1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,650
[MUSIC PLAYING]

2
00:00:01,650 --> 00:00:05,680
NARRATOR: MIT was founded just
a few years before Canada,

3
00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:08,520
just a few miles from the
birthplace of the American

4
00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:09,710
Revolution.

5
00:00:09,710 --> 00:00:14,140
And that revolutionary spirit
still haunts this place.

6
00:00:14,140 --> 00:00:17,040
From the transistor radio
to computer networks to

7
00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,470
pharmaceuticals the stuff that
gets dreamed up, built, and

8
00:00:20,470 --> 00:00:22,510
tested here affects millions.

9
00:00:32,820 --> 00:00:38,100
But MIT's geniuses all have
to somewhere, as freshmen.

10
00:00:38,100 --> 00:00:39,350
Freshmen like--

11
00:00:53,710 --> 00:00:56,610
Every January, the chemistry
department runs a four-week

12
00:00:56,610 --> 00:00:59,530
lab class for freshmen.

13
00:00:59,530 --> 00:01:02,790
The class is called 5.301,
and it teaches practical

14
00:01:02,790 --> 00:01:05,560
techniques that chemists
use every day.

15
00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:06,870
DR. JOHN DOLHUN:
Recrystallization to

16
00:01:06,870 --> 00:01:11,770
distillation to column
chromatography, protein

17
00:01:11,770 --> 00:01:15,720
assays, and it ends with a
research project, where the

18
00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:20,670
students actually synthesize a
penicillin derivative and test

19
00:01:20,670 --> 00:01:22,480
it on live bacteria.

20
00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,360
NARRATOR: And those who
pass get a UROP.

21
00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:27,380
ANU: A UROP stands for
undergraduate research

22
00:01:27,380 --> 00:01:30,080
opportunities program, and
it lets you do real

23
00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:30,930
research in a lab.

24
00:01:30,930 --> 00:01:34,010
KATHERINE: It's a great
opportunity for people to get

25
00:01:34,010 --> 00:01:37,030
experience in a lab, figure out
if research is right for

26
00:01:37,030 --> 00:01:40,380
them, and get publications
on your resume.

27
00:01:40,380 --> 00:01:43,830
NARRATOR: This year, 5.301
has 14 students.

28
00:01:43,830 --> 00:01:45,680
Let's meet a few of them.

29
00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:47,630
ANTHONY: My family basically
consists of my mother and my

30
00:01:47,630 --> 00:01:49,200
sister and now my nephew.

31
00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,840
ANTHONY'S NEPHEW: M, I, T.

32
00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:53,420
ANTHONY: Yay!

33
00:01:53,420 --> 00:01:56,050
I'm the first, actually, in my
family to go to college.

34
00:01:56,050 --> 00:01:58,990
My mom is the best person
in the world.

35
00:01:58,990 --> 00:02:01,370
When I go home at night and call
her and tell her what I

36
00:02:01,370 --> 00:02:04,410
did in lab, she's always like,
oh, that's interesting.

37
00:02:04,410 --> 00:02:07,465
I think I saw that
in CSI one day.

38
00:02:07,465 --> 00:02:08,630
I'm in the logs.

39
00:02:08,630 --> 00:02:12,050
We run around like crazy men
on Valentine's Day and

40
00:02:12,050 --> 00:02:14,885
interrupt classes and
sing to people.

41
00:02:14,885 --> 00:02:18,360
I'm either Course 5 or Course
10-- for non-MIT, either

42
00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:19,980
chemistry or chemical
engineering.

43
00:02:19,980 --> 00:02:23,150
If I enjoy being in lab, then
Course 5 is probably a really

44
00:02:23,150 --> 00:02:24,440
good choice.

45
00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:26,710
EMILY: If you want to, you could
definitely just lock

46
00:02:26,710 --> 00:02:28,845
yourself in your room and
study all the time.

47
00:02:28,845 --> 00:02:30,830
I just wanted to show
you guys my room.

48
00:02:30,830 --> 00:02:33,820
Here I have a bunch of formulas
for derivatives,

49
00:02:33,820 --> 00:02:39,240
integration by parts, common
polyatomic ions, your basic

50
00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:41,490
kinematic equations
for physics.

51
00:02:41,490 --> 00:02:43,740
So it's kind of up to you
if you want to go

52
00:02:43,740 --> 00:02:45,520
out there and explore.

53
00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:47,950
In high school, I was on the
varsity tennis team, so I

54
00:02:47,950 --> 00:02:50,470
definitely try to do
a lot of that here.

55
00:02:50,470 --> 00:02:53,690
I'm taking a taekwondo class,
which should be interesting.

56
00:02:53,690 --> 00:02:56,570
I'm thinking Course 5, which
is chemistry, or Course 10,

57
00:02:56,570 --> 00:02:58,600
which is chemical engineering.

58
00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,800
ETHAN: I do love science, but I
also have that soft spot for

59
00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:03,960
Robert Frost and Walt Whitman.

60
00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:06,040
Instead of writing a
valedictorian speech in high

61
00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:08,230
school, I actually just wrote
a poem that they published,

62
00:03:08,230 --> 00:03:11,900
because I guess I do sort of
like poems more than speeches.

63
00:03:11,900 --> 00:03:14,120
But since my parents want me to
come out of college and be

64
00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:16,740
able to get a job, they
decided that I

65
00:03:16,740 --> 00:03:17,890
will be doing sciences.

66
00:03:17,890 --> 00:03:20,080
And I'm completely
cool with that.

67
00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,060
I am the student manager for the
basketball team, so I go

68
00:03:23,060 --> 00:03:24,620
to all the practices
and the games.

69
00:03:24,620 --> 00:03:26,760
I feel that's a really
cool way to relax, I

70
00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:28,680
guess, after class.

71
00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:32,510
LINA: I've always been into
the secret tunnels thing.

72
00:03:32,510 --> 00:03:37,060
Now we're down in the tunnels,
the famous MIT tunnels.

73
00:03:37,060 --> 00:03:38,180
I love playing pranks.

74
00:03:38,180 --> 00:03:41,180
I used to play pranks on my
high school teachers.

75
00:03:41,180 --> 00:03:43,820
Well, my chemistry teacher, back
in high school, he was

76
00:03:43,820 --> 00:03:46,440
really known for giving a lot
of lab reports and grading

77
00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:47,530
them pretty harshly.

78
00:03:47,530 --> 00:03:51,600
So I got my entire AP classes to
give me their lab reports.

79
00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,480
We took the front covers of all
these lab reports, and we

80
00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:58,930
just wallpapered his entire
wall with them.

81
00:03:58,930 --> 00:04:04,980
I hope that 5.301 will help me
want to do more research.

82
00:04:04,980 --> 00:04:06,060
IKE: Hey.

83
00:04:06,060 --> 00:04:07,110
What's up, what's up?

84
00:04:07,110 --> 00:04:10,380
This is Ike, AKA,
Smooth Scholar.

85
00:04:10,380 --> 00:04:12,740
Ravens fan-- we're going to win
the Superbowl this year.

86
00:04:12,740 --> 00:04:13,940
So watch out.

87
00:04:13,940 --> 00:04:15,450
This is my first time in lab.

88
00:04:15,450 --> 00:04:18,680
Don't feel intimidated, because
you're going to come

89
00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,649
across people who have taken
crazy classes in

90
00:04:21,649 --> 00:04:23,365
high school, you know?

91
00:04:23,365 --> 00:04:25,960
And some of you probably have
never even taken calculus

92
00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:27,230
before, like me.

93
00:04:27,230 --> 00:04:28,220
You're still here, right?

94
00:04:28,220 --> 00:04:31,520
You still made it, so
it still counts.

95
00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:33,790
That's it for now.

96
00:04:33,790 --> 00:04:35,430
NARRATOR: Everyone's excited
to get started.

97
00:04:35,430 --> 00:04:37,850
YI-SHIUAN: I haven't had that
much lab experience.

98
00:04:37,850 --> 00:04:41,080
HANSOL: I haven't worked in a
music lab-- just high school.

99
00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,370
JULIE: I haven't done any
research yet in a lab.

100
00:04:43,370 --> 00:04:44,550
JASON: I'm actually
pretty excited.

101
00:04:44,550 --> 00:04:45,300
LEALIA: I'm excited.

102
00:04:45,300 --> 00:04:46,380
DAN: I'm really excited.

103
00:04:46,380 --> 00:04:47,560
YI-SHIUAN: Definitely excited.

104
00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,213
JULIE: Really eager to get into
the lab and get hands on

105
00:04:50,213 --> 00:04:50,940
right away.

106
00:04:50,940 --> 00:04:52,330
DAN: I can't wait
to get started.

107
00:04:52,330 --> 00:04:57,770
NARRATOR: But they have no
idea what they're in for.

108
00:04:57,770 --> 00:05:28,960
[MUSIC PLAYING]