[Debbie] Best four months ever!

I haven't done this much learning since I was a toddler.  Instead of going "Look ma, I can walk!" I'm going, "Look ma, I know why the nice lightbulbs are cheaper than the shitty lightbulbs!"  And ma goes, "That's nice, dear. Eat your mashed potatoes."  Man, I love those potatoes.  Once I finish them I'm going to start a cult so I can get the word out about MLOG.

This time last year, before I got into MIT, I had half as much confidence. But by finishing a mess of hard assignments, by working with accomplished global thinkers, and by tackling impossible but important and relevant problems, I've changed.  Last year I would have shrugged and said, "There's no way I can do that."  Now I can say, "Let's see what I can do."  And if I can't do it, I'll find someone who will.

I never had such career aspirations as I have now.  I can choose between companies and industries and coworkers.  I can have a lot more input into how problems are tackled.  I can apply my math and conversational skills and save a lot of money and time, and make lots of people happy!  How cool can life get?

All my fall classes were interesting and intelligent.  I loved it all, except for database management - and best of all, the problems I had in that class are being addressed.  I'm rather blown away by how well professors and support staff use feedback here.  I feel like my opinion counts.  I've never experienced that at any other school.

Another special, completely unexpected highlight of the semester was Professor Saar's leadership course.  I've taken personality tests before, but only in a vacuum.  By analyzing my soft skills in a structured setting, and giving them context, I have tripled my self-awareness and collected important action items for next semester.  MIT may make me a nicer person!

Superlative count: 20.  Exclamation count: 5.  I promise more in the next(wonderful) entry.(!)

Comments

[Eddie Rowe]

Debbie? From SVSM 96 @ ASU? Is that you? I'm not arrogant enough (anymore) to believe that you'd remember me just by my name, but here's hoping: eddierowe-at-juno-dot-com.