Author Archives: joaniss1

Every year, there is a massive awards ceremony close to the end of the year, where students who did well or had a positive impact on the community are recognized. I was invited to the ceremony to receive the “Outstanding First Year Leadership Award.” The recognition was a great honor, giving me encouragement and motivation. As much as I loved receiving an award, I also liked being able to go to the ceremony and meet tons of prominent people in the Institute.

During the dinner before the ceremony, I met Provost Rich Hansen, and we chatted for a while. Because he was very knowledgeable and did not mind sharing, we mostly conversed about the school and faculty. Someone got a picture of him, my parents, and me altogether, and I got permission to use it in the blog, but it somehow never made it to me.

In the course of the ceremony, I got to see all of the other students who got awards too. All the ones I recognized were seniors and juniors, so I did not know most of the people receiving awards, but it was great seeing their proud, smiling faces receiving awards onstage. Some of the awards were for academic excellence, some for leadership, and some for service. Again, I must emphasize that there is so much to be had at Wentworth besides just graduation, and so much that you can do for the people around you than just study.

I did manage a picture with President Pantić, and that was cool. She had a couple hundred other people fighting for her attention, so I did not get to talk to her as much as I talked to the provost.

The President and Yours Truly

I finally got to start some training with admissions this week, and, by next fall, I will be an official Admissions Ambassador. This was one of the roles I applied for earlier this winter, and was accepted to just a couple weeks ago. Admissions Ambassadors are responsible for giving tours to prospective students and their families and answering any questions they might have during the course of the route.

We are some of the first Wentworth students that applying students will meet, so a lot rests on our shoulders. I know that much of my decision to attend Wentworth was made during a visit. Individually, the faculty had a greater effect on me than the students did. The thing that really drew me in, however, was the way that the math department interacted with students and prospective students.

On an event day, I went to tour with the applied math majors, just for kicks and giggles; I was already accepted into the computer science program at Wentworth and several other colleges. The group I was touring with only had 5 people, so I was able to take a careful look at everything. There were a couple math majors there to help out, and the relationship they had with the faculty was just outstanding. They could respect their teachers as humans, as mentors, and as superiors. I really think those things are necessary if a student is to get the most out of education, or even life in general.

Anyways, I really wanted what they had and I thought Wentworth could do that for me. I have been around the block in terms of schools, so I really know what I am looking for by now. And I have pretty much everything I want here, maybe a little more.

There is so much to learn here outside normal classes. Starting at Wentworth, I made it clear that my biggest goal would be to graduate and leave.  The degree is still what keeps me enrolled, but there is so much more to being a member of Wentworth.

What reminded me of this is that all the leadership training and event have started up now. Most students who meet a few basic criteria are eligible to apply for leadership roles around campus and for Leadership Institute. The roles you can assume after training include Resident assistant, admissions ambassador, Student Alumni Society member, and Community Standards Board member. Acquiring any of these positions is contingent on completing their Wentworth Leadership Institute. Though first-years need only have completed Phase I. Currently, I am enrolled in Phase I, and we have been learning a ton of things that have nearly no overlap with my normal classes.

To get the most out of college, try to learn more than your required classes. Required classes are fine, but concentrating on just those will leave you specialized. And specialized can be very boring, unless you absolutely love what you do.

If you want to learn things somewhat related to your major, there are a number of hosted lectures every week. We get weekly emails about when / where some of these lectures are and I am sure there are lectures we could attend from other Colleges of the Fenway. And if you want to meet me, come to the applied math career series lecture Tuesdays at 4 😀

Spring semester is now well underway and hopefully going better than the fall semester, especially for freshmen. Us freshmen had so much to learn the first time through.

I know I am trying to stay away from my old bad habits and remember what worked and didn’t during the first semester. Below is a quick list I made to remind myself of how to stay out of trouble a list of negative commands seemed more appropriate to help keep me out of bad habits.

DON’T:

• Wait for diving inspiration to write that English paper
• Practice videogames unless you prefer being good at videogames to doing well in school
• Stay up late the night before an exam
  • Yes, even if you have to study, sleep is better
• Be texting / facebooking when studying unless you plan on spending roughly 3x the study time
• Make plans to go out or spend time unless you’ve made plans for schoolwork
• Be embarrassed to use your resources!
  • I know what kind of pressure it is to avoid asking for help, but Wentworth did not intend for you to ask for help, we would not have to search so hard for our staff, and nor would we have learning labs or the learning center. The benefits way outweigh the awkwardness.
• Ignore emails, blackboard, or piazza
  • I know my professors communicate in a lot of different ways, and sometimes it is frustrating to have to check all of the different mediums, especially when they send something I am not really interested in. Chances are, the professor is sending that information because students can benefit from it, so at least skimming it is probably a good idea.

Staying out of trouble has always left me with nowhere to go but up. This list was based on retrospective advice compiled from my family, friends, professors, pre-college teachers, and my own experience. Hope you enjoy!

Hello. Welcome to the Spring Semester.

Things are a little different now. Students are coming back with new resolve after spending some time away. From what I have seen most students plan to work even harder to prove themselves now than they did during the first semester.

The first wave of honors and GPA-measuring events hit the freshmen and they have begun to realize that Wentworth is serious about education. Students with decent grades were invited to rush Phi Sigma Pi, a co-educational honors and leadership based fraternity. Other students were invited to the Dean’s list and Dean’s list dinner. Soon there will be some healthy competition among the students.

Wentworth is always inclusive to its students; there are plenty of resources for all students to increase their GPA and academic expertise. Anyone accepted to the school has the potential to achieve.

Who knew there were internships to be had over winter break?

Apparently there are a large number of decently important companies that are willing to hire interns over winter break. I started with ENE Systems on the 10^th of December, and I will be working with them until the 5^th of January. I get to do all sorts of cool computer stuff, mostly just building utility softwares to help us deploy upgrades more quickly and maintain databases and standards around the office, but I learn a ton. I have had to use knowledge of C++, SQL, VB, Python, networks, calculus, and basically anything else I knew existed in order to put forth my best work. Earlier today I was all over tutorial websites trying to figure out how to finish a project and read my co-workers code.

I do not think all companies would be willing to hire for less than a month, with Christmas break in the middle. ENE Systems has a lengthy and friendly history with Wentworth grads, so I think that, and my prior experience with them were major contributing factors. In the engineering department alone (I don’t talk to too many other departments), the manager is a Wentworth grad, the integrator manager is a Wentworth grad, and 2 of the 3 newest employees are Wentworth grads.

In terms of scoring internships / co-ops, Wentworth beats out a lot of other schools because of our practical focus. I already have something over this winter and 2 options set up for the summer of my freshman year. It just takes a little bit of help with a resume, a few emails, and always being courteous. And of course, building a network.

I think many undergraduates would be surprised by the number of opportunities they are exposed to. I got my opportunities in the most unexpected places. I got my most recent offer for a co-op from someone I met doing volunteer work, in a roundabout way. I will go from collecting donations with him to working in high tech defense at Mercury Systems. There is also the method of applying to online postings, and some students have luck with that, but I have had more success contacting people outside those postings. In any case, Wentworth teaches us to use our resources, so I try to email, find people in person, and apply online.

The last day of exams just ended and I was surprised that I did not see anyone panicking.
Most of the people I hang out with on a regular basis were studied enough that they at least felt prepared before the exam. Nothing to say about how they felt after the exam, but there is scientific evidence that confidence improves test scores.

I had more finals than most and it was neat watching the school slowly empty out as students left after finishing. On the last day of finals, I was pretty much the only commuter left in the downstairs of Beatty, my hangout spot.

Beatty is an okay place to spend a day, better than most other places around campus. The library is probably better for getting work done, and no matter how full it is, there is usually at least one quiet place. Downstairs, though there is no guarantee for volume, there are sometimes open meeting rooms students are allowed to occupy and those are top notch. Plenty of places to charge a laptop, 6 ethernet ports, comfortable spinning chairs, and a huge table to work on make these places ideal for work or gaming. If none of the meeting rooms are open, I still like to stay downstairs because that is a place where people are most willing to talk, even if they do not really know you. And the pool tables are downstairs so if you come in any time after 7:30AM, there will be people playing pool.

I think most students like to spend the day in the dorm buildings, but as a commuter that is less attractive. Commuters are welcome enough in the dorm buildings, but I always feel a little bit out of place, even though I only go when my friends have invited me.

Anyways, lots of good places to hang out on campus. I have places to be alone, to meet new people, and to be with friends

The last day of classes was yesterday!
We are finally done and have a single grace day to get ready for exams this week and next week.

Personally, the brunt of my preparation time will be spent sleeping, because I cannot operate without sleep. Sure, I can walk around and attend classes and take notes, but that hardly counts. I will never be able to absorb information or solve problems without proper rest.

Everything else, I guess, will be doing example problems. This time around, most of my professors gave us practice material, which is pretty helpful. If the subject is one with a textbook, I usually flip to the end of every chapter and reread the summary and answer any difficult-looking questions I might find there. Most finals are usually testing at a depth that I would not need to read details in the chapters. For English, I try to get an idea of what the professor wants to test us on, because I do not think I have ever been able to predict what to study for an English exam.

If all else fails I just get together with friends and talk about what we covered this semester. Talking with friends is more memorable than reading notes and a lot more fun. I have always found that the best way to get through something is to involve other people. This ties back into what I was saying in my first post: accountability!

I was saving this post until after midterms, but my math modeling class had the latest midterm I have ever heard of this week. Sometimes I wish that I could treat all my classes the same, and set up a sort of regimen to study and do homework for a couple hours a week for each subject. But school has not worked like that since I left 8^th grade.

I find that professors have drastically different styles of teaching. The best professors try to adapt to their students, and some of them will even get close to teaching towards the mean of the class. But for students like me who do not often lie in the average, we need to adapt too.

By reacting to a teaching style, I am able to keep up with a class and sort of picture what might be coming next. Like this month, I know my English Professor, Leblanc, will want to follow the guidelines from his syllabus only though we have a few classes left. We are scheduled to have five pop quizzes this semester, and with only three quizzes so far and two classes left… By knowing that he is the type of professor to stick to his syllabus, I will be able to get an edge on my grade and be sure to spend a little extra time on the reading to ace the pop quizzes.

But when I adapt it is not always about more work, it’s often the opposite. This year I started taking multivariable calculus, and, not knowing what to expect, I developed the habit of pre-studying Khan Academy material. As it turns out, this was overkill, as Professor Morrow wanted to review the concepts we needed and simplify a lot of the extra math I had expected.

Anyways, I am happy to be through with mid terms, even though this is the last week of classes. Finals time! Overcaffeinated time!