Niki / JP Collaborative MIT- Rio Blog

It was great to hear from a local student today who has made her way to MIT – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology – a world class university and seat of science on the planet. From Oxnard to Boston, this blog connects a superintendent of the Rio School District to a freshman (1st year woman student) at MIT who reached out to the District to help in these coronavirus times. Here goes a shot at some Q&A that might be interesting on several levels;

Q1: Tell us about yourself. How did you choose MIT and how has the freshman year been?

I have recently graduated from Rio Mesa High School, class of 2019, and am now a first-year at MIT, class of 2023.

When I was applying for colleges, I knew that I wanted to major in engineering. I had applied to all schools as an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Major, so my dream school was MIT. (Big emphasis on dream) (…although coming to MIT has shown me that my interests extend to many other majors so I’m leaning towards declaring as Computer Science with a minor in Anthropology or Brain and Cognitive Sciences).

It wasn’t about me choosing MIT. It was more of MIT choosing me.

The week prior to 3/14, PI day, I made all sorts of plans to volunteer with different organizations to distract myself from the rejection letter that was sure to come. PI day then came. I got out my laptop as soon as I got home from school. My friends and teachers were so supportive. They kept asking me if I had gotten in yet. They were so sure. I went to the decisions page three minutes before it was supposed to come out, so I completely skipped the introduction page and what do you know, I got in! It felt surreal for the next several months. I reread the page every so often, pinching myself, logging onto different platforms to see if it actually happened. Since I didn’t believe this outcome was possible, as soon as I told my parents that day, I left to go help put up posters and update websites for my internship as promised and missed the pizza party that my interviewer threw for alumni and newly adMITted students in our area.

Having said that, there was no way that I would NOT choose MIT.

I am more than happy to say that MIT has not let me down and have even exceeded my expectations.

My freshman year has been amazing, and it saddens me to a great extent that it was cut short.

Grades during our first year is on a pass no record policy. This means that we get credit for our registered classes as long as we pass, and if we fail, there is no record that we ever attempted to take that class and can try again another semester. MIT does this to teach us the balance between academics, health, and extracurricular activities. I learned that we don’t have to sacrifice any.

During the short-lived three quarters of my academic year, I have grown both personally and academically.

Academically, I completed Bioethics, Multivariable Calculus, Physics: Mechanics, Introduction to Biology, Introduction to Professional Success in Biological Engineering, and a freshman seminar called Mens et Manus: The Joy of MIT, where I was given the opportunity to visualize real-time music with frequency and isolate antibiotic-producing bacteria from soil samples I got from the middle of campus (including fluorescent-bacteria)! Currently, I am working towards completing Introduction to Python, Culture and Identity of Israel, Anthropology: Meaning of Life, Physics: Electricity and Magnetism, and Mathematics for Computer Science.

MIT also requires PE, so last semester, I took an archery class, which was such a blast! In regards to fitness, I felt like I couldn’t give up sports, but I wanted to venture out to try something new. I was the intramural team captain for badminton and ultimate frisbee for my dorm, Simmons Hall, and have played other IM sports with friends in Simmons. I am also a proud member of sMITe, MIT’s Women Ultimate Frisbee Team!

In terms of extracurriculars, I learned to find and keep with few projects and groups I love the most so I can put my best efforts into those rather than overextend myself to several. Currently, I am an Off-Campus Outreach Chair for Society of Women Engineers, and the chapter photographer deputy for my sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta.

Additionally, there have just been so many opportunities of growth through career fairs, workshops, and just gathering with friends to complete problem sets that take hours to finish half a problem. I’m also researching in Israel through the MISTI program this summer, fingers crossed, as long as it doesn’t get cancelled because of COVID-19.

Overall, the best part of MIT has been the strong friendships and communities I have joined: sMITe, Simmons, my lounge, Kappa Alpha Theta, SWE, First-Year Leadership Program, and more! I can’t wait for sophomore year!

Q2: Tell us about this multischool initiative you are involved with in these coronatimes? 

I have lived in Ventura County my entire life. It has provided me great friendships, fond memories and experiences and has shaped me to who I’ve become today. Therefore, when COVID-19 hit with the school shutdowns, I sought ways to meaningfully support my home community.

Luckily, I had friends who were thinking the same.

I am a part of CovEd, an undergrad-led initiative in response to the COVID-19 crisis to connect low-income K-12 students with undergraduate and postgraduate students for free virtual tutoring during these months. Our vision is to encourage and empower students who may be struggling with online schooling because of limited access to resources and technology or because of a difficult home situation. We also hope to minimize the extra work placed on teachers because of the transition to online classes.

We currently have more than 300 mentor volunteers so far from universities like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and MIT, and are continuing to expand through our university networks. You can find us on MIT’s Rapid Innovation Dashboard as CovEd!(https://innovation.mit.edu/rapid_inno_dash_c19/)

Here is our sign up form for students, teachers, or parents to fill out. Once it is filled out, we will match the student with one of our volunteers, who will reach out to the student by email to schedule the first session!

CovEd Academic Support Registration Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQbfc4hukSn67JZIRbXQDBXFM3iWPuHl4k51LIGFsUU64_Gw/viewform

I’m currently leading outreach for this in Ventura County to help reach as many students in need as possible. But, please share our flyer with anyone who might be interested in signing up! We would appreciate any help you can give us in our outreach process!

Let me know if you have any questions at nikikim@mit.edu. I would be happy to further discuss how we can best support our community!

Q3: What are the goals that CovEd hope to accomplish? Any ideas on how you will measure the work you all do?

Our goal is to encourage and empower students who may be struggling with online schooling because of limited access to resources and technology or because of a difficult home situation. We hope to reach students and motivate them during times as such. We also hope to minimize the extra work placed on teachers because of the transition to online classes. When the worst of this virus is over, we just hope that students are able to return to school without having fallen too far behind and teachers up and ready for the normal learning process again without having been burnt out.

We have sign-up forms that could provide a tangible measure of our work. However, it is less of measuring how much we could do for as many people as possible, but rather the quality and depth of positive change we could make to assist the well being of our community in need.