I saw a turkey the other day

I saw a turkey the other day… which may not be a big deal to most of you, but since I was on a run through Boston at the time, and he was chilling in someone’s driveway, I thought it warranted a mention. It’s not like there isn’t wildlife in Boston; I’ve seen my fair share of creatures, including the omnipresent canadian and white geese. (I’ve even seen these guys picketing on their behalf). One of my favorite places to run in Boston with the cross country and track team is to Jamaica Pond (part of the Boston’s Emerald Necklace, a series of connected parks/green spaces designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the Central Park guy), and the route is full of fearless packs of birds. That’s kind of a problem for my teammate Katy ‘11, who is deathly afraid of geese; prone to screaming and jumping, she adds excitement when we run to Jamaica Pond, which, as the route is also a team favorite, is often. I also see a lot of dogs, and one time I even saw a doggie school bus driving through Boston. I’m not kidding- it was early in the morning and I had just woken up to go for a run, so at the time I pegged it as a symptom of my not-inconsiderable grogginess, but on further examination (I ran up and saw canines), it was definitely a school bus for dogs. I have a whole theory about the different types of dog walkers down Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, but maybe I’ll save it for later, since I realize I’ve neglected to introduce myself. The point of this post was not actually to ramble about animals; I started writing it but got stuck on the introduction (I’m one of those people who, when writing a paper, types AWESOME INTRO HERE and then moves on to supporting paragraphs). I left the computer, went for a run, saw a turkey, and now here we are. Anyway, Hi everyone! My name is Alina. According to MIT, I’m a senior in Course 20 (Bioengineering), but I still don’t quite believe them yet (seriously, a senior? how did that happen?). As a co-captain (with Maggie!) of the varsity cross-country and member of the track team I’ve explored my fair share of the city, and I’m excited to share with you what I love about Boston, MIT, and my team. As the winner of the dubious “most likely to spam out” paper plate award for our cross-country team last year, I’ve also learned that it can be good to let others share their thoughts. To that end I plan on highlighting some of the other cool things other MIT kids are up to, including travel and study abroad. As a senior it’s been a while since I’ve had to think about things like the housing lottery and whether to take 8.01 or 8.012, etc., but somewhere between me and Kevin Bacon I can find somebody that can help you out. Although it may take me a while to track down an answer, I will try to answer your questions as best as possible, so ask away!