I think I might hate myself right now, because there is possibly nothing I find more annoying than that stupid “first post” trend. But I couldn’t quite resist it this time.
See, this isn’t really my first blog post, and this certainly isn’t my first blog. I’ve been blogging since way before it was cool. My friend Merry turned me on to the idea in the 7th grade, which would have been 1999 or 2000. It’s hard to imagine that only 9 or 10 years ago there was no Myspace, there was no Facebook, there was no Twitter, there was no Digg, hell there was barely LiveJournal yet…but there was OpenDiary. Which, I’m now finding out as I look into it, was apparently one of the very first blogging sites ever.
I titled my diary “Mets Girl,” since I was and will always (most unfortunately, it seems) be a fan of the New York Mets. I thought the whole thing was silly, but my friend had an account and insisted that I create one as well, add her to my friends list… Within a few weeks, I was using the site twice as often as she was. I was completely hooked. To this day I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. I posted my stupid little entries about the social drama of my life in middle school and was quickly part of the OpenDiary community. I read the diaries of people I’d never met before, left them “notes” (which is what the site calls comments), and developed some astonishingly strong relationships with people I’d never met.
I can’t quite remember why I stopped posting there, but sometime in high school I began using a site called Upsaid. A year or so later, the site began charging for accounts, so I switched to diary-x.com. A few years after that, a massive server crash led to the loss of all those years of entries. (The site has been retooled and resurrected as Codexed.)
By that point my OpenDiary had been deleted because of inactivity, and although I believe I did save the old upsaid entries, it’s frankly probably best that they stay hidden in an obscure folder on my hard drive. Because really…angsty preteen drama-filled ramblings are probably best left forgotten. I think I’d be ashamed to see them again. The loss of the diary-x entries, however, was actually disappointing. I really liked that blog, and have at the very least deluded myself into thinking that it was actually good. There were some interesting, almost insightful entries among the bunch- considering they all pertained to the events of my senior year of high school (which was rather eventful and powerful for various reasons) and my perspectives on current events.
The one concrete thing I can say was that it landed me my professional blogging gig- the famous Ben Jones, a well-loved MIT Admissions Officer, read my posts and offered me a job the minute he met me in person. (“You’re Laura? The Laura? You’re so blogging for us next year.”)
After that, I tried in vain for several years to recover the glory of my one successful blog. It never really worked. The blog I wrote for admissions was pretty good, I think, but obviously constrained in topic. I tried to avoid mentioning my personal life (it’s sort of scary how obsessed with internet personalities the community of MIT-hopefuls can become). I wandered from LiveJournal (for the friends-only protection, so I could rant freely) to Blogspot to the revived Codexed (for the template freedom) a blog set up with Moveable Type on my MIT-sponsored webspace. None of them really…clicked. There are a handful of good entries buried in the mix, but I never wrote in any of them very regularly, and obviously didn’t gather much of a following what with all the migration.
So, if I’m keeping count properly…the 8th time’s the charm. I finally decided to buy my own domain and give it a real try this time. I’m still working on customizing the site, and hopefully I’ll be able to scrape together enough computer literacy to design the template I’d like to have. I also hope I’ll stick with it and be able to recapture some of the skill I used to have. Maybe practice will do it- this entry has been painful to write, and I know it used to come much more easily. 4 years of engineering school has really done a number on my writing abilities.
So that’s the history. As for an introduction, I’ll just copy what I’ve written in my “about me” page. It’s as much background as it is introductory entry, and I’m sure the content of that page will change- and hopefully soon, as you’ll see:
So, where to begin?
First of all, my name is Laura, but depending on the social circle you might hear me referred to as lnicks (EMTs and nerd types), glitter or glitter ninja (gamers), or dork/pinhead/etc (family).
I was born and raised at the Jersey Shore before going off to live in the Boston area for 4 years of college. Presently I’m 22 years old, and trying to figure out what the hell to do with the degree I just earned from MIT. I decided to take this summer off, so I currently live at home in NJ and work at a very un-classy waterpark nearby. I’m trying to find a job to start in September, and the only clues I have to go from are an incredibly vague field (mechanical engineering) and a slightly less vague idea of what I want to accomplish with my life (“something meaningful,” which in my own head has something to do with some combination of engineering, the third world, gender equality, education, medicine, human rights, and technology; and yes I consider this less vague than “mechanical engineering”).
Part of the problem, as you might have already guessed, is that I have about a million interests. What this basically means is that the only thing I do well, is doing lots of things poorly. I have studied political science, mechanical engineering, robotics, and sustainable development, done research into the development of new rapid prototyping technologies, worked as a computer science intern at the R&D branch of the Spanish telephone company, volunteered some time as an EMT, volunteered even more time doing public safety outreach/awareness work with EMS, worked as a lifeguard and a computing help consultant, played field hockey competitively for 10 years, been the Rush Chair for my dormitory twice (which sounds silly but was hands down the biggest, most challenging, far-reaching job I’ve ever had), worked as a professional blogger for the MIT Admissions office (check it out), and spent a month in Italy teaching high school students math and science. I love reading, writing, physics, baseball, engineering, studying languages, learning about science and technology…
Just about the only thing that ties it all together is sarcasm- the one thing I can’t do without which finds its way into every corner of my life. I’m also loud and excitable, which is the best word I can think of to incorporate my energy, enthusiasm, and quick anger into one word. Whatever happens from this point, all I know is that it will be a wild and crazy adventure (if the first 22 years of it were evidence enough) where I try to figure out how to put all of that together in some positive way.
I guess what I’m getting at is that you can expect this blog to be entertaining (hopefully), but certainly not coherent.
Yay new blog!