Michelle Talmor | February 12, 2009
"Looking Forward to the Future"
Now that's the cat is out of the bag about this hack, I figured that I'd use this space to write something more meaningful and less nonsensical than my last post. I guess that while we were all so stressed about the release of this hack, I simply thought that no one would be interested in a 'real' post, but this is not the case apparently... :P
So here's a 'real' post and today's subject is the future.
I'm sure that each and every man, woman, extraterrestrial and unidentified flying object that has applied to MIT has something that he/she/it/unknown option X is passionate about. I'm also sure that each and every one of us applicants has some sort of vision for the future... Let me share my passion and my vision with you.
I was 6 years old when I first laid eyes on Star Trek: The Next Generation. It scared the bejesus out of me and I refused to watch it for four years after that initial shock, but when those four years were up, and I grew up a bit, I fell in love with it. TNG, as it is called among us Trekkies, described a future in which mankind is finally at peace, united under a single government and is spread out across a full quarter of our galaxy. Both the technological advances and the social advances depicted in the show were an inspiration to me. I subsequently wrote a billion sappy fanfics like a rabid fangirl and dreamed of becoming a part of the crew of the USS Enterprise.
Incidentally, I knew I wanted to be an engineer even back then, so my official 'job' in my dreams was that of the Chief Engineer, Geordie La-Forge's right hand (wo)man. Then again, I also dreamed of seducing Q and becoming the Mistress of the Universe. Therefore, I mistrusted those dreams and proceeded to summarily forget all about them during my high-school years.
My life took me in a different direction then. I went after money and prestige like a cheap ho and landed myself my current career as a computer programmer. But a few years back, in 2006, I had a revelation. I originally though that I would never pursue a career as an actual engineer. I thought that I had “burned that bridge” when I decided to go for military service as a programmer, as that position guaranteed a stable career for me, with or without a degree.
But as fate would have it, I realized that something was missing. There was a wistful thought somewhere in the back of my mind that kept whispering things like “SCIENCE!” to me. I started to dream again, and this time the dreams were far more realistic than anything I’ve ever dreamed of before.
So now I want to be a space engineer again. I want to bring that idealistic future of a space-bound humanity one or more steps closer to reality. I want cheap space flights, space stations that aren’t just labs but actual habitats, colonies on other planets and on moons, asteroid mining stations and more… so much more.
MIT is the natural place to connect with that sort of revolution*, or to even start bits of it on my own. There’s no where else that pushes students to innovate, to make a change and to get their handprints in the proverbial Hollywood Walk of Fame of history. It’s my no. 1 choice, and I hope that they will see that taking me on as a student will give both me and the Institute a shot at launching mankind into the Space Era. Pun verily intended.
That’s what I’m passionate about – Sci-Fi meets Real Life. What’s your passion, and your vision for the future? ^.^
* I’m totally not alone in this vision! Check out all these companies that have already started working on the kinds of things that I want to work on:
http://www.spaceaccess.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceDev
http://www.virgingalactic.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Aerospace
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The author has filed this entry in the, "Influencing the World" section; check it out for further reading on this topic. |
Responses To This Entry:
First!
Posted by: Anon on February 12, 2009 11:02 PM
Yeah! A troll! *sniff*
Posted by: Ahana on February 13, 2009 12:02 AM
Oh God. I can't stand sci fi and would hate to see that world.
But it's a personal grudge from childhood (long story), so I'll let it go ;)
Posted by: Reena on February 13, 2009 01:02 AM
Awww, what's wrong with sci-fi? Not all of it is crazy wacko stuff. Arthur C. Clarke is credited with the invention of the geosynchronous satellite. That's some sci-fi for me right there. :)
Posted by: Enoch Kuo on February 13, 2009 04:02 PM
@Anon & Ahana
XD
@Reena
Really? That's too bad. I experienced the opposite - sci-fi saved my life! But that's another long story ;-)
@Enoch
Precisely! There are so MANY things that sci-fi inspired people to make - submarines, the landing on the moon, CDs, cell phones, blackberry and other palm pad computers, bluetooth ear pieces... I could go on for hours XD
Posted by: Michelle on February 13, 2009 05:02 PM
