Drug Abuse Essays (199 words) - Neurochemistry, Drug Culture

Medication Abuse Medication misuse can be known as the incomparable American scourge. Medications are fit for assuming control over one's psyche and body. Medication misuse obliterates families, companionships, connections, and in particular medications at last devastate their client. Consistently Americans burn through $84 billion dollars (1) to fuel their war on drugs. Cash saying we won't let drugs devastate our general public. Medications are fit for not just wrecking American culture; they are likewise equipped for obliterating Americans. Rocks has been a significant pestilence in the United States since the mid 1980's. Rocks is a smokeable type of the medication and it's utilization has been a defeat of most major downtowns in the US. Break pulverizes it's clients will to do anything other than smoke increasingly rocks. Break is one of the most addictive medications on earth, and its clients will go to freakish boundaries to get the medication. Clients of this medication will execute, assault, take, and even whore themselves to get progressively split. Such conduct has a grave, negative effect on society by spreading explicitly transmitted ailments through prostitution and raising the crime percentages through murder and theft. It is unnerving to think there are individuals campaigning in Reasoning

How Does SAT Essay Length Affect Your Score

How Does SAT Essay Length Affect Your Score SAT/ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Valid or False: Since article length isn't referenced in the SAT paper evaluating rubric, it doesn’t matter the amount you write in your exposition. Answer: True...but additionally bogus. Peruse on for a clarification of why and how the length of your SAT exposition can influence your score. include picture credit: How long by Martin Abegglen, utilized under CC BY-SA 2.0/Cropped changed from unique. For what reason Does Essay Length Matter? For what reason would you imagine that article length even issues in any case? As I said in the presentation, it's not as though the SAT exposition rubric makes reference to paper length by any means. All things considered, there's at any rate one valid justification to think this: article length is emphatically connected with paper score. Since the time the article was added to the SAT, ebb and flow MIT look into offshoot (and previous chief of the MIT undergrad composing program) Les Perelman has been vocal about how the more drawn out an exposition is, the almost certain it is to get a higher score. As indicated by this 2005 New York Times article by Michael Winerip, Perelman broke down the lengths and scores of 54 SAT-affirmed test expositions and found an almost 90% connection. The briefest papers (around 100 words) got the least conceivable score, 1 (or a joined score of 2 out of 12), while the longest articles (around 400 words), got the most noteworthy score, a 6 (or a consolidated score of 12 out of 12). In view of these discoveries, delegates of the CollegeBoard expressed that they would be discharging shorter instances of higher-scoring articles. This discussion initially emitted in mid 2005, directly after the new SAT paper was presented. To check whether there had been any progressions from that point forward, I did my own investigation of the papers in the CollegeBoard's exposition scoring guide that were totally written because of the example brief. Investigate what I found: Reward chart perusing practice for you in this, an article on papers. The pleasure is all mine. As should be obvious, as paper length (estimated by word include in the chart above) expands, the score additionally increments. Because longer papers will in general score better, in any case, doesn’t imply that you should simply compose the word â€Å"ideology† again and again to top off the page. The explanation longer articles will in general score better is that understudies who compose longer expositions offer more help for their postulations. On the off chance that this is the paper brief: Is it imperative to scrutinize the thoughts and choices of individuals in places of power, and all you compose is the accompanying: It's imperative to address authority in light of the fact that occasionally authority prevents you from doing things you need. Like getting a horse. I need a horse. I need a horse. I need a horse. I need a horse. for two pages, you'll despite everything get a 0. Perhaps a 1, if the grader is feeling liberal and believes that you made some endeavor to expound on the issue talked about in a brief. For additional on the manner of thinking of exposition evaluating, read our article about bits of knowledge from genuine SAT paper graders. Also, on the off chance that you attempt to haul out one model by composing bigger than expected and rehashing similar realities and data again and again, it won't consequently get you a higher score. Truth be told, you may lose focuses if both of your article's graders believe that your rehashing of data prompts absence of cognizance in your composition. Regardless, except if you have amazingly little penmanship, it’s hard to compose an exposition that presents a postulation and supports it with in any event two explicit models in under one page. Messy hair day by Brian Snelson, utilized under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from unique. Truly, however. See that face. Wouldn't you need a horse? So How Long Should Your Essay Be? Numerous elements go into deciding paper length, which makes it hard to give a sweeping length suggestion. Here are the most significant variables with regards to length of your SAT paper: Jargon. Regularly, the further developed vocab you use, the less words you’ll need to take care of business, which may bring about a shorter exposition. Penmanship size. Understudies with bigger penmanship will normally occupy more room on the page than understudies with littler penmanship. This doesn't really mean understudies with bigger penmanship have a bit of leeway, in any case; truth be told, understudies with bigger penmanship will in general run into the issue of having filled two pages and not got done with saying all that they required or needed to state. How quick you can compose and think. On the off chance that you have to take more time to design out your paper, you may wind up composing a shorter article, just in light of the fact that you don't have as much time to compose. That doesn't really imply that you'll do more awful on the exposition - since a sorted out paper with solid explicit models will score superior to a disarranged one without explicit models - yet it means that you may wind up with less time to work out your thoughts. How much time you leave yourself to compose (versus how much time you take to design). This is something you have to make sense of for yourself through training and perception. Throughout the years, I've understood that I can compose decently fast, which implies that it's alright on the off chance that I set aside somewhat more effort to design out my paper - I'll despite everything have the option to top off those two pages. Then again, on the off chance that you find that you're a moderate author, you probably won't have the option to compose enough except if you get quick at arranging your exposition. All in all, expecting around 150 words for every written by hand page, you have to compose at any rate a page and a half (1.5 pages) to get a 3 or above on your paper (or a joined score of 6 or above). You'll require at any rate that much space to state what you have to state and bolster it plainly with solid models. What’s Next? Need to discover progressively about how to compose a decent SAT article? Watch us compose a top-scoring exposition bit by bit, at that point look at our tips on the best way to compose a since a long time ago SAT paper just as our progressively broad SAT article tips. Find the key to getting an ideal 12 on your SAT paper here. Imagine a scenario in which you're anticipating taking the new SAT. Peruse our breakdown of the new SAT exposition here. Need to quit fooling around about improving your SAT score? We have the main online SAT prep program that will raise your score by 160+ focuses, ensured. Restrictive to our program, we have a specialist SAT teacher grade every one of your SAT expositions and give you modified criticism on the most proficient method to improve your score. Look at our 5-day let loose preliminary and sign for nothing:

The Third Side of Fraternities

The Third Side of Fraternities PREMISES 1. This is an OPINION post. Not a suggestion post. Im not trying to debate about housing or even recommend to you what you should do. Im just trying to be honest. 2. When I explain what goes on in fraternities, Im basing everything primarily on my fraternity. The two dozen plus fraternities at MIT do not all have the same personality, so its not fair to categorize fraternal life into one big stereotype, whatever your stereotype may be. 3. I may not be always politically correct. I apologize for that in advance. Paul joined a fraternity, and now lives at his fraternity. Snively didnt join a fraternity, and lives at his dorm. I joined a fraternity, but I live at iHouse, a specialized dorm of 21 students (and Im not planning on moving out anytime soon). Not to jump on the bandwagon, but I think I supply the missing third side to this housing issue. But granted, I think theres a lot fewer students that live in a small dorm but is part of a fraternity, so I dont know how much my opinion matters or would apply to future students, but here goes. First off, I dont know when the dorms/fraternity debate became so heated. I just want to start off by saying that theres no reason to bash one or the other (Im not referring to anyone in particular), but dorm life and fraternal life is so different that I dont think it would be fair to compare one or the other on par. Joining a fraternity doesnt mean youre paying for friends, nor does not getting a bid during Rush imply that you are socially awkward. Being a fraternity guy, I just want to kind of talk about Rush. Like what numerous people have mentioned, Rush is not perfect. I wrote two entries ago that you should explore around a bit in the beginning (which is still good and sound advice), but I guess what I didnt emphasize is that if you really WANTED a bid, you need to settle down into one fraternity probably midway through Rush. So, precisely as Snively said, if you did Rush right (by constantly going to all the different fraternities), you might end up with no bids at all by the time Rush week ends. Equally flawed is the idea that you suddenly become brothers with people that you know after just one short week. After all, is it really possible for you do find the best match for your next four years by which dinners you chose to go to during Rush week? And, like mentioned in Snivelys entry, there is no pretty solution to this dilemma. But let me explain a bit about what goes on in chapter rooms during Rush week and the week before Rush (Work Week). I think this aspect is often skimmed over and thus it makes the process of Rush seem arbitrary and random, but there is a lot that goes on in fraternities before extending a bid. Getting a bid is a carefully, well-thought out process, and definitely not something that you get just because you show up to all the Rush events for a specific fraternity (but this is a popular misconception). One week prior to Rush week, the brothers who can make it back from MIT return to campus, and try begin planning for Rush. During this Work Week, renovations may be done on the house, assignments for Rush events are handed out, and the brothers generally hang out with each other after a long summer. Once Rush begins, different brothers are assigned to head events that happen each day, and each member of the fraternity try to go out and meet as many freshmen as possible. At the end of every night, all the fraternity men gather together at the house, plan tomorrows events, and talk about freshmen that they met today who may make good potentials. As Rush goes on, it becomes more and more important for interested freshmen to stick with a fraternity because basically there is no way for us to get to know you better if we only see you at one event! This is the reason why, technically, you need to settle into just one or two fraternities through middle of Rush week. This also facilitates for better discussion amongst the brothers at night because they would have known you better and thus have more things to say. Also, as the brothers get to know you better, the daily discussions would often progress from just general chatting (interests, activities) and hanging out to more serious discussions, such as what it means to join a fraternity and things like your values, ideals, ideasetc. Often, if you find that the attitude and the topics of discussion between you and the fraternity brothers segue into deeper talks, its a good sign that the brothers are considering you seriously as a potential future member of their fraternity. Towards the end of Rush week, especially the last two nights of Rush Week, the nightly meetings amongst the fraternity men get progressively longer and longer. As interested potentials start getting singled out, the discussions of the relative impressions and merits of each potential become the subject of careful examination (which often turns into long discussions). The meeting before Bid Day, (when bids or invitations to join the fraternity, are handed out to potentials) is often the longest meeting, as all the brothers go through all the potentials that still remain in the database and proceeds to talk about whether or not to extend a bid to them (for controversial potentials, it may even lead to debates). Last night was that meeting for my fraternity, and the brothers of my fraternity met for nearly five hours. Still think that getting a bid is arbitrary? For every night in the past week, there was practically no evening when I returned to my dorm before midnight, and often it was not until three in the morning. All of this effort goes into helping my fraternity select the best potentials as possible the potentials whom we believe best exemplifies our ideals and would contribute to our fraternal environment. Still, you protest, how is it possible for you to know whether youre the best fit for us in just ONE week?! I want to address this from two angles: First off, I believe that for a great number of potentials who accept bids from different fraternities, they start growing into the personalities and the character of the fraternity they join (and I think the same is true for a lot of dorm communities). Thus, in a lot of cases, you dont need to be best fit from the very beginning, since as time goes on and you get to know your brothers better, whichever fraternity you join would become the best fraternity for you. Moreover, after awhile, you really have no basis of comparison anyway (how would you know whether you would have been happier at another fraternity?) Although growing into the personality of the fraternity sounds risky and feels like youre losing the essence of your own personality, its not really the case. The personality of the fraternity is defined by the existing brothers who are part of the fraternity, and if you feel comfortable about them in the beginning, chances are that feeling wont fade as times go on (obviously, there are exceptions, but thats generally minor and besides the point). Second, this is the reason why my fraternity recruit year-round. If you dont feel comfortable joining, we wont force you. Plenty of potentials had turned down bids from us, but reconsidered their decision as they got to know us better. Moreover, doing Rush during your freshman year isnt mandatory, by any means! You may decide your sophomore year, after youve spent a year at MIT and gotten to know a bit more about Greek life, to Rush a particular fraternity that you find valuable. No one is asking you to make an impulsive decision. If you dont feel comfortable, then just leave! I dont know too much about other fraternities, but I know for a fact that my brothers and I would not just give you the cold shoulder after Rush if you turn down a bid from us. There are a lot of comments about the Rush process being judgmental and quiet kids getting shafted. I apologize about that stereotype as a fraternal member, but I maintain the stance that there is really no way to not come off as judgmental to some people when you only have a week to meet them! My fraternity places a key emphasis on trying not to perpetuate this bitter feeling, and thus we welcome you to continue to explore and talk to us throughout the year. At least for us (and I know at least of a couple more fraternities), Rush doesnt end after this week, if you dont want it to. - Now leaving fraternities, and talking about dorm-life. I love iHouse. I enjoy the intimacies that iHouse offers, with just 21 people in the dorm. Like wings in Baker and Next, entries in McGregor, or houses in Burton Conner, we are a community. Throughout the year, we discuss issues about international development, plan potential projects, go on awesome retreats, have great speaker dinners, and most importantly, just hang out and learn from each other by living with each other. You may have known Zach and Steve, my roommates from last year, from various blogs that I posted last year (if you dont, click on the iHouse link on the very top it redirects to our i3 video, which both of them were featured. I was the cameraman. =p). Throughout the last year, I dont know how many times Zach helped out on my physics psets, and helped me to secure the needed 85.2% (0.2% above the A cutoff!) for me to net that 5.0 GPA in 8.02. Steve was there with me through the presidential primaries, explaining to me which states were the key battleground states. He also introduced me to the world of American sports, and I remember all the time he spent in front of the television, waiting for the Patriots to lose, but being disappointed every time. And of course, they would remember the time when I almost burned down the room because my lamp nearly caught on fire at three in the morning (while theyre both deep asleep!). Going outside of the room, theres Tim 08, who would always be phenomenally annoyed when late-night revelers partied too loudly in the lounge (late-night was defined as past 10pm for him). Theres also Kathy 10, who taught me the secret of making really easy (but awesome-tasting!) garlic noodles, for which she is famous for. I remember staying up till 6 in the morning doing my 5.111 homework with Mary 11, who could have gone to sleep but wanted to stay up with me since I was up doing work. She fell asleep while studying 5.12 (which was her pretext of staying up), but I would remember that time when we were both so delirious from working at the end that we just stopped working to see the sun rise across the Charles. And of course, our Zimbabwean GRT, Tsitsi, who studied at Harvard undergrad and now is doing grad school at MIT. Her delicious baked chicken (as well as her multi-colored fruit mojito salad) was the centerpiece of many wonderful study breaks, and her smiles and hugs never fail to cheer us up after a long day at school. The stories would go on, but I guess what I want to say is that Im so thankful for my fellow dormies. They are as important to me as my fraternity brothers, and I would not place one over the other. So how do I feel about being in a fraternity and a close-knit dorm at the same time? I think the most challenging thing for me is to divide up my time between my fraternity and my dorm. It helps that only a handful of the brothers are living in the fraternity house at this point (were not a residential fraternity, yet), but the majority of fraternity events do occur at the house, so I still have to end up walking over (its about 15 minutes, on foot, for me to get from iHouse to my fraternity). I enjoy being in a fraternity because you can get instant access to many upperclassmen, who are often have a lot of MIT wisdom and can advise you well about a ton of things everything from finding an UROP, to doing well in your classes, or even relationship advice. Another great plus about being in a fraternity is that each brother has his own friendship circle, and you get to meet a lot of the friends of other brothers, which is great if you enjoy meeting new people. Furthermore, the fraternity as a whole often organizes many events, such as retreats, mixers with sororities (MIT, BU, Wellesleyetc.), dinners with faculty (like President Hockfield), and I find participating in those events to be very rewarding. Yet, at the same time, I like living in a dorm because of the different community that it offers from my fraternity, its proximity to campus, and the ability to meet a lot more freshman (or even just other students) through living in the dorms. Living in a fraternity, although great, tends to be a little bit more constraining because after leaving campus, all you see would just be your brothers and people who happen to be dropping by at the house (although I cant speak for this, since Ive never lived in my fraternity house). Of course, there would also be girls in your dorm, which is different from living in a fraternity house. (there are also the benefits and opportunities that iHouse specifically brings, but I wont mention them here because I dont think its pertinent in comparing dorm life v. fraternity life straight out) Tonight, I went over to my fraternity house, grabbed dinner, met many of our new potentials, and hung out at the house. Afterwards, I returned to iHouse, where there was a delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen (it turns out Kayla 12 was cooking dinner). I headed upstairs, played two LAN matches of Age of Mythology with Steve and Zach, celebrated the fact that Zach was just appointed Concertmaster of MITSO (MIT Symphonic Orchestra), and now here I am typing up this entry. I wont try to convince you to join a FSILG (fraternities, sororities, independent living groups), though I would definitely encourage you to give it a try. At the same time, I wont think any less of you if you live in a dorm. For me, I experienced quite a lot of both worlds, and Im happy to have found my balance. Now that isnt something Id trade any day. ;)

The Third Side of Fraternities

The Third Side of Fraternities PREMISES 1. This is an OPINION post. Not a suggestion post. Im not trying to debate about housing or even recommend to you what you should do. Im just trying to be honest. 2. When I explain what goes on in fraternities, Im basing everything primarily on my fraternity. The two dozen plus fraternities at MIT do not all have the same personality, so its not fair to categorize fraternal life into one big stereotype, whatever your stereotype may be. 3. I may not be always politically correct. I apologize for that in advance. Paul joined a fraternity, and now lives at his fraternity. Snively didnt join a fraternity, and lives at his dorm. I joined a fraternity, but I live at iHouse, a specialized dorm of 21 students (and Im not planning on moving out anytime soon). Not to jump on the bandwagon, but I think I supply the missing third side to this housing issue. But granted, I think theres a lot fewer students that live in a small dorm but is part of a fraternity, so I dont know how much my opinion matters or would apply to future students, but here goes. First off, I dont know when the dorms/fraternity debate became so heated. I just want to start off by saying that theres no reason to bash one or the other (Im not referring to anyone in particular), but dorm life and fraternal life is so different that I dont think it would be fair to compare one or the other on par. Joining a fraternity doesnt mean youre paying for friends, nor does not getting a bid during Rush imply that you are socially awkward. Being a fraternity guy, I just want to kind of talk about Rush. Like what numerous people have mentioned, Rush is not perfect. I wrote two entries ago that you should explore around a bit in the beginning (which is still good and sound advice), but I guess what I didnt emphasize is that if you really WANTED a bid, you need to settle down into one fraternity probably midway through Rush. So, precisely as Snively said, if you did Rush right (by constantly going to all the different fraternities), you might end up with no bids at all by the time Rush week ends. Equally flawed is the idea that you suddenly become brothers with people that you know after just one short week. After all, is it really possible for you do find the best match for your next four years by which dinners you chose to go to during Rush week? And, like mentioned in Snivelys entry, there is no pretty solution to this dilemma. But let me explain a bit about what goes on in chapter rooms during Rush week and the week before Rush (Work Week). I think this aspect is often skimmed over and thus it makes the process of Rush seem arbitrary and random, but there is a lot that goes on in fraternities before extending a bid. Getting a bid is a carefully, well-thought out process, and definitely not something that you get just because you show up to all the Rush events for a specific fraternity (but this is a popular misconception). One week prior to Rush week, the brothers who can make it back from MIT return to campus, and try begin planning for Rush. During this Work Week, renovations may be done on the house, assignments for Rush events are handed out, and the brothers generally hang out with each other after a long summer. Once Rush begins, different brothers are assigned to head events that happen each day, and each member of the fraternity try to go out and meet as many freshmen as possible. At the end of every night, all the fraternity men gather together at the house, plan tomorrows events, and talk about freshmen that they met today who may make good potentials. As Rush goes on, it becomes more and more important for interested freshmen to stick with a fraternity because basically there is no way for us to get to know you better if we only see you at one event! This is the reason why, technically, you need to settle into just one or two fraternities through middle of Rush week. This also facilitates for better discussion amongst the brothers at night because they would have known you better and thus have more things to say. Also, as the brothers get to know you better, the daily discussions would often progress from just general chatting (interests, activities) and hanging out to more serious discussions, such as what it means to join a fraternity and things like your values, ideals, ideasetc. Often, if you find that the attitude and the topics of discussion between you and the fraternity brothers segue into deeper talks, its a good sign that the brothers are considering you seriously as a potential future member of their fraternity. Towards the end of Rush week, especially the last two nights of Rush Week, the nightly meetings amongst the fraternity men get progressively longer and longer. As interested potentials start getting singled out, the discussions of the relative impressions and merits of each potential become the subject of careful examination (which often turns into long discussions). The meeting before Bid Day, (when bids or invitations to join the fraternity, are handed out to potentials) is often the longest meeting, as all the brothers go through all the potentials that still remain in the database and proceeds to talk about whether or not to extend a bid to them (for controversial potentials, it may even lead to debates). Last night was that meeting for my fraternity, and the brothers of my fraternity met for nearly five hours. Still think that getting a bid is arbitrary? For every night in the past week, there was practically no evening when I returned to my dorm before midnight, and often it was not until three in the morning. All of this effort goes into helping my fraternity select the best potentials as possible the potentials whom we believe best exemplifies our ideals and would contribute to our fraternal environment. Still, you protest, how is it possible for you to know whether youre the best fit for us in just ONE week?! I want to address this from two angles: First off, I believe that for a great number of potentials who accept bids from different fraternities, they start growing into the personalities and the character of the fraternity they join (and I think the same is true for a lot of dorm communities). Thus, in a lot of cases, you dont need to be best fit from the very beginning, since as time goes on and you get to know your brothers better, whichever fraternity you join would become the best fraternity for you. Moreover, after awhile, you really have no basis of comparison anyway (how would you know whether you would have been happier at another fraternity?) Although growing into the personality of the fraternity sounds risky and feels like youre losing the essence of your own personality, its not really the case. The personality of the fraternity is defined by the existing brothers who are part of the fraternity, and if you feel comfortable about them in the beginning, chances are that feeling wont fade as times go on (obviously, there are exceptions, but thats generally minor and besides the point). Second, this is the reason why my fraternity recruit year-round. If you dont feel comfortable joining, we wont force you. Plenty of potentials had turned down bids from us, but reconsidered their decision as they got to know us better. Moreover, doing Rush during your freshman year isnt mandatory, by any means! You may decide your sophomore year, after youve spent a year at MIT and gotten to know a bit more about Greek life, to Rush a particular fraternity that you find valuable. No one is asking you to make an impulsive decision. If you dont feel comfortable, then just leave! I dont know too much about other fraternities, but I know for a fact that my brothers and I would not just give you the cold shoulder after Rush if you turn down a bid from us. There are a lot of comments about the Rush process being judgmental and quiet kids getting shafted. I apologize about that stereotype as a fraternal member, but I maintain the stance that there is really no way to not come off as judgmental to some people when you only have a week to meet them! My fraternity places a key emphasis on trying not to perpetuate this bitter feeling, and thus we welcome you to continue to explore and talk to us throughout the year. At least for us (and I know at least of a couple more fraternities), Rush doesnt end after this week, if you dont want it to. - Now leaving fraternities, and talking about dorm-life. I love iHouse. I enjoy the intimacies that iHouse offers, with just 21 people in the dorm. Like wings in Baker and Next, entries in McGregor, or houses in Burton Conner, we are a community. Throughout the year, we discuss issues about international development, plan potential projects, go on awesome retreats, have great speaker dinners, and most importantly, just hang out and learn from each other by living with each other. You may have known Zach and Steve, my roommates from last year, from various blogs that I posted last year (if you dont, click on the iHouse link on the very top it redirects to our i3 video, which both of them were featured. I was the cameraman. =p). Throughout the last year, I dont know how many times Zach helped out on my physics psets, and helped me to secure the needed 85.2% (0.2% above the A cutoff!) for me to net that 5.0 GPA in 8.02. Steve was there with me through the presidential primaries, explaining to me which states were the key battleground states. He also introduced me to the world of American sports, and I remember all the time he spent in front of the television, waiting for the Patriots to lose, but being disappointed every time. And of course, they would remember the time when I almost burned down the room because my lamp nearly caught on fire at three in the morning (while theyre both deep asleep!). Going outside of the room, theres Tim 08, who would always be phenomenally annoyed when late-night revelers partied too loudly in the lounge (late-night was defined as past 10pm for him). Theres also Kathy 10, who taught me the secret of making really easy (but awesome-tasting!) garlic noodles, for which she is famous for. I remember staying up till 6 in the morning doing my 5.111 homework with Mary 11, who could have gone to sleep but wanted to stay up with me since I was up doing work. She fell asleep while studying 5.12 (which was her pretext of staying up), but I would remember that time when we were both so delirious from working at the end that we just stopped working to see the sun rise across the Charles. And of course, our Zimbabwean GRT, Tsitsi, who studied at Harvard undergrad and now is doing grad school at MIT. Her delicious baked chicken (as well as her multi-colored fruit mojito salad) was the centerpiece of many wonderful study breaks, and her smiles and hugs never fail to cheer us up after a long day at school. The stories would go on, but I guess what I want to say is that Im so thankful for my fellow dormies. They are as important to me as my fraternity brothers, and I would not place one over the other. So how do I feel about being in a fraternity and a close-knit dorm at the same time? I think the most challenging thing for me is to divide up my time between my fraternity and my dorm. It helps that only a handful of the brothers are living in the fraternity house at this point (were not a residential fraternity, yet), but the majority of fraternity events do occur at the house, so I still have to end up walking over (its about 15 minutes, on foot, for me to get from iHouse to my fraternity). I enjoy being in a fraternity because you can get instant access to many upperclassmen, who are often have a lot of MIT wisdom and can advise you well about a ton of things everything from finding an UROP, to doing well in your classes, or even relationship advice. Another great plus about being in a fraternity is that each brother has his own friendship circle, and you get to meet a lot of the friends of other brothers, which is great if you enjoy meeting new people. Furthermore, the fraternity as a whole often organizes many events, such as retreats, mixers with sororities (MIT, BU, Wellesleyetc.), dinners with faculty (like President Hockfield), and I find participating in those events to be very rewarding. Yet, at the same time, I like living in a dorm because of the different community that it offers from my fraternity, its proximity to campus, and the ability to meet a lot more freshman (or even just other students) through living in the dorms. Living in a fraternity, although great, tends to be a little bit more constraining because after leaving campus, all you see would just be your brothers and people who happen to be dropping by at the house (although I cant speak for this, since Ive never lived in my fraternity house). Of course, there would also be girls in your dorm, which is different from living in a fraternity house. (there are also the benefits and opportunities that iHouse specifically brings, but I wont mention them here because I dont think its pertinent in comparing dorm life v. fraternity life straight out) Tonight, I went over to my fraternity house, grabbed dinner, met many of our new potentials, and hung out at the house. Afterwards, I returned to iHouse, where there was a delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen (it turns out Kayla 12 was cooking dinner). I headed upstairs, played two LAN matches of Age of Mythology with Steve and Zach, celebrated the fact that Zach was just appointed Concertmaster of MITSO (MIT Symphonic Orchestra), and now here I am typing up this entry. I wont try to convince you to join a FSILG (fraternities, sororities, independent living groups), though I would definitely encourage you to give it a try. At the same time, I wont think any less of you if you live in a dorm. For me, I experienced quite a lot of both worlds, and Im happy to have found my balance. Now that isnt something Id trade any day. ;)