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quiet moments by Kanokwan T. '25
out in the rural English countryside
this summer, i’m living in a small, cozy house out in the medieval parish of st ives. it’s a small town that’s around 10 miles outside of Cambridge (the one in the United Kingdom, not in the United States where MIT is located). in fact, it’s so small that it usually appears on the 2nd page of Google when you search it up, way after its more famous homonymous beach city counterpart in Cornwall. you may be wondering why i’m here. i’m doing a misti01 <a href="https://misti.mit.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mit international science and technology initiatives</a> (misti) runs global travel experiences for MIT. they’re the primary hub for study/work abroad internship on electromagnetism and graphene02 graphene is so cool. basically, it's a novel material that is a 1-atom thick layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. visually, think a carbon atom placed at every intersection of chicken wire. its discovery in 2010 won the nobel prize because of its remarkable properties: it's the most electrically and thermally conductive material ever discovered, 200x stronger than steel, 1000x lighter than paper, and so much more. anyways, i work in development engineering, where we make the stuff discovered by the research team into real things people can use. graphene is also a quite sustainable material, so im especially excited to see how it impacts the environment. i can go on and on about graphene, but i will stop myself and leave you here. and motors and stuff, which i think may be one of the coolest jobs ive had so far, and my company is out in Somersham, a nearby town. anyhow, you get the point: my home base this summer is a remote place out in the fields. and i love it
it’s quaint
tucked away in an abundance of nature
yet has a family-sense of liveliness in the streets
i biked the town this past weekend, from the top to the bottom
(this sounds long, but the town is around the size of a 1 mile square)
and saw some really cute things
two girls, around 6 years old, were riding around in grocery carts after the shop closed up
a few little boys were ripping up grass and throwing it at each other, like some alternative form of tag mixed with nature’s confetti
an elderly couple was just exiting an ice cream shop together when i passed them, with ice cream in one hand and each other in the other
cute dogs being walked every now and then
and it’s not really… missing anything?
it just has, like, *one* of everything
need a shoe repaired? there’s the shoe shop
want to dive into some history? there’s the town museum
looking for a book? there’s the library
it simplifies life. ive enjoyed the juxtaposition between this peaceful style of living as opposed to the bustling life of mit, and i mean that fully: i like the contrast. it’s not that one draws to me much more than the other, rather, the experience of both makes me appreciate each one more. i think they’re delightful in their own rights. being in st ives has reaffirmed something ive always thought of myself: i love both the rural and city, and want to have both in my life. i dont need to… pick? i feel like that’s a question that’s commonly asked, akin to “what do you want to do with your life,” and i’ve never been able to pick one place. i can see myself living out in the city for work and such because i love the thrill of urban areas, but also frequently camping or maybe building my own cabin one day03 fun fact: the <a href="https://mitoc.mit.edu/rentals/cabins" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mit outing club</a> (mitoc) owns 2 cabins that any mit member can use at any time, and both were built entirely by mitoc members! because i love silence. we’ll see what happens.
ive taken a few photos while out here, during quiet pockets of my day. i thought you might enjoy them:
while wandering outside
while vibing inside
cheers to the quiet beauty
- mit international science and technology initiatives (misti) runs global travel experiences for MIT. they’re the primary hub for study/work abroad back to text ↑
- graphene is so cool. basically, it's a novel material that is a 1-atom thick layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. visually, think a carbon atom placed at every intersection of chicken wire. its discovery in 2010 won the nobel prize because of its remarkable properties: it's the most electrically and thermally conductive material ever discovered, 200x stronger than steel, 1000x lighter than paper, and so much more. anyways, i work in development engineering, where we make the stuff discovered by the research team into real things people can use. graphene is also a quite sustainable material, so im especially excited to see how it impacts the environment. i can go on and on about graphene, but i will stop myself and leave you here. back to text ↑
- fun fact: the mit outing club (mitoc) owns 2 cabins that any mit member can use at any time, and both were built entirely by mitoc members! back to text ↑