Hello World, I'm Wide Tim!

Wide Tim @ a Glance

Wide Tim (@wide_tim on Instagram) is a beaver character created by Margaret Zheng (MIT '23, MEng '24).

Plump, happy, and full of life, Wide Tim's biggest dream is to spread joy, share love, and promote the arts in and out of the MIT community.

Since February 13th, 2021, he has collaborated with 103 MIT clubs, offices, and entities to create thousands of wholesome illustrations.

Wide Tim in a red MIT sweater, surrounded by drawings of pie, ice cream, flowers, and the MIT dome

The Birth of Wide Tim

Wide Tim is a plump, joyful 5-year-old beaver who double majors in eating and sleeping at MIT. Aside from his jam-packed schedule of eating and sleeping, he is constantly thinking about spreading happiness, sharing love, and becoming even wider, of course.

Wide Tim made his debut on February 13th, 2021 as a piece of fan art on @mitadmissions to welcome the class of 2024 onto campus during the height of COVID-19. During CP* 2021 (MIT's Virtual Campus Preview Weekend), students accidentally found out about his hidden ability to become as wide as he would like. [1] [2].

View on Instagram

Becoming Wider

Following a meme takeoff in the MIT CP* 2021 discord server, Wide Tim opened his own Instagram account to explore ways to become wider. He began this process by asking his friends about:

their favorite Friday night plans, lunch spots, places to study, and ice cream flavors
what classes he should take
what on-campus dance shows to go to
what events to participate in
little moments on campus that turn into core memories

Before he knew it, he had collaborated with 103 MIT student clubs, organizations, and offices!

They Say:

This is Wide Tim, an adorable beaver character who loves MIT, obtaining width, and injecting some levity into MIT life. Rumor has it that Wide Tim double-majors in eating and sleeping, but his sole mission is to make people happy and smile. And by all accounts, he excels at his job.

MIT News

Originating from a cartoon image welcoming the Class of 2024 to campus, Wide Tim has become a widely recognized and beloved character who went on to collaborate with MIT Admissions, MIT Technology Review, and several other MIT departments.

Arts at MIT

Wider in Person

Eventually, words about Wide Tim went around wide enough that he started collaborating with MIT entities for bigger (and in-person) projects. Some of them include:

Campus Preview Weekend from 2022 through 2026
MIT admissions website
the MIT Class of 2028 Poster
a mural at MIT Welcome Center
MIT Press, MIT Health, MIT Activities Committee and MISTI, as well as postcards from the MIT Chancellor's Office

What's Next?

While Margaret graduated from MIT in 2024, Wide Tim is still around and has continued to engage with the community. For example, on March 14, 2025, he held a standalone art event at the MIT Welcome Center called Pie with Wide Tim. As of late 2024, he has also maintained a merchandise line in the MIT COOP.