actualmitstudent-blog

[actualmitstudent-blog]

Majors at MIT Series: Intro

Majors at MIT are mostly referred to by their departmental numbers, ranging from course 1 (civil and environmental engineering), to course 24-9 (linguistics), with almost everything in between. There are also majors referred to by letters like CMS (comparative media studies). 

Some departments host multiple majors and some host just one. I want to do a series of every department/major at MIT, but I only know so much, so I’m going to start with the courses I know well and go from there, asking friends in various courses for help along the way. Below is a key to all the numbered departments (that’s a lot, and it doesn’t include CMS or other lettered departments!)

[actualmitstudent-blog]

Out at MIT

I came out in the middle of high school (I am a lesbian), and so I’ve been out to my immediate family, classmates, and friends since I stepped foot on campus. 

Being a lesbian at MIT? No problem. In fact, I know a number of LGBT people where I live, in my major, and on my team. In fact, my girlfriend and I met last year when we both lived in the same entry (essentially the same hall/floor), and we walk around holding hands and stuff with no issues at all.

Being a butch lesbian at MIT? Now, that’s more difficult. My friends are accepting of my identity and gender presentation, but it feels like other gender-non-conforming people are few and far between. I know only a few trans people scattered across campus, and no other butches.

Sometimes, it feels like I have nobody to talk to about binding, or my nebulous feelings about gender, or the looks I get when someone asks for my ID and sees my feminine 15-year-old self in the photo compared to my current men’s haircut and men’s clothing, or how differently I’m perceived since I chopped off all my hair freshman year of college.

Don’t get me wrong, MIT is an accepting place, and I’m lucky to be in a place like Cambridge where it’s relatively safe to be myself. I’m also lucky that I grew up in Seattle, so I was able to come out in high school, and I feel safe walking around my hometown.

It’s only the little things that get to me, really, and I think those would happen anywhere. I'm a butch dyke and look it, and I will never grow out my hair or wear a dress or date a man, and even in 2019 that seems to be a lot for some people. I’m not going to change for them.

[actualmitstudent-blog]

Intro

Hi! My name is Alex and I’m currently a sophomore at MIT. This blog is probably going to be fairly different from most Tumblrs, as it’s intended to be more of a personal blog about my experiences at MIT. I’ll be talking about my life, my classes, my extracurriculars, and so on. I’m also willing to answer questions about MIT and MIT student life, and the MIT application process.