IHTFP! (I Have Truly Found Paradise)
I GOT INTO MIT!!
Exactly what it says on the tin.
Man, it feels pretty awesome. I feel so relaxed now, since I've finally escaped the college application hell. I am genuinely so excited to start finishing up some projects and starting some new ones, now that I have the time.
Some things I want to do:
1. Drivers license. Man, I really need to get this...
2. Pick up the Japanese grind. I started in like 9th, but then I kind of stopped once I got busy. I really wanna pick this back up. I’m also interested in Korean, so maybe that’s on the horizon too?
3. Continuing my UT research! I love my research group at UT, and I want to finish up my projects before I leave for MIT. I would love to also try to get some work in during my undergrad, but I'll probably be too busy haha
4. PROJECTS!!!
1. satellite radio antenna receiver
2. ping pong + hand fan combination for trolling at tournaments
3. mosquito laser targeting system (I saw this on YouTube and I gotta make one myself)
4. 16-bit computer, running the LC-3 instruction set, all on a compact modular PCB!
5. Continuing my work with transistors. I want to get a smaller feature size and make some rudimentary CMOS logic ICs
6. pigments!
1. I want to make some more colors. Probably reds and greens, since I have a lot of blues/purples.
5. stuff to learn:
1. I gotta get better at physics. I'm gonna finish up Landau Classical Mechanics, as well as do some review of quantum mechanics and stat mech. I love these subjects soo much
2. Math? I want to learn some more rigorous math, as well as some proof and logic skills. I'm going to work through something like real analysis over the summer probably...
3. cooking! I can always get better at this haha
6. Trips and fun?
1. I'm gonna go to Asia over the summer with some friends. I particularly want to go to Japan, and practice my Japanese with some native speakers. Honestly, I would love to go to Switzerland and see the Alps too. Those are so nice.
2. Lots of astrophotography planned... Many broadband targets to shoot before I get to MIT and am forced to shoot in narrowband to escape the light pollution.
Reflections…
Looking back, I'm pretty happy with my high school life. I never really did anything *for* college admissions, and I feel like I lived a pretty genuine life so far. It just so happened that the things that I love to do, coincided nearly perfectly with MIT's values. I never worried *too* much about school, just getting my homework in and studying for the occasional test, and preferring to hang out at the park with my friends than obsess over colleges. I'd say it ended up doing pretty well for me.
If you're applying to college soon, and want to hear my advice for you, here it is:
- Do what you love to do.
I can't emphasize this enough. If you do what you love to do, your future will work itself out naturally. I didn't force myself to conform to what MIT wanted, I just did what I loved to do: learn and build stuff.
I am of the opinion that if you do this, you'll leave high school *knowing yourself better*, which is extremely valuable and understated I think. I let myself explore and take risks, not obsessing over grades or college admissions, which let me really figure out what I want out of my life and college.
You should approach college admissions, not the other way around. Invest in yourself, and when the time comes to apply to college, you'll find a perfect fit that will want you too.
Secondly...
- Don't worry so much, have fun, and live in the present
ew. cliché. I know.
but seriously. Please listen to me.
There was a period in my life where I was overwhelmed by college admissions. I thought I wasted all my time "doing things I loved", not what colleges wanted.
You know the kicker? It all worked out. Once I stopped worrying, everything really did fall into place. I learned to trust myself, to take control of what could be controlled, and let go of what could not be controlled. I can't control what the world does, how smart other people are, all that stuff. So what's the use worrying about it? I can control however, the work I put in, my mentality towards hard work, how I treat others.
These are some of the two most valuable lessons I have learned:
- "You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say." - Marcus Aurelius
- "The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals and not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control." - Epictetus
Do not waste your worries on things that you cannot control. Focus on what matters: the things you do control. Once I did this, I felt like I had my life back in my own hands.
I will possibly talk more about this philosophy, also called "Stoicism", in another post.
Finally
In any case, this chapter of my life is quickly coming to a close. I'll be out of my home town in a couple of months, and before I know it, I'll be freezing to death in Boston! We'll see what awaits me in the future...
IHTFP
- Ryan Tang, MIT 29'