"Whether you're a brand new graduate student, or a heavily recruited tenured professor, as a new inhabitant of the Media Lab, you'll eventually run across the same basic need to make a Xerox or not get locked out of the building. So here's a nitty-gritty survival guide to the new occupant of the Media Lab. Each pearl of wisdom on this page represents hours of frustration spent on a task that should only take minutes. As you stumble and bruise yourself on your administrivia, let your search for light not be in vain." - Benjamin Resner
Benjamin Resner in the class of 2001 created The Insider's Guide For New People at the Media Lab. This is an homage to it and continuation of its legacy. This was created by Tobin South in 2022 while TA'ing the MAS-S90 (Intro to MAS) class, with help and inspiration from Joost Bonsen. This is a live and collaborative document, and always needs updating and more content. Feel free to fork, edit and perform a pull request, I'll approve it immediately.
There are many parts to this journey, so you'll find them divided up amongst several markdown files. While there may be an illusion of structure, everything in the Media Lab is connected to everything else, so you might have to go hunting.
I'll end this README with some excerpts from Ben's original piece that are still relevant today.
*I am the smartest person in the lab. Everyone else is way too absorbed in their own little universe to see the big picture the way I do. *I am the dumbest person in the lab. I am here because of a huge administrative mistake, and it's only a matter of time before they get me. *I have no idea what I am going to do for a thesis. *I have no idea what I am going to do tomorrow. *Are there people who really do live here? *All the low hanging fruit has been picked -- there's nothing interesting left to do. *Nothing interesting has been done. *The UROPS (Undergraduate Research Opportunities) get more done and know more than anyone else.
*I'm bored. *The dress code is way too formal