WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.650 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:00:01.650 --> 00:00:05.680 align:middle line:84% NARRATOR: MIT was founded just a few years before Canada, 00:00:05.680 --> 00:00:08.520 align:middle line:84% just a few miles from the birthplace of the American 00:00:08.520 --> 00:00:09.710 align:middle line:90% Revolution. 00:00:09.710 --> 00:00:14.140 align:middle line:84% And that revolutionary spirit still haunts this place. 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:17.040 align:middle line:84% From the transistor radio to computer networks to 00:00:17.040 --> 00:00:20.470 align:middle line:84% pharmaceuticals the stuff that gets dreamed up, built, and 00:00:20.470 --> 00:00:22.510 align:middle line:90% tested here affects millions. 00:00:22.510 --> 00:00:32.820 align:middle line:90% 00:00:32.820 --> 00:00:38.100 align:middle line:84% But MIT's geniuses all have to somewhere, as freshmen. 00:00:38.100 --> 00:00:39.350 align:middle line:90% Freshmen like-- 00:00:39.350 --> 00:00:53.710 align:middle line:90% 00:00:53.710 --> 00:00:56.610 align:middle line:84% Every January, the chemistry department runs a four-week 00:00:56.610 --> 00:00:59.530 align:middle line:90% lab class for freshmen. 00:00:59.530 --> 00:01:02.790 align:middle line:84% The class is called 5.301, and it teaches practical 00:01:02.790 --> 00:01:05.560 align:middle line:84% techniques that chemists use every day. 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:06.870 align:middle line:84% DR. JOHN DOLHUN: Recrystallization to 00:01:06.870 --> 00:01:11.770 align:middle line:84% distillation to column chromatography, protein 00:01:11.770 --> 00:01:15.720 align:middle line:84% assays, and it ends with a research project, where the 00:01:15.720 --> 00:01:20.670 align:middle line:84% students actually synthesize a penicillin derivative and test 00:01:20.670 --> 00:01:22.480 align:middle line:90% it on live bacteria. 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:25.360 align:middle line:84% NARRATOR: And those who pass get a UROP. 00:01:25.360 --> 00:01:27.380 align:middle line:84% ANU: A UROP stands for undergraduate research 00:01:27.380 --> 00:01:30.080 align:middle line:84% opportunities program, and it lets you do real 00:01:30.080 --> 00:01:30.930 align:middle line:90% research in a lab. 00:01:30.930 --> 00:01:34.010 align:middle line:84% KATHERINE: It's a great opportunity for people to get 00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:37.030 align:middle line:84% experience in a lab, figure out if research is right for 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:40.380 align:middle line:84% them, and get publications on your resume. 00:01:40.380 --> 00:01:43.830 align:middle line:84% NARRATOR: This year, 5.301 has 14 students. 00:01:43.830 --> 00:01:45.680 align:middle line:90% Let's meet a few of them. 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:47.630 align:middle line:84% ANTHONY: My family basically consists of my mother and my 00:01:47.630 --> 00:01:49.200 align:middle line:90% sister and now my nephew. 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:51.840 align:middle line:90% ANTHONY'S NEPHEW: M, I, T. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:53.420 align:middle line:90% ANTHONY: Yay! 00:01:53.420 --> 00:01:56.050 align:middle line:84% I'm the first, actually, in my family to go to college. 00:01:56.050 --> 00:01:58.990 align:middle line:84% My mom is the best person in the world. 00:01:58.990 --> 00:02:01.370 align:middle line:84% When I go home at night and call her and tell her what I 00:02:01.370 --> 00:02:04.410 align:middle line:84% did in lab, she's always like, oh, that's interesting. 00:02:04.410 --> 00:02:07.465 align:middle line:84% I think I saw that in CSI one day. 00:02:07.465 --> 00:02:08.630 align:middle line:90% I'm in the logs. 00:02:08.630 --> 00:02:12.050 align:middle line:84% We run around like crazy men on Valentine's Day and 00:02:12.050 --> 00:02:14.885 align:middle line:84% interrupt classes and sing to people. 00:02:14.885 --> 00:02:18.360 align:middle line:84% I'm either Course 5 or Course 10-- for non-MIT, either 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:19.980 align:middle line:84% chemistry or chemical engineering. 00:02:19.980 --> 00:02:23.150 align:middle line:84% If I enjoy being in lab, then Course 5 is probably a really 00:02:23.150 --> 00:02:24.440 align:middle line:90% good choice. 00:02:24.440 --> 00:02:26.710 align:middle line:84% EMILY: If you want to, you could definitely just lock 00:02:26.710 --> 00:02:28.845 align:middle line:84% yourself in your room and study all the time. 00:02:28.845 --> 00:02:30.830 align:middle line:84% I just wanted to show you guys my room. 00:02:30.830 --> 00:02:33.820 align:middle line:84% Here I have a bunch of formulas for derivatives, 00:02:33.820 --> 00:02:39.240 align:middle line:84% integration by parts, common polyatomic ions, your basic 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:41.490 align:middle line:84% kinematic equations for physics. 00:02:41.490 --> 00:02:43.740 align:middle line:84% So it's kind of up to you if you want to go 00:02:43.740 --> 00:02:45.520 align:middle line:90% out there and explore. 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:47.950 align:middle line:84% In high school, I was on the varsity tennis team, so I 00:02:47.950 --> 00:02:50.470 align:middle line:84% definitely try to do a lot of that here. 00:02:50.470 --> 00:02:53.690 align:middle line:84% I'm taking a taekwondo class, which should be interesting. 00:02:53.690 --> 00:02:56.570 align:middle line:84% I'm thinking Course 5, which is chemistry, or Course 10, 00:02:56.570 --> 00:02:58.600 align:middle line:90% which is chemical engineering. 00:02:58.600 --> 00:03:01.800 align:middle line:84% ETHAN: I do love science, but I also have that soft spot for 00:03:01.800 --> 00:03:03.960 align:middle line:90% Robert Frost and Walt Whitman. 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:06.040 align:middle line:84% Instead of writing a valedictorian speech in high 00:03:06.040 --> 00:03:08.230 align:middle line:84% school, I actually just wrote a poem that they published, 00:03:08.230 --> 00:03:11.900 align:middle line:84% because I guess I do sort of like poems more than speeches. 00:03:11.900 --> 00:03:14.120 align:middle line:84% But since my parents want me to come out of college and be 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:16.740 align:middle line:84% able to get a job, they decided that I 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:17.890 align:middle line:90% will be doing sciences. 00:03:17.890 --> 00:03:20.080 align:middle line:84% And I'm completely cool with that. 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:23.060 align:middle line:84% I am the student manager for the basketball team, so I go 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:24.620 align:middle line:84% to all the practices and the games. 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:26.760 align:middle line:84% I feel that's a really cool way to relax, I 00:03:26.760 --> 00:03:28.680 align:middle line:90% guess, after class. 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:32.510 align:middle line:84% LINA: I've always been into the secret tunnels thing. 00:03:32.510 --> 00:03:37.060 align:middle line:84% Now we're down in the tunnels, the famous MIT tunnels. 00:03:37.060 --> 00:03:38.180 align:middle line:90% I love playing pranks. 00:03:38.180 --> 00:03:41.180 align:middle line:84% I used to play pranks on my high school teachers. 00:03:41.180 --> 00:03:43.820 align:middle line:84% Well, my chemistry teacher, back in high school, he was 00:03:43.820 --> 00:03:46.440 align:middle line:84% really known for giving a lot of lab reports and grading 00:03:46.440 --> 00:03:47.530 align:middle line:90% them pretty harshly. 00:03:47.530 --> 00:03:51.600 align:middle line:84% So I got my entire AP classes to give me their lab reports. 00:03:51.600 --> 00:03:54.480 align:middle line:84% We took the front covers of all these lab reports, and we 00:03:54.480 --> 00:03:58.930 align:middle line:84% just wallpapered his entire wall with them. 00:03:58.930 --> 00:04:04.980 align:middle line:84% I hope that 5.301 will help me want to do more research. 00:04:04.980 --> 00:04:06.060 align:middle line:90% IKE: Hey. 00:04:06.060 --> 00:04:07.110 align:middle line:90% What's up, what's up? 00:04:07.110 --> 00:04:10.380 align:middle line:84% This is Ike, AKA, Smooth Scholar. 00:04:10.380 --> 00:04:12.740 align:middle line:84% Ravens fan-- we're going to win the Superbowl this year. 00:04:12.740 --> 00:04:13.940 align:middle line:90% So watch out. 00:04:13.940 --> 00:04:15.450 align:middle line:90% This is my first time in lab. 00:04:15.450 --> 00:04:18.680 align:middle line:84% Don't feel intimidated, because you're going to come 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:21.649 align:middle line:84% across people who have taken crazy classes in 00:04:21.649 --> 00:04:23.365 align:middle line:90% high school, you know? 00:04:23.365 --> 00:04:25.960 align:middle line:84% And some of you probably have never even taken calculus 00:04:25.960 --> 00:04:27.230 align:middle line:90% before, like me. 00:04:27.230 --> 00:04:28.220 align:middle line:90% You're still here, right? 00:04:28.220 --> 00:04:31.520 align:middle line:84% You still made it, so it still counts. 00:04:31.520 --> 00:04:33.790 align:middle line:90% That's it for now. 00:04:33.790 --> 00:04:35.430 align:middle line:84% NARRATOR: Everyone's excited to get started. 00:04:35.430 --> 00:04:37.850 align:middle line:84% YI-SHIUAN: I haven't had that much lab experience. 00:04:37.850 --> 00:04:41.080 align:middle line:84% HANSOL: I haven't worked in a music lab-- just high school. 00:04:41.080 --> 00:04:43.370 align:middle line:84% JULIE: I haven't done any research yet in a lab. 00:04:43.370 --> 00:04:44.550 align:middle line:84% JASON: I'm actually pretty excited. 00:04:44.550 --> 00:04:45.300 align:middle line:90% LEALIA: I'm excited. 00:04:45.300 --> 00:04:46.380 align:middle line:90% DAN: I'm really excited. 00:04:46.380 --> 00:04:47.560 align:middle line:90% YI-SHIUAN: Definitely excited. 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:50.213 align:middle line:84% JULIE: Really eager to get into the lab and get hands on 00:04:50.213 --> 00:04:50.940 align:middle line:90% right away. 00:04:50.940 --> 00:04:52.330 align:middle line:84% DAN: I can't wait to get started. 00:04:52.330 --> 00:04:57.770 align:middle line:84% NARRATOR: But they have no idea what they're in for. 00:04:57.770 --> 00:05:28.960 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING]