pika cooperative living group Duplex (Shared Housing)

We are a cooperative living group called pika, recognized by MIT as an independent living group! We value communal living, chores, house duty, community, and communal chores. We also have a mealplan open to signup. Blog below:

What is pika, you may... ask? Isn’t that a small mammal like Pikachu? Why are you guys lowercase? pika started out as Pi Kappa Alpha back in the 1970s at MIT, then in the latter part of the decade deaffiliated from its national organization and went coed. If you want the gritty details, they’re on our house’s website (along with original documents from the founders and Pi Kappa Alpha). Epsilon Theta was formerly part of a national organization and opted to become independent, so pika’s in good company.
What makes our house unique? We have a three-story firepole, a four-story roofdeck system (designed and built by house residents), two cats, a treehouse with WiFi, an Athena cluster, free laundry, a TV room, a work room with two drillpresses, more books than we know what to do with, and numerous murals throughout

What distinguishes pika from the dorms and Greek groups? First off, we own our house. We don’t have a national organization, so our housebills go directly to house upkeep, food (I’ll get to that later), paying for our two cats, and buying chocolate for study breaks. As soon as a pikan graduates or moves out of the house, they become a member of Housecorp, a body responsible for our mortgage and decisions regarding the grander physical plant of our 100-some-odd-year-old house in Cambridgeport.
Owning your own house means you can modify it as you see fit. Think that wall needs a mural? Want a rope ladder in your room? Sick of that wall between you and the closet? Bring out the Sawzall… okay, consult with your housemates first; sawing through live wires and plumbing generally is no fun.
Part of owning your own house is maintaining your house. Most other ILGs have some flavor of work periods throughout the year: pika is no different. In the fall we have a major Work Week where we build new parts of the house

Other ILGs have meal plans, ranging from having the kitchen stocked by a student elected to buy groceries to having a hired chef cook meals throughout the week. pika has a meal plan where everyone in the house takes turns cooking or cleaning once a week, ensuring home-cooked meals every night throughout the year. Speaking of preparing food, our kitchen is pretty awesome: a stove with six burners, two ovens, a sink big enough to bathe in, and more flour/cereal/fruit/sugar/rice/butter/milk/spices/whathaveyou than you can shake a stick at. Seriously. Come over and we’ll show you how well-stocked the pantry is. (It even has an alarm that squawks at you to shut the door.) We also try to see how many people we can cram around our dining room tables: at last count we were around 20.
The best thing about the ILGs, beyond the tasty food and the awesome digs, is the community that each house embodies. pika has 30 students ranging from sophomores to grad students, in a myriad of majors. I love coming home at night to a living room full of people debating control theory or finding the best way to sail on the Charles in a stockpot. Three-hour musical jam sessions spontaneously break out in the living room. If you need a shoulder to cry on or help differential equations, someone is around to lend an ear or last year’s course notes.
People from pika go on to the Peace Corps, graduate school, or consulting gigs. Some start their own companies, volunteer in Africa, or just chainsaw firewood at sunset in an undisclosed location. Your roommate might be TAing the class that you’re taking this term, or might be trying to change the way people think about automobiles in the world. Or learning Israeli dance. Or tie-dying t-shirts in the basement all night. Regardless of who you are and what you’re doing, pika will accept you as you are, plus improve your cooking skills and handiness with a hammer by the time you graduate.
There’s a great sense of pride you get once you’ve installed your first toilet or slept in a bed that you built. Being responsible for the upkeep of a house is a great life skill and goes along well with MIT’s motto of “Menus et Manus” (Mind and Hand). Having practical experience taking care of yourself and your living arrangements is great practice for getting out into the real world after MIT.
For more information on ILGs at MIT, here’s David ’10’s article on ILGs from the Tech and the Student Life website on ILGs.
When you come to campus, be it this spring or August, be sure to check out not only the dorms and Greek houses, but also your friendly neighborhood ILGs. We look forward to meeting you at either CPW or in the fall.
Thanks for reading!
Sondy (’07*… sorta) G Read More