While most students spend their summers avoiding school, senior Antares Tobelem actively sought out her dream one. For the last week of July, Tobelem attended the E2, or Engineering Experience, program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Throughout the week, she lived in a dorm room and spent sometimes 18-hour days in classrooms learning about engineering. From listening to graduates with doctorate degrees lecture to adapting to campus life, Tobelem said that she found “her home.”
After hearing about the program from a friend who had applied a previous year, Tobelem knew she wanted this opportunity to experience MIT first hand. The strenuous application process began in February and required recommendation letters from teachers in math and science and multiple essays. Of this year’s 2,100 applicants, only 11 percent were accepted into three available MIT programs: E2, Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) and the MIT Online Science, Technology, and Engineering Community (MOSTEC). Once accepted, applicants were randomly assigned to one of the programs.
One essay required students to describe an invention they would want to create. Tobelem chose to write about a daily smart pill that, once swallowed, would complete a full patient analysis, from monitoring hormone levels to pre-existing conditions. She wanted to make the healthcare experience more personal.
Once accepted, Tobelem spent her week learning about computer science and coding, despite having zero experience in those areas. She enjoyed being a part of a community where everyone was equally driven and where people came together rather than competed against one another.
“I never thought that I would meet a community of such spunky, energetic, creative, but then also intellectual people who made me feel like part of a family from day one,” she said.
One of the most valuable aspects of the program for Tobelem was realizing how greatly her life will change once she gets to college. While she initially thought the classes and change in lifestyle would be challenging, she now believes she is well-prepared, at least mentally.
Regardless of which of the three programs they like most, Tobelem strongly recommends interested students apply. “The connections you make are incredible. Right now is when you’re going to meet the people you’ll love for the rest of your life. [Your world] just gets smaller and smaller from here,” she said. “The people I met were just so awesome that it excites me to know that I’m starting the rest of my life with them.”
