopefully my group mates will be chill about these projects as well. My Chinese classes will end in 4 weeks and then I don't have exams for them until probably the first week of June. So after my Engineering exams are over, I plan to do some traveling around Britain and Europe, probably on the weekends. I'll still have plenty of time for these projects and studying for Chinese.
Life will get even more exciting starting the last week of May. Yalu is coming to visit on the 28th (a Tuesday) and is staying in England with me until June 1st (Sunday). So we'll spend some time in Cambridge and then head over to London that weekend. I think the plan is to try to see as much of London as possible as well as hopping over to see Stonehenge and maybe Bath. Again, I have Chinese exams that following week and will also be finishing up my engineering projects. So after that Friday, June 6th, I'll be free of all academic stuff.
So that Saturday, June 7th, Yalu and I are planning to meet in Amsterdam and stay there for a night. I'll fly there while she takes the train. And then I'll spend the 2nd week of June in Paris with Yalu. And then that Saturday I'm taking the Eurostar back to London to meet my parents and Victor who are coming to visit. The plan for their trip is that we're going to Cambridge first and staying for 2 nights. Then I'll pack up everything and we'll all go to London and stay there for 3 nights. We'll spend a good part of one day in Oxford as well. I don't think we can fully explore London in that amount of time but we'll be able to see all the tourist attractions. That should be enough. It's not too rushed although our last day in England will just be getting up and going to the airport. Not very exciting but it's enough. I mean, it's not like we're staying anywhere for only one night, which is what I usually do and that's pretty rushed for a family trip.
So I'll be flying back to the States on June 19th and then starting work on the 23rd. That would conclude my year in Europe. Well, I wasn't really in Europe for a whole year, more like 9 months of a period of 13 months starting from late May 2007 to late June 2008. Will I come back again? Probably. MIT has this program where you can take Spanish II in Madrid...
Anyhow, this summer: I'm planning to work 9 weeks, stopping on August 22nd. I'll probably spend the weekend with my family before flying back to Boston in the middle of orientation week. Yalu is not going to be back from Paris until the 27th, a Wednesday. Which is not bad since I was planning on going back on a Tuesday or Wednesday anyway. That would give me the weekend at home and a couple of days to straighten out things at home. And when I get to Boston, I'll have time to unpack, get over the jetlag, and maybe do a fun thing or two in Boston before the school year starts and while it is still warm. My brother will mostly likely start school the week I fly back to Boston so no point in me staying home for that whole week anyway. Yup, thinking about the summer, picturing a blue sky, bright sun, and warmth on my skin made me happy.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Life as a Student at MIT and Cambridge
Last night I went to a dinner sponsored by the Boston Society of Civil Engineers. They have a Student Night dinner every year, mostly to hand out scholarships and other awards. The program was a nice dinner, followed by a lecture on Saving Venice by the former department head of Course 1. The last part was the presentation of the scholarships. It was pretty cool to see other Course 1 students again and I had a chance to talk to some 1E people who I haven't seen for a long time.
The part that I really appreciated was the statement by both our current and former department head of how students are the life and blood of the department. The dinner cost $40 for professional members to attend. But our department had paid for all its students to attend. (There were students from other schools as well, namely Northeastern and Tufts.)
This type of thing would NEVER happen in Cambridge. There is a student organization in Cambridge for the Engineering Department but you have to pay for everything. You have to pay for membership, dinners, etc.
At MIT, we have CEESA (Civil and Enivronmental Engineering Student Association). CEESA membership is free. There is free food provided at meetings, courtesy of the department. They hold study breaks, arrange tutoring sessions, and will even talk to professors on behalf of students to get things like more office hours, less homework, or even to inform the professor that he/she is going too fast and should slow down. Last year, the community service chair of CEESA organized a group to volunteer at the Boston marathon and the department paid for the renting of a car.
I just feel that the Cambridge University Engineering Department does not care about its students. Students are not their first priority. Maybe that's just the way they are, the way they do things. But I don't like it. As an undergrad there, I don't even have a place to eat lunch. Which is crazy because the graduate students get a lounge where they can buy hot food and professors get a huge tea room next door where they can hang out. What do the undergrads get? Vending machines in the basement. It's not like this in other parts of Cambridge. In the Sigwick site, where a lot of the humanities are, there is a small cafe (run by the university) where you can buy hot food for lunch. In the Asian and Middle Eastern Faculty, where I'm taking Chinese, there is a common room for ALL students and faculty to use.
The more I think about things like this, the more I realize how much MIT cares about its students. The administration really tries to take care of the undergrads. They look after our well-being, not just academically, but physically and mentally. It's not perfect but at least they try.
The part that I really appreciated was the statement by both our current and former department head of how students are the life and blood of the department. The dinner cost $40 for professional members to attend. But our department had paid for all its students to attend. (There were students from other schools as well, namely Northeastern and Tufts.)
This type of thing would NEVER happen in Cambridge. There is a student organization in Cambridge for the Engineering Department but you have to pay for everything. You have to pay for membership, dinners, etc.
At MIT, we have CEESA (Civil and Enivronmental Engineering Student Association). CEESA membership is free. There is free food provided at meetings, courtesy of the department. They hold study breaks, arrange tutoring sessions, and will even talk to professors on behalf of students to get things like more office hours, less homework, or even to inform the professor that he/she is going too fast and should slow down. Last year, the community service chair of CEESA organized a group to volunteer at the Boston marathon and the department paid for the renting of a car.
I just feel that the Cambridge University Engineering Department does not care about its students. Students are not their first priority. Maybe that's just the way they are, the way they do things. But I don't like it. As an undergrad there, I don't even have a place to eat lunch. Which is crazy because the graduate students get a lounge where they can buy hot food and professors get a huge tea room next door where they can hang out. What do the undergrads get? Vending machines in the basement. It's not like this in other parts of Cambridge. In the Sigwick site, where a lot of the humanities are, there is a small cafe (run by the university) where you can buy hot food for lunch. In the Asian and Middle Eastern Faculty, where I'm taking Chinese, there is a common room for ALL students and faculty to use.
The more I think about things like this, the more I realize how much MIT cares about its students. The administration really tries to take care of the undergrads. They look after our well-being, not just academically, but physically and mentally. It's not perfect but at least they try.
Monday, April 7, 2008
A lame post...
I seem to be behind in my plan of getting work done. =( So sad... I don't think I learned too much these two terms. Not looking forward to taking these exams.
Other then attempts to study, during this past week at MIT:
- gone swimming twice
- got certified in CPR
- watched 21
- played Starcraft
- went to Le's at Harvard
- went on an Easter egg hunt
Hm... I'm sure there's more. I should start bringing my camera around with me.
Other then attempts to study, during this past week at MIT:
- gone swimming twice
- got certified in CPR
- watched 21
- played Starcraft
- went to Le's at Harvard
- went on an Easter egg hunt
Hm... I'm sure there's more. I should start bringing my camera around with me.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Summer Plans
So I've decided to take PB's offer and work in San Francisco this summer. Probably not as exciting of a location as spending the summer in Europe or China but I really think I will learn a lot with them. The other two places are probably not as keen to have me actually working. I also realized I don't have any experience working for an American engineering consulting company, which is what I want to do after graduating.
Next fall, I think I will apply to some grad schools as well. Apparently, Berkeley is the best in civil engineering. At least US News thinks so. Need to do more research into this topic. Hope I'll manage to study for the FE/EIT exam at home...
Anyway, now that I'm back at MIT, I'm starting to study for the Easter term exams. I think I was supposed to start a long time ago. Oh wells, can't turn back time.
Next fall, I think I will apply to some grad schools as well. Apparently, Berkeley is the best in civil engineering. At least US News thinks so. Need to do more research into this topic. Hope I'll manage to study for the FE/EIT exam at home...
Anyway, now that I'm back at MIT, I'm starting to study for the Easter term exams. I think I was supposed to start a long time ago. Oh wells, can't turn back time.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Back at MIT...again
So after 7.5 hours of flying, I finally arrived in Boston and was picked up by Yalu and Mike. It would've been a bit painful to drag my stuff all over Boston and Cambridge had they not been there to pick me up so that was great.
Within a couple of hours of being back, Yalu decided to put me to work. I helped her do some surveys for her class, picked stuff up at the Galleria, and... well, I've also went food shopping and have been cooking. I miss cooking.
I miss a lot of things. Especially the people at MIT. I don't fit in at Cambridge. I really don't. When I first got to MIT, I really felt like I fit into the place. Not so at Cambridge. These people party and drink too much. And study too little. When we (the CME students) held a study break, we had to explain what a study break was, and we started the explanation by "well, at MIT, we do this thing called studying..."
And I'm still studying even though the term ended. (Can't believe this) but I borrowed some books from the library and actually did a couple of hours of studying earlier tonight. I even went to class today.
Within a couple of hours of being back, Yalu decided to put me to work. I helped her do some surveys for her class, picked stuff up at the Galleria, and... well, I've also went food shopping and have been cooking. I miss cooking.
I miss a lot of things. Especially the people at MIT. I don't fit in at Cambridge. I really don't. When I first got to MIT, I really felt like I fit into the place. Not so at Cambridge. These people party and drink too much. And study too little. When we (the CME students) held a study break, we had to explain what a study break was, and we started the explanation by "well, at MIT, we do this thing called studying..."
And I'm still studying even though the term ended. (Can't believe this) but I borrowed some books from the library and actually did a couple of hours of studying earlier tonight. I even went to class today.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Back at MIT
I'm back at MIT, sitting in Yalu's room, on her couch. Yalu's been trying to do work while Mike and I keep distracting her. Poor Yalu...
There was an accident inside the tunnels this morning. I was on the Silver Line and as we approached the toll plaza, there were cars on each side of us stopping and backing up. I thought I was going crazy. I had never seen cars trying to back up so far before. We ended up just sitting there for a 40 minutes idling and not being able to do anything. I made it to Yalu's room just before she had to leave for her 10am class.
I took a 2 hour nap and then went to the career fair. The fair was not very productive as far as career-seeking went. But I got a lot of cool stuff. Then I ate a whole thing of teriyaki chicken and bobba milk tea. The chicken was good but the bobba was not. The bubbles were too big for the straw and they kept getting stuck. That ruined my meal.
Then I picked up my passport (with the UK visa in it!!!) from the Study Aboard office. I met Jen Cook. Very nice person. I signed up for a UPOP exit interview and then headed to meet Professor Wilson. I convinced him that it made sense for me to take 2 languages because to take 8 technical classes would kill me.
He arranged a pizza gathering of current and past CME students. Mahalia had to go somewhere so it was me, Vicky (who went to Cambridge last year), and Ian and Rebecca who are the students from Cambridge. Apparently, Course 1 students who went over haven't been doing too well but no one really fails any classes. Phew!
There was an accident inside the tunnels this morning. I was on the Silver Line and as we approached the toll plaza, there were cars on each side of us stopping and backing up. I thought I was going crazy. I had never seen cars trying to back up so far before. We ended up just sitting there for a 40 minutes idling and not being able to do anything. I made it to Yalu's room just before she had to leave for her 10am class.
I took a 2 hour nap and then went to the career fair. The fair was not very productive as far as career-seeking went. But I got a lot of cool stuff. Then I ate a whole thing of teriyaki chicken and bobba milk tea. The chicken was good but the bobba was not. The bubbles were too big for the straw and they kept getting stuck. That ruined my meal.
Then I picked up my passport (with the UK visa in it!!!) from the Study Aboard office. I met Jen Cook. Very nice person. I signed up for a UPOP exit interview and then headed to meet Professor Wilson. I convinced him that it made sense for me to take 2 languages because to take 8 technical classes would kill me.
He arranged a pizza gathering of current and past CME students. Mahalia had to go somewhere so it was me, Vicky (who went to Cambridge last year), and Ian and Rebecca who are the students from Cambridge. Apparently, Course 1 students who went over haven't been doing too well but no one really fails any classes. Phew!
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