Summary
Hello, this is Vivian, the LMF historian again on the LMF blog! Unfortunately, this fall semester was busy, so I didn't do much as a historian. Now that the semester is over, however, I have more time and hope to do more things as historian for the 2024 spring semester. Overall, this semester was great and many events happened in four months.
New GRAs
We started the 2023-2024 academic year with two new GRAs, Miguel and Irene. Miguel is currently a physics PhD student, while Irene is a research technician at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. They are great GRAs, as they have hosted cheese and fruit study breaks and other fun events.
Slang
The most popular phrases people in LMF say include skill issue, cook, giving, etc. Alfonso '24 came up with the pun "skrill issue" and made an illustration that is now a custom Slack reaction sticker on our Slack channel. We also had the beloved "I want to krill myshelf" whale illustration on the board in the quiet lounge that sadly got erased.
:skrill-issue: Slack custom sticker design, courtesy of Alfonso
The beloved whale illustration
LMF Slack Culture
Going back to the custom "skrill issue" sticker, we also now have more custom LMF stickers that include the following people:
Dien '24 for :drippy_dien:
Alfonso '24 for :drip:
Kimi '24 for :kimi_moment:
Lila '25 for :gottablast:
LMF IM Soccer Team
We gathered a dozen of LMF residents to form an intramural soccer team this fall! The last time we participated in IM was before COVID (League and badminton), so it is nice we are reviving the old LMF tradition of playing intramural sports. Melissa '24 helped form the team and coached residents on soccer. Overall, we had a great season with some wins!
Pole
In October, we purchased a pole and installed it near the menu pantry shelf in the kitchen. The pole isn't used all the time, but a couple of residents enjoy spinning on it and learning some tricks on the pole, which makes it a good way to relieve stress.
Teo '26 and the rest of LMF installing the pole
New Quiet Lounge
Acquiring the new pole in the LMF kitchen meant moving one of the tables in the kitchen somewhere else, so we decided to place the table in the elevator lounge near the stairway exit. It's a great workspace and now the formerly empty board is filled with lively illustrations, words, equations, etc.
Dien '24 diligently studying
Mystery chart on the elevator lounge whiteboard
Pumpkin Social
The LMF social chairs hosted a pumpkin social in mid. October! Besides pumpkin carving, people made the following pumpkin recipes:
- Creamy roasted pumpkin soup
- Pumpkin gochujang pasta
- Afghan pumpkin with yogurt and tomato sauce
- Pumpkin pie ice cream
- Roasted pumpkin seeds
Carved pumpkins
Pumpkin pie
Anson's Chart
Anson '26 started weekly charts on his whiteboard asking residents to put pins on the MIT campus map as a response to the question. Here are some of these charts:
In November and December, the whiteboard now has Cartesian coordinates to plot ourselves. Some of these charts can be found down below:
LMF Wedding
Jesse '18 and David '20 got married at the Museum of Science in late October! The wedding guests included recent LMF alums from the Class of 2018 to 2023. Keeping up with the LMF alum tradition, they sent us a postcard from their honeymoon in the South Padre Islands. We can't wait to hear other LMF weddings in the future :)
Jesse and David married on 10/27/23
Retreat
A group of 15 LMF people went to Alton Bay, NH during the Veteran's Day long weekend! There were a total of three cars, each having their own itineraries. Some hiked at Mount Major while others went to Salem. The night at the cabin consisted of various activities, including playing games like Cards Against Humanity and roasting marshmallows at the fire pit. It is definitely an experience that won't be forgotten.
LMF retreat dinner in the cabin
LMF residents at the campfire roasting marshmallows
LMF retreat 2023 group picture. Top row (left to right): Lowell '26, Alfonso '24, Kimi '24, Dien '24, Clara '24, Ivy '24, Nicole '24, Locke '27, Kailyn '26, Tobi '26. Bottom row (left to right): Bayo '24, Fiona '24, Greta '27, Vivian '25
Iconic Menus
Some menus that stood out this semester was Dien's pho menu and Kimi's dim sum menu. Dien's pho menu required preparation 24 hours in advance, as the pho broth needed to be on the stove for a long time. While we don't record attendance, Dien's menu was probably the highest attendance (30 or more people). Logistically, it was kind of challenging because it required a lot of bowls instead of plates, but it was still an excellent meal.
Kimi's menu had the most dishes, as it was Kimi's senior menu. The menu had the following dishes:
- Egg tart
- Sticky rice
- Spare ribs
- Chicken feet
- Tripe
- Tofu
- Chive pockets
- Siu mai
- Dumplings
- Smashed cucumbers
- Turnip cake
To prepare all these dishes, preparation started as early as 2 to 3 days before cook team on Monday. Not only that, but also a lot of people outside of cook team helped out with early preparation. Everyone enjoyed the diverse offerings as well as the food's delicious taste.
Dîner de Nöel
This year's Dîner was a success! We had lots of yummy dishes, such as the Buche de Noel and matcha cakes. One unforgettable part of Dîner was when Anson '26 revealed his gift for Eileen '26, the current LMF food steward. Anson first exited the Macgregor dining room, then ran back with a large poster of "Kim Ay Leen" (parody of Kim Jong Un) with a word bubble that said "Submit! Your! Menu!" The whole scene caused everyone to burst out laughing.
The iconic poster now sits outside our quiet lounge
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed reading this post! Thank you LMF residents for taking pictures, especially Anson! While the role of the LMF historian is relatively new, I think it is a great idea moving forward that future historians write a summary of each semester to document some memorable events that happened in LMF. I know that I can't capture every single moment in a single blog, but I hope I was able to highlight some important events here.
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