Boston Bound

I remember hacking Walker Memorial at 1 AM and chilling on the rooftop during CPW, stuffing myself with loads of free burgers and waffles during rush, and awkwardly frat-party hopping on Beacon Street with newly made friends.

Now I’m a junior on the other side of the river, and I’m excited to share some of my experiences in these past two eventful years.

A brief intro: my name is Guang. I study computer science—I particularly enjoy building websites and iPhone apps, solving algorithmic problems, and doing combinatorics. I like making music—all types, but mostly hip-hop. And I love training for American Ninja Warrior and competing at national ninja competitions. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to be on the show!

I’m also a brother of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, Xi Chapter in particular. Here’s a glimpse into some of the highlights frat life has offered me.

Rush. MIT frats spend exorbitant amounts of money on rush events like steak & lobster, battle canoes, and paintball for you spoiled prospective rushees. It’s easy to get overwhelmed (which of these 746 events should I go to?), but if you treat the process as just getting to know a group of guys while having fun, it becomes way more exciting than stressful. 

Chill conversations. It amazes me how diverse the brothers’ interests and backgrounds are. We have dancers, a cappella singers, course 1s, course 5s, and even some course 6-3s, shockingly. I always look forward to dinner conversations, learning how it was like for a brother growing up in Australia or Tanzania.

Opportunities. Older brothers are great role models—I’ve often hit up bros when I had questions about a quant trading internship or deploying a website. Our common interests have also strengthened my own passions: a few brothers are in the Music Production Club with me, and I often do ninja training & rock climbing with other Zebes.

Friday nights. Large parties are always a great time to let loose and vibe out to our DJ’s curated bangers. Sometimes we hold smaller events or mixers, where I love to socialize and meet new people. Other times, we have no event, and that’s when a few of us will spontaneously decide to go on an adventure after a long week of classes. These trips are very chill and would never result in us getting in any trouble or ending up on the New York Times.

Brotherhood. In the end, there’s nothing like living in a house with 40 other guys who inevitably become really close friends. From semesterly retreats to house (now Zoom) birthday celebrations, we find time to connect. We give short updates on our lives & feelings during a “good and welfare” session at the end of brotherhood meetings. The cliches we sometimes jokingly throw around, like “it’s great to be a Zebe” and “not four years but a lifetime” definitely hold true.

I feel like new friendships with awesome people is the most valuable thing that MIT has to offer. For freshmen, I’d recommend exploring as many clubs/groups as you can and expanding your comfort zone—you’ll get to meet a bunch of diverse students and maybe find a new passion. As one of those groups, Greek life allows you to form strong bonds with great people and find a new home. Personally, it was one of my best decisions at MIT.

Thanks for reading and leave a comment if you made it this far. Have a fun virtual semester, and be on the lookout for more exciting stories about late-night adventures and bonding experiences!