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10/11/2009 ThePlaz.com Update from MIT
My first semester is halfway over at MIT. My 3 hardest classes are 3.091 (Solid State Chemistry), 8.01 (Physics), 18.01 (Calculus). All 3 featured content that I also learned in high school, although at a far more difficult level. Physics forces you to work with derivatives and integrals to understand what's really going on. Calculus revolves around the proofs. If you are not perfectly clear on the rules of algebra, it's a real challenge. The work revolves around the edge cases which require you to really understand the material, not just memorize formulas. Chemistry is taught by a professor who is big into battery research, in fact he is fairly wealthy as a result. He gets really into his lectures too which makes it fun. You can watch them online
The first semester is pass/no record - which is a good because I still need to find the right amount of studying to do. I need to be better at memorizing what I am not interested in. I think I never properly focused the time on academics in high school. In Middle School, I had built up so much momentum that I coasted through the first part of high school, and in the second half, I was able to make it through thanks to grade inflation and cramming. I really need to get on top of things more. During the week, it's a challenge to get done everything I need for just these 3 classes - let alone get ahead. I've felt like I spend a few days really working to start being comfortable in one class and then I am behind in the others and it becomes a never ending cycle.
I am far more interested in my MAS.110 and 6.A53 classes, as well as my UROP. MAS.110 covers typographic design and how we interact and think about technology. It is an introduction to the Media Lab, part of the Media Lab freshman year program. 6.A53 only meets for a few hours each week and is fairly informal. One person owns a clothing store in New Jersey, and my advisor owns a [http:// rallypoint.info company making hi-tech gloves for the military]. In class, we are doing a basic introduction to China and we talk around business. Recently we have been planning for a business plan competition. I am wondering which is better - a business that grows agilely and uses rapid prototyping to get out in the market fast to test its ideas, and then finds funding ("bottom up") - or the slow and steady approach of building up relationships and team members for months before having a big launch ("top down").
I also have a UROP in the Media Lab, working on SocialSaver, a project to study if knowing what your friends are buying/doing will affect you. I created a mobile HTML menu (for iPhone), as well as UI and design for the group. It's great because I am working with 3 other undergraduates who have different skills in programming. Unlike the SeniorQuoter group study and Videre in Governor's School, everyone can program. In addition, there are so many parts that each person can work on a different part. One person is making a native iPhone app in Objective C, another is programming for Android in Java, and a third is working on the back end with Python in Django. My advisor, Kwan, manages the project and designs the interfaces to make all the parts work together. It's a really good experience to work on a highly-talented programming team. I'll post more about the project once it is public.
I also try and attend various talks and lectures. On Monday, I am going to Startup Bootcamp. Last week I went to a talk by the former mayor of Shanghai, and the week before that I listened to Noam Chomsky. I find these peripheral activities much more interesting than classes.
Geoov is done as well. You should be able to add your own geotagged photos on the map. My issue is always publicizing the sites. I need to do more to help that. I was also behind the Sprout contest on Facebook. For big brands, it shows the power of social networks to spread awareness without traditional advertising. For me, it shows what a big brand can accomplish just by putting its name on something; Tecker 911 was never even close to that level of popularity. Perhaps we should have been more adapting to the needs of our audience.
My Palm Pre has been very useful for the fast paced life at MIT. I can quickly check my schedule or look something up. I also use it a lot for talk; I went over by a few minutes last month! I am also getting to explore Boston. See my flickr photos.
--ThePlaz 00:54, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
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