At LaGuardia Community College, the end of February is the time when we try to breathe a sigh of relief after an intense winter session.  Especially for a student like me, who is notorious to be “a freak” for taking Chemistry and Differential Equations classes together in a short session (a total of eight credits in six weeks!), it is usually the time to take enough rest to rejuvenate and prepare myself for all the nitty-gritty Computer Science classes in the Spring semester. My energy was already depleted after all my hectic finals. But to add to my misery, the stress from all the transfer applications to different four year schools made me exhausted. Much to my surprise, I received an email from my friend Ramon, the coordinator of the Boston Trip. I was selected to be one of the lucky few to go on a trip to Boston; my eyes were shining “bright like diamonds”!

        I was delighted to learn that I could visit to my dream school Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). So with a great fervor, I signed up for their information session, contacted their admission office, tour guide, and downloaded a MIT Campus app on my iPod!

        Finally the day came. It was February 26, 2013. As early as 1 AM, we all gathered at the Amtrak station to catch our midnight train to Boston. While almost everybody else was sleeping in the train, I spent a sleepless night with great excitement. As soon as the sun rose above our head, we got off the train, had our breakfast together, and split up in different small groups to visit different schools in Boston. We were six students in our group to visit MIT.

          When we reached 77 Massachusetts Avenue, the beautiful MIT campus, it was almost 10 AM. We were in a rush to catch the information session. We attended the information session for an hour in a big classroom. The information session was very helpful, as we learned many insights about the history of MIT, the rigorous academic programs, and the application process. We then headed to the main lobby to be ushered by a campus tour guide, who is also a sophomore in Computer Science. The tour guide (sorry I forgot her name!) took us into the infinite corridor, the world’s third largest underground passageway. While walking down the seemingly never-ending corridor, I learned that it is interconnected with every building in the MIT campus. We paused time to time on our way as the tour guide explained to us the interactive displays in the Corridor Lab. Among the displays, there were works from Mechanical Engineering Lab, Civil Engineering lab, etc. We visited the Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center, and the List Visual Art Center, the Social Science and Humanities department Art Gallery, etc. The tour guide shared a lot of insights about the academic life, dorm life, and about different clubs and organizations. I was excited to know that Harvard University is only a 30-minute walk away from MIT, and students can cross-register classes between the two universities.

          After the general Campus Tour, we bought our lunch from MIT cafeteria. Then again we headed to have a special “Course 6” tour to the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) Department, the largest department at MIT. We spoke to Anne M. Hunter, the Undergraduate Program Administrator, School of Engineering (MIT), about our current academic progress, goals, and ambition. She gave each of us useful information regarding admissions to MIT, the criteria followed in admitting graduate and undergraduate students, etc.  We acknowledged how competitive MIT’s admission process is—only 3% transfer undergraduate applicants were admitted to MIT last year!

       Then two trained students from the EECS department gave tours of two high-tech EECS educational laboratories (The Ray and Maria Stata Center, and the Computer Lab) and told us all about the department. They demonstrated several projects students worked on during their introductory EECS classes. Among the projects, there were interactive robots, MP3 players, different electrical Circuits, etc. They shared their experiences in classes, internships, and research projects. We were greatly inspired by the rigorous, challenging, and fun academic experience each MIT student receives. “Collaboration” and “No Competition”—these are two words I heard the most when students explained the secret behind their success. To be honest, I was really jealous of them!

          Afterwards, we attended a class called “6.045 Automata, Computation and Complexity,” an undergraduate computer theory class. Although I did not understand most of the concepts of the class, I really liked the way students engaged in the discussion and the way the professor explained the materials. It was a rare experience. Finally, we shopped around for some cool MIT shirts and accessories to keep our memories alive. When it was the time to depart, I was sad to leave the beautiful MIT campus.

        While reading this article is an easy alternative, it certainly cannot substitute for the real experience of being on MIT's campus. I urge everyone to visit the world’s best engineering university at least once in his/her undergraduate studies, no matter if he/she loves science or not. The motivation from visiting the campus will work as a fuel for a student in his rest of the academic career, as it will do the same for me. Thanks to Ramon and HSAC for giving me a chance to visit to this amazing place.