What We've All Been Wondering About NuVu

Sammy White '14 and Mandy Gordon '14

Recently Beaver has invested in a new program for students called NuVu. It is only NuVu’s second year at Beaver and already kids are raving about it. NuVu is a program where sophomores, juniors and seniors can work with professors from MIT for an entire term. Sophomore Andrew Simpson was interviewed about his experiences at NuVu this fall.

TBR: Not knowing what NuVu is about, how would you explain it?
Andrew Simpson: Not knowing what Nuvu was about, I expected a lot less fun. I thought that every day would be strictly learning only, but then I realized that i was still able to have fun while learning

TBR: Do you think  Nuvu is worth going to? Why?
AS: I think that Nuvu is worth it because it is always great to learn new things. The purpose of Nuvu is to expand your mind and train it to be able to think of new creative things.

TBR: What was the most important thing that you learned at NuVu?
AS: The most important thing that I learned in NuVu is that your project is never finished. Even after you think your are finished there are still hundreds of different things that you could do to improve your project.

TBR: What was an average day like?
AS: The average day of NuVu was pretty straight forward. You arrive around nine and jump into your work immediately. At NuVu you break at 12 then start work at 1. During lunch you are allowed to leave and get your own food. Because nuvu is on mass ave there are various places you can go.

TBR: How was working with people from MIT? Was it difficult?
AS: Working with groups was sometimes difficult because of the colliding ideas, but overall working with groups wasn't  bad.

TBR: What was the topic this fall?
AS: The topic was food.

TBR: What projects did you do while you were there? What was the final project?
AS: We had seven studios; robofood, chocolate, dna and taste, food for thought, reinventing breakfast, Dj-epicurious, and kinetic food. For our final project we got to choose from the seven studios that we really liked. For example, I really liked the food for thought studio because it was a film studio. For my final project, I made a film.

TBR: Is there a lot of freedom when it comes to thinking of projects and ideas?
AS: Yes, in nuvu you are not baby sat. You are trusted to have your project completed on time and thorough.

TBR: What are you going to take from NuVu and bring back to Beaver?
AS: I am going to open my mind up more and think of more create way to do things.

TBR: Did you learn anything that really interested you and that you may want to pursue in the future?
AS: I am really looking forward to majoring in engineering so this experience at nuvu really helped me confirm that I want to do that.

TBR: If a person is not into science but wants to try out NuVu, do you think it is a good idea?
AS: Yes it is always a good idea to do something new because it goes on your college transcripts.

Talking with Andrew gave a very positive view of the NuVu experience. Beaver is very excited to see how the program does in the future. This program is definitely a very new and interesting thing that most kids should try. As Andrew had said, it had allowed him to grow and learn how to think more creatively. If you have a goal or dream in mind that you think can be achieved at NuVu, then it is definitely worth attending. NuVu has inspired so many Beaver students and will continue to impact Beaver students and their philosophy.