Progression of Spirit

Progression of Spirit I realize that the title for this post could be the title of a hymn or sermon, but its not. Its the title for this post. Its quite fun to watch the progression of the emotional state of MIT students. The year starts with 1,100 studious new freshmen who are ready to experience everything college has to offer. They want to work hard, show their parents that theyre worthy of MIT, and prove to themselves that they can handle the workload. This is evidenced by our test subject, Jon, in Exhibit A: Exhibit A Jon is the one closest to you, sitting at his computer after having just finished registering for classes. He is ready to go and succeed! A month into the semester our test subject is thriving. He has discovered that there is much more to MIT than schoolwork and studying. He enjoys floor parties and creates fond memories of college, as evidenced by Exhibit B. Exhibit B Then BAM!!!, like a kick to the face delivered by Chuck Norris himself, the last three weeks of the semester hit. Everything is due, everything occurs, and finals are looming. People stop talking, start locking themselves in their rooms, and episodes of people screaming down the hall in hysterics increase. How does Jon react to the added stress? I walked into my room one day to find a very strange and startling scene. I knew, the instant I saw it, that the stress and pressure of finals had final stricken Jon down and left him as I saw him. What did I see? Please consider Exhibit C. Exhibit C Jon, after pulling an all-nighter, had fallen asleep upright at his computer while wrapped in a blanket. He was so far gone that it took yelling and fairly aggressive prodding to wake him. This, kids, is what happens to the average, everyday MIT freshman over the course of a semester. You start ready to work and soon learn that theres more to MIT than work. The illusion that anything but work is worthwhile is then shattered several weeks before finals as everybody goes insane and starts shaking/yelling/drooling/pacing uncontrollably. Welcome to MIT, were the leaders of tomorrow!