As I walked pass Professor Kong’s office, as I do most everyday, an indescribable feeling came over me. I would always run into him in the hallway. He would always say “its ok?” and I would say my usual “yes everythings good.” But on this day I knew he wouldn’t be there.

About a week and a half ago, I was shocked to hear that the professor who made my first semester at MIT one of the most interesting had passed away.   Last semester I walked into my first class at MIT feeling scared, inferior, and just about ready to turn around and walk back to North Carolina. When in walks this older Asian man with a maroon sweater, white collar shirt with a scarf tied like an ascot, and slacks. He was small in stature but very intimidating until he opened his mouth. Instead of talking about electromagnetics and throwing out all these equations that I am sure I wouldn’t know, he began talking about James Clerk Maxwell; his life, his friends, everything you would ever want to know about Maxwell and more. Instead of acting pretentious and intimidating he made jokes and colorful analogies, he asked us questions. I had never experienced a professor who knew and had accomplished so much, but was so down to earth.

Many times he painted a colorful picture of Maxwell’s life and accomplishments, and other times he went head first into the subject we had signed up to learn, electromagnetics. But he always managed to bring humor and interactive conversation to the classroom. Including the day when a student came to class dressed as him. Everyone waited with baited breath for him to notice the student who sat on the front row with the same sweater, slacks, and scarf; even the same hair style. But of course professor played it cool throughout the whole class until the end when he even agreed to take a picture with the student which of course made its way to facebook.

I probably will never have another professor like Professor Kong, but I count it a blessing that I was in the last class to experience his unique style of teaching.  He was, in my opinion, one of MIT’s best and he will be missed.

When i walk out of my office at 2am and see someone on a unicycle going down the hallway or people breakdancing or ballroom dancing in the open space between labs, or busloads of tourists taking my picture as I walk to class, or someone walking across Mass ave in the snow with shorts on, i dont even flinch anymore. What once looked so crazy to me has now become normal….. but today was different for some reason. i walked outside and thought to myself ‘I still cannot believe I go to MIT’. It was “normal” for me to go from one lab where carbon nanotubes were being made to my lab where new chips were being tested/models were being made, to talking to one of my friends about a novel energy solutions in developing countries to doing my own MEMs homework. Never in a million years would I have believed that this would be my life. If you would have told me then where I would be now, I would have laughed in your face and thought you were just as crazy as the guy with the shorts on in the snow. But, I am so grateful for this opportunity to be here, in the short seven months I have been at MIT I have met the Chairman of Intel, traveled to 5 different states for conferences, seen my first Broadway play, and began learning Chinese. There’s so much more, but I dont have room to write it all! It has been awesome, but I have learned that at MIT you will understand what Pearl Cleage meant when she wrote the book entitled, “What looks like crazy on an ordinary day…”