actions, not words.

Due to its length, this section was broken out of a daily post. The following is a spoiler-minimal discussion of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe . It is, however, a really good book, and quotes are excerpted liberally, meaning that some key plot points are inevitably discussed. Do what you will. I think when I started writing my novella this semester during NaNoWriMo, I wasn't exactly sure what the topic I wanted to tackle was. Something autobiographical—something about being queer, about being Asian-American, about living somewhere where one's life was aimed entirely at getting out and getting through. In many ways, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe filled that niche for me thoroughly, and I find much less motivation to write following having read it, knowing that such a piece of literature already exists in the world. I read this book as quickly as I could, absorbing it as a dry sponge does water, highlighting passage upon...

…and so the semester ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper. It’s hard to think that one-eight of my time at MIT has come to a close, but, at least for me, as of this moment, the fall semester of my freshman year is dead and gone. As I leave, I’m starting to realize the magnitude of the impact the Institute has already had on me. Of course, I’m ready to be home: to smell the fresh air, to see the stars, to walk among trees that never shed their leaves, to experience the dry winter that I love so much, to eat food which is not mass-produced in a dining hall, to be living with my family again, to be able to drive again, to see my friends and my teachers from high school in person. It seems to me, however, that, in another sense, MIT has become home. I was concerned at the beginning of the semester about whether or not I was actually finding a community, but I think with time the feeling has snuck up on me, shifting slowly into my life until it took over the whole. What will I do wit...