I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break! Whenever the calendar flips to
January 1st, I like to look back at the past year and reflect on
everything that’s happened. It helps me to gauge my progress and figure out if
I’m going in the right direction. The past year had many ups and downs, but overall
I think I came out a more mature and responsible person. One of the interesting
experiences I’ve had at MIT has been joining a fraternity,( Phi Delta Theta. )
I know that there are many negative stereotypes associated with American
fraternities, but I can say that at least at MIT, many of those are false. We
don’t do any of the crazy antics often portrayed by the American media or engage
in painful initiation rituals. We help our new members to adjust to college life
and educate them so they grow into mature young adults. Living with a group of
forty or so guys has been an edifying social experience. It’s taught me a great
deal about responsibility, not only to yourself, but to others around you. Being
forced into situations that require resolution through open discussion has
taught me the value of communication in building quality interpersonal
relationships. We are a self-governed organization with elected officer
positions, and we are responsible for maintaining our house (cleaning,
organizing events, etc.). I am currently the house Chorister, so I am
responsible for teaching members the songs of our fraternity. This is a
relatively small position, but I enjoy it because it aligns well with my interests
in choral music.
The other major campus activity I’m involved with is the MIT Technology Fair
(http://www.mittechfair.com/). We are a completely student-run
organization whose mission is to educate the MIT community about new
developments in technology. Every year, we hold a large technology exposition on
campus where companies and research labs from all sectors of industry come to
display their latest products and technological innovations. It is a massive
event: this February, over 70 companies and labs are coming, up from about 35
last year. Such a large event requires year long planning; we have been planning
this February’s event for the last eight months.
In addition to the day’s events, we also hold a large networking banquet in
the evening which I am in charge of. We invite a keynote speaker to expound his
or her vision of the future of technology, and provide students a chance to
speak one-on-one with company representatives about employment opportunities.
Last year, we recruited the Chief Technology Officer of BBN Technologies (http://www.bbn.com/) to speak. This
year, we are excited to bring Craig Nevill-Manning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Nevill-Manning), the
Engineering Director at Google’s New York office and inventor of Froogle. Check
out some photos from last year’s event! Organizing this event has taught me a
great deal about leadership and teamwork—managing people and motivating and
inspiring them is far from trivial!
As I’m typing this now, I’m at Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. waiting for
my connection to San Francisco, California. January is an off semester for MIT and is
known as Independent Activities Period (http://web.mit.edu/iap). Basically, you can do whatever you
like this month, whether it's taking extra classes at school, staying at home,
or working a job. I’m going to be in San Francisco working with a friend of mine
on his start-up company (http://www.xobni.com/). We’re going to be developing in C#,
Microsoft’s version of Java. It should be an interesting foray into what working
for a start-up is like. I’m planning on having my own start-up after I graduate
from college, so I think it will be a worthwhile experience. Plus, I’m a big fan
of California in general—the weather is wonderful and the city is the right mix
of urban and suburban.
Well, I have to catch my flight now. Do any of you have any good New Year's
resolutions? I haven’t actually put much thought into it, but I’d like to build
(and maintain) some muscle this year. Hopefully I’ll think of something more
meaningful by the time I land in California.
翼博故事: 麻省理工的大学生活 1
Hello Everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break! Whenever the calendar flips to January 1st, I like to look back at the past year and reflect on everything that’s happened. It helps me to gauge my progress and figure out if I’m going in the right direction. The past year had many ups and downs, but overall I think I came out a more mature and responsible person. One of the interesting experiences I’ve had at MIT has been joining a fraternity,( Phi Delta Theta. )
I know that there are many negative stereotypes associated with American fraternities, but I can say that at least at MIT, many of those are false. We don’t do any of the crazy antics often portrayed by the American media or engage in painful initiation rituals. We help our new members to adjust to college life and educate them so they grow into mature young adults. Living with a group of forty or so guys has been an edifying social experience. It’s taught me a great deal about responsibility, not only to yourself, but to others around you. Being forced into situations that require resolution through open discussion has taught me the value of communication in building quality interpersonal relationships. We are a self-governed organization with elected officer positions, and we are responsible for maintaining our house (cleaning, organizing events, etc.). I am currently the house Chorister, so I am responsible for teaching members the songs of our fraternity. This is a relatively small position, but I enjoy it because it aligns well with my interests in choral music.
The other major campus activity I’m involved with is the MIT Technology Fair (http://www.mittechfair.com/). We are a completely student-run organization whose mission is to educate the MIT community about new developments in technology. Every year, we hold a large technology exposition on campus where companies and research labs from all sectors of industry come to display their latest products and technological innovations. It is a massive event: this February, over 70 companies and labs are coming, up from about 35 last year. Such a large event requires year long planning; we have been planning this February’s event for the last eight months.
In addition to the day’s events, we also hold a large networking banquet in the evening which I am in charge of. We invite a keynote speaker to expound his or her vision of the future of technology, and provide students a chance to speak one-on-one with company representatives about employment opportunities. Last year, we recruited the Chief Technology Officer of BBN Technologies (http://www.bbn.com/) to speak. This year, we are excited to bring Craig Nevill-Manning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Nevill-Manning), the Engineering Director at Google’s New York office and inventor of Froogle. Check out some photos from last year’s event! Organizing this event has taught me a great deal about leadership and teamwork—managing people and motivating and inspiring them is far from trivial!
As I’m typing this now, I’m at Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. waiting for my connection to San Francisco, California. January is an off semester for MIT and is known as Independent Activities Period (http://web.mit.edu/iap). Basically, you can do whatever you like this month, whether it's taking extra classes at school, staying at home, or working a job. I’m going to be in San Francisco working with a friend of mine on his start-up company (http://www.xobni.com/). We’re going to be developing in C#, Microsoft’s version of Java. It should be an interesting foray into what working for a start-up is like. I’m planning on having my own start-up after I graduate from college, so I think it will be a worthwhile experience. Plus, I’m a big fan of California in general—the weather is wonderful and the city is the right mix of urban and suburban.
Well, I have to catch my flight now. Do any of you have any good New Year's resolutions? I haven’t actually put much thought into it, but I’d like to build (and maintain) some muscle this year. Hopefully I’ll think of something more meaningful by the time I land in California.
Best wishes,
Kevin
---------------------------------------------------------------
2006年麻省理工的Technology Fair,翼博在他主持的晚间大型networking banquet上做开场白.
the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of BBN Technologies为那年的keynote speaker. 翼博在2005年暑期在BBN做的internship.
这些是帮助翼博主持banquet的同学合影
翼博和几位助手同学的合影
去年的麻省理工的Technology Fair的部分照片. 今年的Tech Fair在二月分举行.