It was the second Saturday of my first year at MIT (Sept. 2006 - wow, more than 3 years ago!) and all the first years in my program (course 3) were going to George's Island for some quality departmental bonding time. It was a beautiful fall Boston day and everything in my life was awesome! I didn't have to worry about finding an advisor yet, I didn't have horrible roommate problems yet (not Smeri or Doris, OTHER roommate problems...) I didn't have to worry about research or quals yet. Yep, it was a beautiful fall Boston day for me. :)
We took the ferry to George's Island and I chatted with people in my program, people who eventually became my best friends at MIT. When we got there, the group of students coordinating the outing were setting up lunch on picnic tables and most of us were just waiting around, so I got out my disc (of course I brought one with me!) and start throwing with some guys in my department, including Bryan and some other people.
After a while, one of the guys (not Bryan - just thought he would want me to point that out) threw a backhand that I had to run for. And so I ran for it. And it was a little high so I jumped for it and tried grabbing it with my right hand. And next thing I know, I felt like I got punched SUPER hard in my stomach and got the wind knocked out of me. As I was going down, I heard, "Karen!!! GRILL!!!" (What???)
I blacked out for a few seconds and when I came to, I realized I was sitting next to a BBQ grill:
Yep, I had run straight into a BBQ grill.
When I came to, I was like, "Why didn't anyone say anything?!" to the small crowd that had gathered. Bryan was like, "I did!... I said, 'Karen!!! GRILL!!!'" Great thanks, just a little too late, don't you think? =P
Anyway, for the next two weeks, I had a huge welt on my right arm where I had crashed into the top of the BBQ grill, and huge welt on my left thigh where I crashed into the bottom of the BBQ grill. (I hadn't learned to jump with the same-side knee and arm yet.)
For the next year, my course 3 friends would tell the story of how a BBQ grill attacked me while I was playing frisbee. For my birthday a few months later, they would even cite that as a reason from "Top 10 reasons why we love Karen."
The following year when I became part of the Graduate Materials Council and helped organize the first-years' trip to George's Island, I returned to the site of my humiliation and made amends with the BBQ grill by giving it a reconciliatory hug.
I had a point to this story... Oh yeah, I wanted to tell a story involving frisbee and Bryan and MIT and to tell everyone that Bryan and I are engaged! :) I guess I should tell the story of our engagement in the next post. =P
