First of all, I am doing way too many things this semester. But I was lucky enough to start off the semester with an impromptu photoshoot with my little in my sorority, Jessica! We ran off with some free balloons at the end of an event and pranced around campus:
(Jessica is 5000 million times more fabulous than I am.)
And then school started. Womp.
You may not know this, but I am hoping to concentrate in Comparative Media Studies at MIT. Every undergrad has to complete a humanities concentration, and CMS has amazing classes like CMS.631 (Systems Visualization), CMS.634 (Designing Interactions). The CMS concentration also includes classes from other courses, so this fall I am taking 4.344 (Advanced Photography and Related Media). This fall the theme is "Non-Capitalist Life", which is a bit over my head, but I'm trying my best. In any case, it's forcing me to lug around my camera with the goal of shooting at least 24 images per week.
I've never taken a formal art class, but I can't express how nice it is to have a class that makes you actively think about photography as... art. I've done a good amount of photography throughout MIT, but lately my goal has always been to make my photography appealing enough to get as many Facebook likes as possible so I can live with myself at night. Very rarely do you get a chance to think about art for art's sake at MIT, but hopefully this class will get me into that mindset. There are a number of great art and art history classes at MIT that can count towards a CMS contentration or Arts, Culture and Technology concentration. Or you can just take them for fun!
A friend told me that a good way to stick to your commitments is to tell other people, so I'm going to share everything that's I'm investing time into this semester à la Michael C, '16.
Here's my fall semester schedule as a course 6-3 junior:
6.046 Introduction to Algorithms: The algorithms course that follows 6.006 Introduction to Algorithms, so I would instead call it "6.046: GETTING DOWN AND DIRTY WITH CLRS"
6.170 Software Studio: imagine the shotgun wedding of 6.005 Software Construction and 6.813 User Interface Design and Implementation, perhaps?
6.004 Computation Structures: A foundation class for most course 6 students, and hopefully one of the last electrical engineering classes I'll encounter. For your own benefit.
6.UAT Thesis Preparation: A presentation/public speaking class that every course 6 student has to take to prepare for their thesis. Also a good experience to have for life.
6.UAR Preparation for Research: Another research preparation class. Every course 6 student will have to take some variation of this class, but the one I am taking now goes hand in hand with my SuperUROP (blog post on that later, but check it out if you are interested in course 6 research, UROPs or projects!)
4.344 Advanced Photography and Related Media: Themed around "Non-Capitalist Life", the class consists of readings, discussions, presentations and learning to work with digital and/or analog cameras. This will be my first time in a darkroom!
I'm also involved with a couple of things on campus:
Undergraduate Association, Public Relations Chair: This year I'm lucky enough to head Public Relations for the Undergraduate Association (UA), or the student government of our entire undergraduate population. I'll be making sure everyone on campus knows about what we stand for and what we do, and what resources we offer (a bunch!) The UA is a great way to get involved in student leadership and learn more about the inner workings of MIT, and you get to meet other people who are just as excited as you are.
2015 Class Council, Publicity Chair: I have similar goals and duties as Publicity Chair for the 2015 Class Council, but I get to engage more with my graduating class directly. We organize events and ways for the class to come together as a whole and take a break from the junior year grind. :)
Kappa Alpha Theta, Co-Apparel Chair: I try to make infinite amounts of apparel for my sorority. Check out Anastassia B. '16 wearing a design I made :)
Asian American Association, Webmaster/Historian: I design and maintain the AAA website and our social media presence when we engage with all MIT students with our events. I also try to snap as many photos as I can to document all the fun we have. :)
Course 6 Tour Guide: I try to give course 6 tours whenever I can, and they are incredibly fun and (hopefully) informative. If you are interested in course 6 at all and you can make it to our campus, schedule a tour and maybe I can answer your questions in person!
and finally... I'm going to blog more this semester. (It's bolded because it's serious.) Like, way way way way more.
Interested in any classes I'm taking or things I'm involved in on campus? Comment or email me! Until then... back to work.