In the background, the Stata Center (opened at the beginning of my junior year at MIT) looks like a piece of abstract sculpture if you look closely, you see the letters “ILTFP” hidden in it. In the sky at the top, there is a shooting star, drawn from the logo of the space shuttle Columbia. This is the side that says “2006” at the top. The symbol on the chapel is meant to represent religion, and the juxtaposition of the religious symbol and the double helix is meant to show the need for a dialogue between science and religion. In the background, a double helix stands next to the symbol from the top of the MIT chapel. He represents the idea that no one at MIT succeeds due to his or her own abilities alone, but that all of us rely on other students for academic and personal support. My favorite part of the ring is the “companion beaver” in the river. A gnome peeks out from behind the tree, celebrating the gnome hack. There’s a tree behind the beaver you can see “IHTFP” spelled out in the branches (note: this detail is not at all subtle in this picture, but it’s subtle on the ring itself) and a map of the Infinite scratched onto the trunk. I’ll let you fill in the blanks on that one. Our beaver is sitting on eight ivy leaves.
This represents fundamentally the fact that we were the first class to have A/B/C/no record second term (all classes before ours had pass/no record all of freshman year) it takes the form of a hack which also commemorated this change. Next to the reeds, there are blocks with the letters A, B, and C on them. Course numbers are pretty fluid - at the moment, there’s no 13 (used to be ocean engineering), no 19 (technically), and no 23. At the beaver’s feet, there are some leaves shaped like Kresge Auditorium.Īlso at his feet, there are reeds in the form of the Roman numerals for 24 - not for Jack Bauer, but to represent the fact that MIT majors go from 1 (civil/environmental engineering) to 24 (linguistics and philosophy). If you look closely, you’ll see that the beaver is also wearing a Brass Rat. He’s holding a scroll to represent knowledge, and a globe to represent the way MIT graduates hold the world in our hands (cheesy, but yes). The 2006 beaver is supposed to look a little more benevolent than the rough and tough beaver chosen for the 2005 ring. (In case anybody missed the implication, Top of the Hub is not somewhere students usually have the opportunity to dine - they don’t serve hamburgers and fries there, you know what I mean?) My class ring was unveiled during a premiere at Walker Memorial, then distributed at a swanky event at Top of the Hub, a very classy restaurant at the top of Boston’s Prudential Tower. Well, Melis has written about her 2008 Brass Rat, Mitra has written about her 2007 Brass Rat, and Matt has written briefly about the Brass Rats for the past six years, but nobody’s ever written about the 2006 Brass Rat, which I humbly consider to be the most superior Brass Rat ever. Do I love you, or do I love you? Questions from last entry will be answered when I get back to Beantown. And yet I bring you this bonus blog entry.
Brief note: I am currently in Ohio, shopping for wedding dresses.
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