As a Massachusetts Boys Soccer Player of the Year and an All-American in high school, Dilin Meloni had choices when it came to college. He came to MIT because he knew he wanted to be an Engineer (on the field) and an engineer (off) after he read a paper from the Plasma Science and Fusion Center as a junior at Needham High School. In mid-June, Meloni, a rising senior studying nuclear science and engineering and physics, took time from his summer internship at Commonwealth Fusion Systems to discuss his role as an attacking midfielder for the Engineers, his work with the Student Athlete Advisory Council, and more. Q: How does being an athlete affect your experience at MIT? A: MIT has a huge social experience people don’t really understand from the outside. A lot of it is driven by our athletic communities. For example, MIT was very open and welcoming when I first got her…

The nice part is, it’s pretty informal. I know a lot of student athletes. If I want to get in touch with someone from the track team, I don’t have to hunt them down. I could probably just find them in class. Or I text my friends and ask, “Hey, how was the food today?” Q: How did you get involved? A: I started going my freshman year. My coach suggested that we send some younger players, so I went with the captain at the time. Student governance has always been important to me. When I was in high school, I was pa…