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The results of the 25th Reunion survey (i.e., the latest incarnation of the every-five-years survey of the MIT Class of '81) are here (in PDF format) or here (in PowerPoint format). Once again, many thanks to Lew Bender for organizing the survey, crunching the numbers, and providing insightful interpretation of the results.

And the raw data is here [in CSV format - you might have to do some "right-click-save-as" gyrations], if you really, really want to do some data reduction...

As part of our MIT 25th reunion survey, we (actually, Lew) asked:
"Your classmates would like to know what you think. Please write a few sentences or paragraphs about your life; your philosophy on life; or anything that may be on your mind."

We responded with the following comments:

• Read the 7 habits of highly effective people.
• 25 years ago ... it was a wonderful experience. No doubt the 'Tute has changed, as has Boston, and as have we. I'd do it all again and do it even better and redouble my effort, though I'm not sure there's room for any more all-nighters. Not as much focus on grades and more on labwork. Looking back, it's the community that I miss. Peggy Garlick, the ME beer blasts before a weekend break, Prof Rohsenow, and many profs and students whose names I've forgotten. It was a great great place for someone to grow. Hey Do2.
• Enjoy life. Try something different; you may like it. Don't sweat the small stuff and stuff you can't control. Do what you like and like what you do. Keep your promises and honor your commitments. Follow the golden rule. Stay in the company of good people.
• Dump Bush Think Green
• MIT gave me a great education, and has given me opportunities that I know I would not have had otherwise. The one area that I wish would be better would be friendships -- very few of my friends from MIT have turned into lasting relationships.
• I have not met my professional expectations since graduation - but I had vague and unreasonable expectations back then. I find myself busier than ever, which is often good, but sometimes it seems that both my life and my family's life is just too busy. (I suspect life will be quite different in just two years, when our middle child will be in college, and moreso in ten years, when our youngest will be college-aged.)
• I wonder if we ('81) are using our outstanding skills and talents to address significant world problems or are we acting more in self-interest to build wealth.
• The pursuit of a woman is more important to me than work/career.
• Bush is destroying our country
• Well, I doubt that assertion, but recently a few fellow graduates at least listened to me on a walk. Having come back to Boston recently I consider myself quite lucky to have had the chance to grow and learn there and I wish I had know then what I know now!
• As spectacular as our progress has been, we're moving too slowly, too inefficiently, too unimaginatively, too timidly. 'We' are MIT grads and more, those who look beyond what is, to what might be, and work to make the possible tangible. Technology, engineering, science, I include all the increasingly useful tools and methodologies we've developed to enrich and enlighten humanity, to improve our quality of life, is truly progress. Critics can argue about the most important deficiencies in this progress, pollution, overpopulation, accelerating extinction of species, and more. I submit that we have yet to adequately address our species' long term survival into the far future, a minimal standard of success from the point of view of our descendents. Meteorites, craters, and physics were enough for many to identify this problem years ago, but Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 provided recent direct evidence that our heirs' very existence is threatened by bombardment from space. As long as all of us are in this one gravity well, our problems and our solutions are local ephemera. We are racing against an increasing number of obstacles to our survival. We need to diversify, to get our eggs in more than this one basket, soon. Resource depletion may trap us here, without the energy to climb out of the well to get to more. Our survival has a bounding condition, a threshold we must be able to climb over to carry on. Anthropogenic atmospheric carbon loading, peak oil, peak copper, proliferation of nuclear and other weapons, and so many more current challenges are critical problems, granted. More, they complications and divertions from achieving permanent, sustainable, extraterrestrial humanity. Ingenuity, energy and the will to act in time are needed. I hope I'm doing all I can to help, and that my efforts combined with others' will be enough. Is this news to you? Do you disagree? I hope you'll take the time to research your position, if so. Please don't put it off too long. Perhaps your help will be critical to success! I'm optimistic that we'll pull it off in time. I'm confident is _can_ be done, and hopeful that it will be done. Quality of life, enlightenment, art, history, all our accomplishments will be rendered moot, otherwise. Back to work...
• The two things I said I would absolutely never do: Work for the government, and have a managerial job. I'm now a federal service chief. Be careful what oaths you take.
• I love what I do but have challengeof late by several chronic health conditions. I have one new knee and a few body parts that have been surgically modified but not in way that would make me unrecognizable. I enjoy my time on a game show and hope to be invited to play again someday.
• A twenty-five year journey is difficult to write down in a few words. Looking back on everything thus far, I would say I've made poor career choices, but have made the best of what's resulted. Marriage has been an up and down choice: having a dedicated spouse and children is a treasure, but there have been great gaps in that experience that I would not have foreseen. What I miss most of all is the financial wherewithal to have traveled more than I have, and to have experienced more of the planet on which we live.
• Never attribute to maliciousness anything that can be explained by stupidity or inattention.
• I've maintained my eclectic, idealistic way of life, and still live simply, but now, at least comfortably in my own 1880's house. Those who remember me know that I could never afford to live on campus and instead lived my freshman year in a $25/mo hovel in Cambridgeport. I have two kids who I really like alot, cool people, one who has been accepted to MIT. Oddly, although I loved MIT, I feel ambivalent about her going there. My son has surprisingly followed in my footsteps, studying physics. Boy, life has been an incredible journey, a 'long strange trip', in the years between our graduation and now. At 48, two marriages behind me, alot of bumps, alot of learning about myself and the world, I have to say that I'm very content, happy. I'm doing work I like, after 13 years in the data storage business, doing alot of cycling, gardening, have a nice boyfriend, houserabbits, a cat, participate in local organizations I believe in. What a wild ride it's been, it's nice to be in a bit of a calm, until the next wild ride. Look forward to seeing everyone in June. I have to admit I am a bit afraid that I will know very few people at the reunion. I never lived in the dorms, and didn't really know many people in my class, as I tended to hang out with graduate students who became friends. I had to plan to graduate after 3.5 years, because I could not afford to stay the full 4 years. I think I probably won't know many people at all, and hope that the reunion is friendly enough that people like me don't feel too isolated. Of course, it is in my control and I'll say hi to everyone, but I hope that a few people maybe recognize me!
• LEAD, fOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY
• The choices of married or single do not include 'separated' which is my current status, as I move toward divorce.
• Jesus Christ has changed my life for the better. He is willing to do that for anyone who asks.
• My education at MIT is one of my proudest achievements. Even though I am not in a science/engineering field, I am glad that I had the opportunity to go there and receive the rigorous education I did. Because of MIT, I view myself as a world citizen, less inclined to the provincialism and xenophobia I see all around me.
• love yourself and love your family
• Do the right thing and keep your eyes on the prize.
• I wish more people had an MIT education and an Engineering view of the world. Fellow Engineers, keep doing it with precision!
• Two survey 'bugs': question #31 - annual income - was missing the 300k to 500k option question #42 - minutes/week commute - the choices seemed very small - even an 18-minute one-way drive, 5 days/week, maxes out
• I am troubled by the conflict in the world today. Whether this is religious, cultural, or economic I see no end in sight. It saddens me that the United States is now viewed as the 'bad guy' in certain areas of the world. I am frustrated by the lack of time available to do the things I would like to do. Between shuttling kids to and from activities, work, and dealing with household issues it seems that there is never enough time to just relax or enjoy a hobby. Perhaps this will improve somewhat as my kids grow older.
• For many of the years in my 20s, my primary goal was to make a lot of money. Now that I have plenty to live on, I realize that family, friends and volunteering are far more important and rewarding than money is. MIT gave me a great education and foundation for learning more. I wish I lived closer to it so that I could be more involved.
• I work hard, and I try to do the right thing, always. Remember the Golden Rule, and consider that tolerance is necessary for peace.
• 'In this world, everything is political.' from 'Brothers Karamazov', by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• We have been very lucky in our lives to date. I am very worried about the world and the challenges future generations will face.
• The last twenty-five years have been a wild ride. My marriage and family have taken far more effort than I thought it would. I don't know if its because my own childhood was duller than average, or because society in general is that much more complicated than when I was a kid. Now that my youngest is in middle school, I can see a day when the kids will no longer dominate family life.
• Petroleum/resource depletion and global warming are two huge problems in the 21st century that will be very painful to solve, if it is even possible to do so.
• Just because you are smart, you shouldn't feel that you have to work in a field that does not bring you personal satisfaction. The money you earn at a high-paying non-satisfying job cannot compare to the joy you have when you spend time doing a job that truly matters to you. For me, it has been taking care of my family full-time for many years--with a unique engineering perspective-- and then re-entering the work force in the field of education.
• The only thing that is constant is change. Live each moment with gratitude and joy. Remember these Four Agreements, simply stated, extremely powerful. 1. Be impeccable with your word 2. Don't make assumptions 3. Don't take anything personally 4. Always do your best There is only joy in giving. Take a moment to be kind, and expect nothing in return.
• When will we focus on how to live sustainably on this planet?
• We should all give thanks that we attended MIT 25 years ago - I don't think I woul want to go through the admissions process these days!
• Question #42 is misworded. You meant to ask on average how many minutes per day (not week) do you commute to your job, or perhaps on average how many minutes each way per day.
• Please work to elect progressives to balance the regressive and repressive administration. Thank you.
• I wish life were easier, but considering the alternative - choose life!
• When I graduated, I was a member of an elite group - MIT alumni - ready to take on the world and make it a much better place. Over the years, I have had a number of successes and failures, and my expectations of my ability to change the world have been scaled back significantly. I have discovered the power of loving and being loved. I have found the power of relying on God to help with everything seems to go wrong. I have found the power that comes with being at peace with oneself, and simply doing the best job you can at the present.
• The pace of life feels like it is accelerating, yet at the same time, the ability to look further ahead is getting harder and harder. Maintaining work-life balance is very challenging and it is much harder to find the time to truly recharge oneself. I miss the technical challenges that were the centerpiece of my MIT education and look forward to the day that I can shift my focus back that way and become more hands on again in my next career. I value my son and all that I have learned from him as a parent. The cliches about the immeasurable value of raising a child are true. I am very proud of the fine young person that he is developing into - prouder of this than of any professional accomplishments. I hope that he gets the opportunities that I have had in life, perhaps even attending MIT.
• Holding our first baby for the first time changed my perspective on life more than any other event.
• The Amish have the right lifestyle. Maintain your chi flow.
• Native talents being whatever they were for me as an incoming freshman, I believe that the Institute strengthened my abilities to think critically and analytically. I have a great life-- better than I ever expected as a child-- and I marvel at the amazing successes of the human race. Yet I am consistently frustrated by the capacity of individuals and groups to avoid thinking for themselves. This very human failing is easily demonstrated by the ease with which individuals and groups can be manipulated by family, churches, politicians, and even the media. Over the course of the past 20 years or so, I have had occasion to have inside knowledge of several incidents that garnered local media attention, and the best that can be said about that media coverage was that it was incompetent. The worst that can be said is that it was so incompetent as to rise to the level of immoral manipulation by ignorant writers who obviously care little, if at all, about truth. Unfortunately, I see this local trend reflected on a bigger and bigger scale in national politics and the media, with much presented in the media that is either outright false, incomplete, or simply misleading. If we as citizens were thinking independently, critically, and analytically, this would be of little concern. But many, many people take the easy way out and allow themselves to be 'led' by someone else-- someone whose true motives are oftentimes disguised by a number of different costumes of convenience. M.I.T. can do much to assist with this problem, but it can affect only so many people directly. I sometimes wonder why the Institute couldn't grow-- at least a little-- to allow more people the benefit of this wonderful place. As a 15-year veteran of the Educational
• Council, I see many, many very talented young people sent elsewhere, and I believe that M.I.T. specifically-- and we generally-- could benefit from a limited enlargement. 10% more? 20% more? Who knows? And then there's bureaucracy. But that's a whole different rant.
• To do my best to create jobs in India. Enjoy life.
• The older you get, the more important it is to have friends who knew you when you were young. I've found that Tia Chi and golf have a lot in common. Rocket science is actually lots of fun. Everyone should read something from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The liberal media is not a myth nor a misnomer, and is among the greatest threats to our collective well being for the foreseeable future. In this country and across the globe. We won't have electric cars or a permanent presence in space until someone can make money at it. We DO have 'Reality TV'. Is anyone getting this? Tell me about global warming when you have a million years of detailed climatological data. 100 years doesn't cut it. Don't give me core sample guesses either. Modern man's contributions? If the arguments don't include the burning of forests and unchecked hydrocarbon combustion in China, and the utter irrationality of the earth's volcanic burps, they become, ironically, just another contributor. You know, I started out so good, and then you get me going with words like 'philosophy' and 'anything', and I get this idea that this is some kind of conversation... Having fun yet? When was the last time you laughed so hard you thought you were going to harm yourself? or wet yourself? or worse? Me? About two weeks ago. What? Reviewing my collection of favorite Far Side comics. They should study that at the new BCS Center. BCS... Ha - try googling THAT three letter acronym! (TLA) OK Done ;)
• This survey is biased against non-traditional families and life partners.
• The rest of the world is different place than MIT, but can't imagine what life would have been without having had an MIT education. Wish all alums and students well.
• Service-oriented people make the communities I am part of much more enjoyable. Those are the kinds of people I like to hire and have around. The people who calculate every action based on what's in it for them I find tiresome. I don't believe that to 'get ahead,' you must have a plan. I think you have to work hard, have others recognize the quality of your work, and be attuned to opportunities as they arise. You never know what might come your way.
• MIT prepared me for professional life. I wish I was as well prepared for family and social life. It appears life will be harder for Americans in the future. I am sorry we are reluctant to face this challenge.
• The most important thing I learned at MIT was: always be learning. The languages in which programming courses were offered at the time I was at MIT aren't in use anymore, and PCs didn't exist when I attended the Institute. But MIT gave me an excellent foundation on which to base my real-world learning, so I've been able to keep up with emerging technologies. Even if I don't have experience in a particular area when I'm applying for a job, having an MIT degree on my resume allows me to convince employers that I can learn whatever I need to.
• The survey asked no questions directly about my faith in God, which is the most important to me of all choices. He gave me the life I enjoy and the wife I love. When I had children of my own, I understood why my dad was so excited about me.
• It took me a long time to realize: Being smart is not enough: Attitude should not be underestimated.
• Life is much more complicated than I anticipated. My greatest joys have been while parenting.
• 'Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.' - Thomas Alva Edison.
• Looking back, I conclude that I probably spent a bit too much time partying at MIT than I should have. However, I don't regret any of it and my overall experience at MIT has served me well. My wish for our nation and its leaders is that we one day figure out how to select leaders whose most important attributes are their ability to think critically and express compassion rather than the size of their election funds and TV appeal.
• What a long strange trip it's been. I have lived a true adventure. Some of my accomplishments are pretty neat!
• Ultimately, nothing is more important than the environment.
• Fortunately, I see success in life as related to how well I have passed along the tools to succeed in life to my kids - education, activities, friends, the right attitude.
• I want to live; hopefully, so do you. Our generation is likely to see the beginning of the end of death by aging or disease. Rapidly advancing are cloning, stem cell therapies, SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) and other antiaging work, and cryonics (in case the work's not all done by the time we need it). I plan to orbit this planet someday, quite possibly another planet, and maybe even another star. I expect to have children in a few hundred years, when I'm mature enough to raise them. I'll tell children stories about the days of yore, when people got old and sick. And I'll hope that when people live centuries, they'll have time to get over wanting to wipe other people off the planet, and will take a longer view of what they do with it. Maybe they won't, but I want to be here to find out. I hope you will too.
• MIT has opened two major doors in my life, understanding the world through the wisdom of Noam Chomsky and a stature that gives me easy access to companies in my profession worldwide.
• I've been very fortunate in almost all aspects of my life. MIT was a great stepping stone out into the real world. I wish I had realized, while I was at the Institute, what a truly remarkable place it was. While there, most of the time was really spent struggling to get through, and not enough just learning what I thought was interesting. Once I'd left, it was too late to go back and look deeper into the areas I would have liked to explore.
• To the extent that I have a philosophy, I guess it would be one of 'cynical realism' about mankind and the world today: people are the way they are. And it is all 'nature'. Man thinks, pollutes, creates, destroys, manufactures, loves, hates, fears, drives, flies, explores, kisses, procreates, kills, sleeps, wakes, eats, drinks, defecates, ages and dies because (a) he/she can; or (b) he/she must.
• It seems to me that mankind has not advanced beyond the Inquisitions and we are in a world where people are willing to die and kill over religious differences. It is very troubling.
• be careful what you ask for - you might get it
• Someday you will fall. Learn how to get up.
• Vote for Papoon ! He's Not Insane!
• Plan for tomorrow, but live today to its fullest. Worrying about what happend in the past or what will happen in the future is a waste of time and energy that can used in many better ways. Work-life balance is a goal that has to be continually met for a long and properous life.
• Thinking about time: perhaps the decades ahead will reveal flaws in our present understandings & limitations of mind, body, environment, & universe as technology continues to evolve.
• moral and ethical values are on the wane. Religious fervor has replaced doing what is right. Too many decision makers make decisions based on self interest.
• MIT still sucks!
• Here are a few random thoughts: Certainly there is very little that shocks me these days -- my undergraduate experience taught me to expect the unexpected. Now, just as then, I have the feeling that there is so much more that I would like to learn and do, with not enough time to come even close. I have come to appreciate my undergraduate experience more as time passes, and in particular I am thankful for the friendships that I have as a result. My son, just shy of his 9th birthday, talks about becoming a scientist and going to the same college that I went to. I would be proud of him if he did, but I wonder how he would survive the initial feeling of being pounded into the sand -- or maybe as a second generation student he would be genetically resistant to sand pounding.
• Since graduating from MIT, my life has taken many unexpected turns, almost always for the better. I have been married for 21 years to an Engineer (who didn't graduate from MIT). After almost 16 years in Engineering and a spiritual transformation of sorts, I went in a completely new career direction and received my Master's in Social Work (MSW) in 2000. I am now home full-time with my children (16 and 4) and I am even beginning to think about home schooling my daughter. This is not what I thought I would be doing 25 years after graduation! I think I am happier now than I was while at MIT. I wonder, sometimes, if I am wasting my MIT education by not working as an Engineer. But I have realized that being an Engineer has taught me a way to think about the world that I probably couldn't have gotten any other way. It affects a lot of what I do, how I think about the world and how I teach my children about the world.
• woody allen was right when he said that (paraphrasing) most of success was in just showing up: those who do what they say they're going to do, on time, are already standard deviations ahead of the masses. If you add in integrity and self-confidence (with a pinch of humility), you're sure to stand out, even without considering the extra 'smarts' most everyone receiving this survey is blessed with...That said, the most important decision in your personal life is your choice of spouse/life partner: a poor selection mutes all the enjoyment earned from professional success. Finally, stay fit! Life is a marathon, and without good health you won't enjoy the run or make it to the finish! (yes, I'm an MD)
• Be happy.
• It's a special gift to be someone's dad and someone's husband.