Oh my – I should be busy with an application right now, but I was so gripped with emotion just now that I just had to post this:
I LOVE THE MIT APPLICATION BLOGS
Every time I read an entry I feel myself nodding, marvelling at the fact that THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO THINK THE SAME WAY I DO! Who exhibit the same patterns of thought and examine their surroundings under a magnifying glass and ponder incessantly and tirelessly and pour it all out in writing <333
Look at this entry about being average. I have that niggling fear in my head all the time.
Or this entry about being qualified for MIT. Touche. (I love the ending, btw – apart from assuaging some of my fears, it also showed me that compassion is still appreciated, even amongst super-smart individuals whom one perceives to be less in need of human interaction. Stereotypes, gah.)
Or this entry about children, also by Anna H.
These blogs make me want to know these people, to talk to them and pick their wonderful minds and discuss Things with them! I love this very human face of what is perceived as an exclusive, elite institution.
If I get to be in such an environment in Uni – that great looming Unknown – I’ll be happy.
I think Davie is really nice…but I think it’s kinda hard to show that in application essays….wish you luck in becoming one of the writers for this MIT blog in the future (wait, but is MIT your first choice?)
I have three first choices and I’ll be happy to get into any one of them!
But you are right, if I get into MIT I shall volunteer to blog too! ^^
It’s not inspiring.
(Similarly, I find the comment that “it also showed me that compassion is still appreciated, even amongst super-smart individuals whom one perceives to be less in need of human interaction” particularly disingenuous, when there is no consideration being made for neurodivergent existences and experiences.)
I think the author’s main gripe is that in portraying people with disabilities so simplistically, the less media-savoury aspects of their characters are ignored. She is bitter about being an ‘inspiration’ because people are content to merely be ‘inspired’, and take no action beyond that to help the disabled people in their midst. This isn’t a problem in Anna(the MIT student)’s case because she is volunteering her services to the paediatrics department.
Wrt your second comment: I had to make some generalisations in the interests of time (dear friend, I was rushing an application!). One can only pray for readers’ understanding and hope that they will themselves explore the inchoate lines of thought so haphazardly presented here.
(I bet the author of that website doesn’t believe in smilies either. But I do. I think they have utility, even when I’m not actually smiling:) )
Smilies are amazing and would be wonderful in applications. Except that I might probably get carried away with ^^;! and
DD
I disagree with you, though, that it’s not a problem because the MIT student is volunteering her services. Volunteering does not change the fundamental power disparity between privileged and disprivileged in any aspect of oppression (in this case, disablism). In fact, a key problem is that people who volunteer feel more qualified to comment on disability, and their voices are often allowed to override actual disabled people’s self-advocacy as a result of the systemic structures from which the former group continues to benefit. This is the offshoot of the main problem in this situation, which is that people with disabilities are placed in the object-position of dually requiring assistance and providing inspiration to abled people, which function of societally normative narrative subtracts from their autonomy.
Consider s.e. smith’s recent article, “Pity Porn and Societal Responsibility“.