So, I go to college at MIT (IHTFP), which is fantastic. But lets not get ahead of the story. Before college there was high school, and in high school you apply to college, and this is where our story begins. Technically it begins not during high school, but the summer before fall of my senior year. There is a mystic organization called QuestBridge (I should have seen this coming). Its a fantastic organisation, and I can't say a single negative word about what they do. This is what they are all about- when you apply for colleges you can fill out each colleges app, which is great. Or you can fill out the QuestBridge App (thats a long word- from now on QuestBridge=QB) QB has a partnership with a whole slue of colleges, who have agreed to accept QB apps instead of their own. If the college decides to admit you based on your QB app, you get a full ride scholarship. Even if your college does not accept your QB with a full ride, they can still admit you- without all the money. Thats what happened to me. How can I complain- I got into MIT! (plus QB pays your app fees, which are like $70-$90!) You may be wondering, "What the heck does this have to do with T-Shirts?"
I'll tell you
By utilizing QB's great app process I became inextricably linked to the QB community forever- which is great
They even offered everyone a free T-Shirt
I got an innocent email saying so
It even gave me the option of choosing from 3 or 4 designs
It would be shipped for free to my house
This was sometime in may last spring
I clicked through the few questions- name, address, t-shirt size, hit submit and thought nothing of it
This turned out to be very easy for the next two months because I never got it.
Then I got another email- the same email in fact. Being me, I filled out the form again, thinking "Hey maybe I get two free t-shirts"
no
Fall swings around (still no t-shirt) and I move to MIT (super cool)
I get another email- guess what! The t-shirts exist and are being delivered to MIT, where QB peoples will be able to get at them. Some how. They are being distributed to the QB director at MIT, who will get them to us. So things seems to be moving along, and I am really getting into the free t-shirt groove, having scored a dozen free t-shirts during orientation week. I want this t-shirt. The design I choose has a cool spiral on the front.
Over the next several months I receive emails about a couple of QB events going on at MIT- little lunches where the QB director provides free food, and you get to chat with other people at MIT who got in via QB. And the t-shirts are at these events. At least I assume they were, as I never went to any- for which I do feel a bit guilty, but they were always during lunch time! thats class time! It also sounded like it would be pretty awkward- plus I eat a vegan diet, and the worst thing that can happen as a vegan is go to a lunch socializing thing with a few other people who have never met, at which the well intentioned host sees everyone looking pointedly into the distance, sipping cup after cup of free soda, and trying not to talk to anyone, while appearing to be interesting in what everyone else isn't saying. At this point the host will try to catalyze socializing by turning to the only person not eating the meat lovers meat and cheese pizza (thats me- the vegan) and saying "Dig in! Have some food! We got it for you guys!" to which I say, "Uh, no thanks..."
"No, really, help yourself!" and I end the conversation with "I'm vegan" (some more persistent hosts, with good intentions, offer me the carrots, and maybe say "I was vegan once" to which I can't help but thinking "When? between your last two meals?" but that is just cynical, and I'm sure I'm just projecting my own frustrations on really nice people who put the effort into holding these events.
I think I got off topic there. But yeah, thats why I didn't go to the events, and hence, why at this point of the story, I don't have a t-shirt.
Anywho, my chances of getting my t-shirt seem pretty slim, given my sub-conscience avoidance of social interaction. But then, a sign! Well, its actauly just an email, but unlike the last 50 emails about picking up t-shirts and socializing, this one is only about picking up the t-shirt- perfect! All I have to do is walk down to the student center (about a 8 min walk) go to the 5 floor, and meet with a person who has the t-shirts. Unfortunately, I actauly am pretty busy writing a big paper on some 18th century novel. However in the space of around an hour, I get a handful of emails from the person waiting on the 5th floor that veil a dejectedness in nobody coming to pick up t-shirts. The guilt of avoiding dozens of QB events in cities across the U.S. starts to overwhelm me- I took QB's time and money and ran, without looking back. I decide that the least I can do is go pick up my t-shirt- the person on the 5th floor will be happy, I will be happy, and everything would be good in the world. I email the person to say I am coming, throw on a jacket and stride confidently out into the brisk Cambridge dusk. As I walk the long sideway to the student center, I am flush with excitement about getting my long lost t-shirt. The wind blows dry leave up the path in front of me, and I feel like the very elements of nature have aligned and granted me power over them. The walk to the student center went by quickly as I was adsorbed by the interesting leaf patterns, and the wind wasn't chilly in the slightest.
Once I got into the student center the tide starts to turn. First of all, I didn't even know the student center had 5 floors. i find the elevator on the 2nd floor and take it to the 5th. I don't see the person. A quick exploration down a hallway reveals a study room with computer, and I guess the person is in there. But I need to swipe my ID to get in- at first I don't see the card reader- then I notice it several feet behind me. These minor obstacles may seem trivial to you, but they were omens that the alignment with the universe I had experienced on the way to the student center was leaking away, leaving me defenseless against reality.
I enter the room. The person is there. She is wearing a Questbridge t-shirt. They exist! I approach and she greets me with a smile, and asks for my names. She looks through a leaf of paper and finds my name. I ordered a medium she says. I knew that. She begins to sift through the pile of t-shirts. My reward is nigh! Its a large pile, and I can tell not many people have come to get their t-shirt. She pauses. And looks up.
"Um. I don't have any mediums."
My mind explodes "She doesn't have any mediums?! She has a good 3 dozen shirts and no mediums, possibly the most common t-shirt size!"
I stare blankly. I do the logical thing, and begin to say "I'll take a large"
I'm not sure what happened next, but somehow, without saying anything I know that is not an option. instead she says that she must have left them in her dorm. I don't know how to respond.
She then asks if I could meet her at 9:00pm that night, or at 4:00 the next day. I have class at 4:00, and no free-t-shirt is worth walking all the way back to the student center at 9:00. I say those won't really work, but I appreciate the effort, and end up leaving empty handed. I cannot believe it.
I walk dejectedly back to my dorm, acutely feeling the icy wind cutting at my neck through my collar, and the leaves stumble awkwardly along the sidewalk in sad, uninteresting patterns. My quest has failed. I resolve that from this point on no power on earth can force me into pursuing my t-shirt anymore.
I have received a dozen more emails, each inviting me to a social event with t-shirts handed out, each proclaiming to be the last chance. I know they are just trying to trick me. But I will never give in.
(QuestBridge is a fantastic organization, and I cannot thank them enough for the service they provide- they saved me hundreds of dollars in app fees, and their app got me into my dream college. Unfortunately the universe has conspired in such a way that I will never get my t-shirt)
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