I am in the home stretch of my Block Two course: Economics of Innovation. I have been studying the economics of technological change, policy implications, the history of innovation, in addition to current trends in innovation on both a micro and macro level. As if the Block Plan was not challenging enough, we cut our class time from three and a half weeks down to just two weeks. I am not sure exactly how much work I did for the first two weeks of the course, but it was upwards of four or five hours a night. However, we were rewarded for our efforts! Last week, my class spent Monday though Saturday in Boston observing the climate of an innovation epicenter at its finest.
The Boston Courthouse
I do not even know how I can re-cap last week. It was so incredibly busy! We got to Boston around 5:00 am on Tuesday morning (yay red eye flights) and had our first meeting at 11:00 am, which gave us approximately three hours of sleep because it took forever to check into our hotel. We met so many interesting people between Tuesday and Friday! We went all over Boston via the T and also walked a ton! I really think that we saw every inch of the city. We spent a lot of time at MIT and Harvard, touring labs and meeting with researchers and professors.
Harvard Medical Campus
Sunset on the Charles River
The MIT Technology Museum was incredible. It featured a sample of MIT's cutting edge technologies such as fold-up electric city cars. We also saw the robotics lab and the tactile technology lab, which had some "smart kids toys" that are so technologically advanced they could be used for about eight million other things. We visited the Harvard Med and Business schools, met with a bunch of start up entrepreneurs, venture capital companies, and finance people. We also checked out historical sites like the courthouse where the Boston Massacre took place and Samuel Adams' grave.
The Charles River with MIT in the Background
On Thursday, we checked out South Boston. We visited the Federal Reserve, saw the site of the Boston Tea Party, and were warned not to venture further south than the T station. We also went down to the water for some high-quality Boston seafood. I had a salad and educated my peers on the unsustainable nature of large fishing operations.
True Boston Weather, aka the Disappearing Fed
We left the hotel before 8:00 am every morning and never returned before midnight. I had dinner with Bridge on Tuesday and Friday, but had class dinners with guests on the other nights. We did not sleep at all, but it was worth it! I was sort of at a disadvantage because I had just returned from CA/have not slept for two months, but I can crash over Thanksgiving break.
Chinatown Adventure with Bridgett Last Tuesday Night
On Saturday I made Bridgett come with me to the Boston Vegetarian Expo! Saturday was a "free day," so Bridge and I hung out all day. I found out about the festival thing from a veg magazine that I read on the plane from CA and it magically happened to be while I was in Boston. It was amazing - dozens of vendors and organizations with information and food samples. Bridgett even had fun! It was insanely crowded, but totally worth it. It was so cool to be in a room where everyone was like me!
Before the Boston Veg Expo, I went to visit/meet up with Bridge at BC. Her campus is gorgeous! It is about a half hour outside of Boston, easily accessible on the T. We took a super quick tour, saw her dorm room (roommates were sleeping, even though it was 10:30 am), etc.
Then, we went back into downtown Boston to meet up with my friend Meghan Behnke, who goes to BU. We all had brunch together, which was fun because I have not seen her for almost two years. After that, Bridge and I went to the veg festival. Then, we decided to go shopping - Bridgett's reward for "hanging out with a bunch of hippies." That was pretty fun. We went to the North End, which is the Italian district because Bridgett had to see that. My class went there for dinner on Wednesday and it is super cute. I had some excellent sorbet and Bridge tried Cannoli. We found an incredible farmer's market on the way back! It was incredibly cheap! I had to exercise serious self-control to keep myself from buying tons of fruits and veggies that I could not take back to CO. I have no idea where this stuff came from, but there were mangoes bigger than my head (no joke) and enormous carrots, among other gargantuan veggies/fruits. Bridgett and I got everything cheaper than posted, or free in the case of the massive carrot, because the guys selling the produce liked us...haha.
The Giant Carrot
It was one crazy trip! We returned to CC around 2:30 am on Sunday morning. I presented an argument on the reasons why small firms are the future of US innovation to my classmates and community businesses executives this morning. Now I am working on the accompanying ten page paper. The paper plus packing and preparing handouts, power points, etc. for the Great West Relay For Life Youth Task Force Summit (leaving tomorrow) should keep me busy for the remainder of the day.
Fall in Boston
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