Just A Small Town Girl

Just A Small Town Girl Well hey there, blogosphere. Newbie #4 here. To the admissions officers here, Im known as the girl who draws things during class and has a somewhat-creepy fascination with all things Irish (I know, its only week 2 of being back and Matt McGann and Chris Peterson have already called me quirky and special translation: whyd we hired this creeper?). But [hopefully] to you guys, Im Elizabeth just your average course 20 (biological engineering) sophomore (whaaat, Im not the baby of campus anymore?? Crap.) here to tell you about life at this quirky and special place. I was born and raised in Columbia, MO â€" home of the Mizzou Tigers, Shakespeare’s Pizza, and the Kewpies (naked baby dolls that were my high school’s mascot. Seriously.) â€" located smack-dab in the middle of the U.S. While its definitely not as hick as it gets, Ive gotten stuck behind tractors driving to school, hit deer, etc. I couldnt fall asleep my first night at MIT because of the sirens and seeing the Boston skyline out of my window was a bizarre thing to get used to. But in addition to the people I met from Zimbabwe, NYC, and D.C., I found fellow midwesterners here with whom to reminisce about corn mazes. (And to reinforce stereotypes with, apparently.) On top of that, moving to a big city for college ended up giving me the best of both worlds Im a 10 minute walk away from the best parts of Boston, but I still get to fly to my awesome hometown for breaks. Sometimes I think my path to MIT wasnt a very normal one, but Ive realized after meeting so many people during my freshman year that there really isnt a normal path to MIT. I dreamt of becoming an entomologist and herpetologist from third to ninth grade (and admittedly, I still secretly dream of becoming an Animal Planet TV show host). I idolize Jeff Corwin like a nerdy MIT kid (eh, okay, I’m one to talk) idolizes Stephen Hawking. I flirted with the idea of a small, hipster liberal-arts college for most of high school. Its not as if suddenly I woke up one day wanting to be an engineer I just realized, over the course of my junior and senior years of high school, that the stuff I dreamed of doing as a kid was stuff that I still wanted to do with a little more science thrown in. I now get to study all sorts of bio-tastic things (not just snakes and bugs!) as a course 20 major, and while Im not exactly reading Plato under an oak tree (some folks here do, though!), I suppose I could b e found reading about Duke Ellington and Miles Davis in the lovely Killian Court last year (I took Jazz History and Jazz Harmony and Arranging, but Ill have to save that story for another post). Despite being a science nerd, my lifes really not all that enginerdy. When Im not in class, you can find me at home (Simmons Hall), playing cello in the symphony and Chamber Music Society, UROPing in Professor Bhatia’s bioengineering lab, chilling with my fellow Tech Catholic Community pals, showing off my child-care provider skills at the MIT Daycare, practicing for my future career in stand-up comedy, jammin with my musician hallmates, or â€" as of now â€" professionally blogging. I enjoy a good book of imagist poetry every now and then (see my liberal-artsyness is still intact even after coming to the institvte). I occasionally sleep as well. (Just jokes! I actually get around eight hours a night, believe it or not.) Id talk more, but I have a p-set to turn in and class to go to. In the meantime, tell me what you guys want to know more about classes, dorm life, the admissions process, etc. P.S. Hi mom!