Student Snippets A Window Into The Daily Life & Thoughts of SLIS Students

Getting To Know Boston

Posted September 27, 2017 by Josie Snow

Photo of Josie Snow

These next two years will be full of learning experiences for me, and I am looking forward to that. Already, I have learned a few things. Did you know that Boston is where America’s first public school was founded? Or that 75-80% ground the city is resting on is man-made? Have you ever heard of the Boston Harbor clean-up project?

Here are some of my initial impressions of Boston.

Things I love:

  • All the history: Guys, I got to visit some of the most important places of the American Revolution! I climbed Bunker Hill (and Breeds’ Hill) I have seen replicas of the boat that tea was tossed from during the tea party. I live in a building built hundreds of years ago. It makes my heart sing.
  • The student environment: Boston is one of the biggest college towns in the nation. According to a 2011 publication by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, Boston is home to 35 colleges, universities or community colleges and there are more than 150,000 students enrolled in those institutions. So whether it is MIT students making me smile with their pranks, or Berklee College of Music students showing off their talents, there are people everywhere pursuing their dreams.

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Not far from my home is a bridge leading to MIT; the students of MIT when out carousing on night decided to use one of their classmates to measure the distance across this bridge. Being engineers, they took the time to label the distances and make sure that the distances were precise. Thus I know that I live 468 (+/- a foot) from MIT.

 

  • The metro: I love watching the people, wondering where they came from, or what they have spent their time doing. Also it is fairly easy to navigate.
  • The art/architecture:

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Things I will need to get used to:

  • The metro: There is something about being underground that is scary, plus it can be uncomfortable to be in such close quarters with so many strangers.
  • The constant noise: Traffic noise, people noise, squeaky noises everywhere sometimes I walk around with ear buds in just to cut the noise.
  • “Ahh” instead of “r”:  It makes me smile, but I sometimes have a hard time interpreting what people are saying if they speak too quickly.
  • Dollar Coins: At home we collect them; here we get them as change.

 

Best for now!

Josie

 

Boston