Want a glimpse of campus life at MIT? The MIT Student Life office has posted collections of images on Flickr that show students at work and at play. Topics range from residence and Greek life to athletics, from the Hobby Shop to the famous freshman swim test. Here are a few highlights to get you started:
To graduate, MIT students must pass a 100-yard swim test or take an introductory swim class. Incoming freshmen are invited to fulfill this requirement at the Zesiger Center during Orientation when they arrive on campus. Here, students take an additional Boat Test, treading water for 10-minutes to be eligible to use the sailboat or crew shells at the MIT Sailing Pavilion. Photo by Thomas Gearty.
A student works on making an electric guitar in the MIT Hobby Shop. The Hobby Shop provides a place for any MIT student to work with well maintained machines and tools and to receive instruction and building advice. Projects can be academic or personal, serious or just for fun. Photo: MIT Hobby Shop.
"Return to the Heart." Alexander Lee, Emily Chang, Eric Nielsen, Erin Loeliger, William Phan, Esther Rheinbay, Mathew Sorrentino, Theresa Vallese, Viktor Tu, and Xiaojuan Khoo perform at the 2012 MIT Ballroom Dance Team Fall Showcase. Photo: Nicholas Schietromo.
I graduated from MIT in 1989, and I so hated having to take that swimming class. To this day, whenever I tell anyone about this requirement, they look at me as if I am lying. They ask me why the requirement exists, and I can't even tell them why, since no reason which wasn't pure anecdote or legend was ever given. That alone makes such a requirement inappropriate for a place like MIT. As for swimming being an "important life skill," even though I took the course and passed, I don't like swimming, I find the mere idea of swimming pools disgusting, and I never say that I can swim, because I don't think I can. And I am perfectly fine with that...I've never needed that skill. This is something MIT needs to follow the lead on and drop. It would be patently ridiculous for MIT to deny someone a degree if they completed all of the rigorous coursework but couldn't swim.
Comments
Michael Mann
Wed, 12/26/2012 1:24pm
I graduated from MIT in 1989, and I so hated having to take that swimming class. To this day, whenever I tell anyone about this requirement, they look at me as if I am lying. They ask me why the requirement exists, and I can't even tell them why, since no reason which wasn't pure anecdote or legend was ever given. That alone makes such a requirement inappropriate for a place like MIT. As for swimming being an "important life skill," even though I took the course and passed, I don't like swimming, I find the mere idea of swimming pools disgusting, and I never say that I can swim, because I don't think I can. And I am perfectly fine with that...I've never needed that skill. This is something MIT needs to follow the lead on and drop. It would be patently ridiculous for MIT to deny someone a degree if they completed all of the rigorous coursework but couldn't swim.
Hank Valcour
Wed, 12/26/2012 6:32am
I graduated from MIT in 1956. I was pleased to see they still have the swim requirement
Hank