A Day in Pictures

 This is a cool tent in which we had Convocation. It makes me think of The Night Circus, which is a magical book that most everyone should read. Unless it's not your style, which is a sad possibility.

Convocation was a half hour of President Reif welcoming us to the MIT community and I was told beforehand that we would officially be frosh instead of prefrosh after this event, but I don't feel particularly different and was gallavanting as a happy frosh before this incident. So there we are. It's a circus tent and I like it, here is a picture of it.

Here before you is a sidewalk that I see quite a bit. On the right is the Zesiger Center, or Z-Center, which houses the athletics. Farther down the sidewalk is the track, hid behind the scrubby trees you see there, and some soccer fields and tennis courts. I'm in the Z Center a lot for pool running in the morning with XC, plus we have a beautiful indoor track that I am going to develop a love-hate relationship with.

And then I found a garden. I've walked by it so much - but it's bricked in and I never really noticed it before. There's a bunny who lives around it, and he comes out at twilight and just hops around. The garden was peaceful and nice because I was the only person there, but Baker House right next door is having a party tonight so it was a really weird but for some reason also really awesome experience to be in such a lovely place while listening to bass-thumping pop music. I didn't want to leave, but eventually I remembered I had to do laundry. Eh.

But before I got back to my dorm I spied it from afar. This is the track, with turf soccer/football field in the middle, and off in the distance, behind the yellow goalposts, you see the glorious Simmons. There'll be a close-up in a bit, and eventually, probably tomorrow while I'm stressing about my First Year Residence Exchange application, I'll tell you all about the awesomeness that is the Sponge.

For now, two cents on what I actually did today and I will finish with one of the most beautiful things I have seen and why I am in love with the city. Today I pool ran with the XC team and then I went to Convocation. I took a math diagnostic exam for the purpose of placing me in a physics class, and although I didn't exactly ace it, my mind rejoiced in the exercise. I'm such a MIT student. I skipped the make-up Freshman Essay Evaluation, which just means I get to take a writing-intensive communications class, to go run. I did a 6 mile out-and-back along the Charles. My hamstrings are so sore. Ice is happening tomorrow, whether I want to venture into the training room or not. I have to be able to do the workout tomorrow - fartleks.

Dinner was with my Orientation group, which is 12 of us freshman put together randomly with an upperclassman leader. And then I went and found the garden, and then remembered I had laundry, and now I'm here, writing. I might go check out the party that's happening on top of the Sponge tonight.

But first - I was walking down the street and the sun was setting, and I saw this and it was beautiful and you get to see it too. Goodnight.