"Hey guys, I think I'm just going to sleep."

Friday, January 29, 2010 at 10:21 PM
Thursday night, I'm about to go out to celebrate my new friend Taylor's 21st birthday. This promised to be an epic night of drinking and afterwards, stumbling around for food. Except, it happened to my house mate Jen, and a little earlier than expected. See, she decided to pre-game a shit ton bit before going to the bars. She barely makes it out the door, and we have to carry her back because there was no way she was going to be doing anything more than sleeping that night.

Fast forward a few hours, and we text Evan, who is back at the house, to check up on Jen's status. We receive this back in response:


"i can't move her. breathing\asleep."
- Evan

Update on Life and MIT

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 12:08 AM
So I figure it's time for a bigger update on what's happening in my life. In December, I decided that I was too stressed out to finish school, and that I needed a break from school. Luckily, MIT treats their students well in this regard. I was granted a medical leave from school, for mental health reasons (stress, lack of motivation). Now, I'm currently back home, taking some time off.

Apparently, it's very common for MIT students to be discouraged by their studies, and so taking time off is often a good way to recharge. I talked to the administrators in my department, before deciding on taking leave. They were really helpful, and helped me feel more comfortable about the situation I was in. If you get accepted to MIT, you definitely have the talent and skills necessary to succeed there. The only question that remains is your motivation; whether you want to or not. It really put me at ease when I heard the administrator's view on things. It showed me that they were more sympathetic to the students than I realized.

I write this portion because I want to let people know that it's ok to take a break from school. Sometimes we all just need a little R&R, before we get back on track. It's so important to be doing something that you enjoy.

Taking this break, I'm feeling pretty good so far. It's been almost a month now since I've been back. I've spent the majority of my time hanging out with old friends, as well as making a few new ones. The first thing I did was call up my old friends who were still in school. The second thing I did, which might be more important, is to move out of my parents house into my own place. I did this for two reasons: to avoid being cooped up at home, and to have my own life. Meeting new people helped a lot for me, especially since a lot of my good friends had already graduated (along with me). Finally, having no obligations or stress is wonderful. I'm going to be sure to cherish this.

I want to leave you with this message: It's really important to be happy with what you're doing in life. Particularly, it's ok to pause and assess whether what you're doing is what you want. I'm one month removed from the constant grind that MIT brings, and I feel great. :) can't wait to see what the next few months bring.

Freaking cold!!!

Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 12:32 AM
Man, it's like 0 degrees here in Ann Arbor. Freaking Cold!!!

Sigh, can't wait for spring now.

Back? Maybe

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at 6:08 PM
I guess I'll try to start writing again. I'll start off by recapping what happened since I last wrote. I had a really tough time at MIT throughout the semester, and I finally decided that I needed a break. Turns out MIT has said that I could go take my break, and come back whenever I want. Sweet.

Extra Charges on Airplanes

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 10:27 AM

Not sure if I'm back to writing yet, but here's an entry I wrote previously, before Thanksgiving:

I’m writing this from midair right now, en route from Boston to Detroit. I’m traveling back home from MIT to spend Thanksgiving with my family. I just finished my apple juice and delicious ginger snap cookies when I started thinking about the costs of what I just incurred.

A drink normally costs about 1$ from the vending machine, and a snack of cookies might cost around 75 cents. For simplicity, we will say I just ate 2$ worth of snacks on this flight. However, we have to account for the screening costs of bring stuff onto an airplane (screening for safety, government guidelines, etc.). Of course, there is the cost in air fuel to fly this stuff; how many gallons of pricey jet fuel does it take to hurtle 16oz at +400mph over 500 miles? I’m going to guess it’s more than 1 gallon, so that’s another 3 bucks added on. In total, I wouldn’t be surprised if the added cost to me of enjoying an apple juice + ice, with some gingersnap cookies is more than 10$ out of my wallet.

This is why I’m not so angry when airlines start to charge extra for little things such as sitting in the exit row or checking in bags, and dropping other services altogether. This stuff that we used to enjoy, costs money! And frankly, I might prefer to save some money on my flight ticket. Obviously, this opinion changes a little for longer flights.

I’ll follow up this post with an estimate of the cost to hurtle 1lb through the air for 500 miles. When I land and have access to the internet, that is.

From 10,000 ft in the air,

Howitzer

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